Character Creation Helper
Before you begin
Whatever character you genuinely want to make, no matter how fantastical, let's try and figure out how it'd work -we could make a new race/class too
Imagine your character in a movie scene, what makes them stand out, what would they do for that cool moment as they enter, do they have any quirks or visual notes that the audience would notice as soon as they appear?
Imagine the whole party was like your character, what would make yours different/stand out.
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Everyone is a caster who focuses on water, you create little swarms of insects out of the water droplets.
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In short, what are the things that make your character unique?
Character questions
https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/e53rur/my_backstory_questionnaire_for_my_pcs/
- What do you not want to happen to this character/something in the backstory
E.g. I have a wife and child, I’d love them to make an appearance but I don’t want anything bad to happen to them.
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Who is the person your character loves most?
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Have you killed a humanoid before/how do you feel about it
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What makes your character happy/angry/sad?
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What is your biggest secret or the thing you're most ashamed of?
Tell me about your family. Tell me about your known extended family.
- Would you still be in contact with either?
What is your Character’s gimmick that you can rely on during roleplay moments?
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Compulsive liar, first response is to lie before even thinking of anything else
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Maybe they’re new to Common for some reason and have to keep asking the definitions of words
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Socially anxious but instead of never talking, chooses to whisper it to one person so that their input is still being expressed-> Raj from big bang theory
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Maybe you're really bad at talking to women, or hate confrontation
Your character has a moral code/oath/desire for themselves and/or world, how do they feel when someone else breaks that or disagrees with it? Would they act on it or let it slide? How would they go about resolving that conflict with the person - would they initiate a conversation, aggress, or remove themselves from the situation?
What lie does your character tell themselves?
Memories
I would love to, if you are keen for it, to have the person who is ‘downed’ roll their death saving throws behind the DM screen with me.
To build tension instead of “I rolled a 15 and a 12, don’t worry about getting me up yet” and create a scene where you have no clue how long they have left, what if they’re one roll away from death.
On top of that, I’d love to have you describe a memory that flashes through their mind for each roll.
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What memories does your character have that they hold dear?
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Is there a memory that your character regrets, be it sad or angry
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A joyful memory
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A moment from their backstory that is yet to be shared
Knives, Spoons and Forks
5 knives - a potential plot hook, an element from your past, a spurned lover, something that can be used to create conflict and make it personal. A knife is forged lovingly by the player and presented to the DM to stab them with it. Should only be two well worded sentences so I can flesh them out.
- Often basing at least one in your race, one in class, one in backstory is a good start.
9 Spoons - character flavour that usually consist of favourite things that your character has, or things he does in their downtime: song, drink, guilty pleasure, comfortable environment, first job, nickname, hobbies…
1 Main fork, two smaller forks - These are character drives with multiple ‘prongs’ that extend from it. We already do the first fork but expand on the motivations both for and after accomplishing said task. The two side forks are other desires in life that aren’t the main reason you’re adventuring but if they come across they’d want to pursue to an extent.
- In short, what is it your character wants to do with their life
Example:
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Main Fork - Gotta kill the main tyrant who killed my wife [Borat voice]
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I will not let innocents get hurt in this process
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We were all childhood friends but she fell in love with me
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I’m conflicted about whether or not killing is the answer or if we can be friends again, can we forgive?
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This ties to my spoon of loving a certain song we sang together
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Side Fork - It was one of her wishes that I remarry and have kids.
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Open to but not actively seeking people
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I fear my unresolved 'main fork' will stop me from nurturing a mature relationship with that person
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So many of my spoons remind me of her
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Side Fork 2 - I want to build a house on a beach and spend my days painting
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This is the retirement plan but welcome to having it happen earlier
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I fear this won't ever happen
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This links to my spoon of painting and design
Character Flavour
I would love to homebrew something with you, to personalise a part of a character in any way!!
Appearance
Appearance-wise what makes your character stand out? Do they stand out? Any fashion quirks? Build? Identifying marks or scars? If they’re an anthropomorphic animal like tabaxi, what kind of cat?
Based on the personality you've created for this character, how is it reflected in their appearance and vice-versa?
What is the motif your appearance is built around, a colour scheme? If they’re obsessed with fire, how would that affect the way they dress or the magic they use?
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Flavouring all your spells to be one element is a great way to do this. We could give you double proficiency but none in non-fire spells.
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What about flavouring them to be something unusual, like using mirrors, or liquid metal etc
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Pinterest is really good for this
What is your weapon like? I’d love to make a unique weapon for you, is it magical or just shaped interestingly e.g. a sharpened anchor that works as a greataxe, a blade that requires blood or the PC starts to go mad, a huge bludgeoning tuning fork that casts the spell ‘booming blade’
- Chat to me about it, I got ideas. How about a blade that’s a mimic?
What if they cast or attack by performing some form of dance?
Battle
How does your character attack? Is there a real life fighting style they attack with e.g. Taekwondo with lots of kicking, fencing with thrusts for attacks and slashes to parry, Go look up sword and cape fighting?
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What if we made up some sort of fighting style for your character, like if he only uses blunt swords for some reason, how could we change his fighting style to accommodate
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How about a spellsword, who flings their spells like slashes from their blade
When attacking I’d love to know how - I sweep low with my longsword - so that you have more agency and creativity with your attacks, not just “I attack with longsword”.
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Begin your action by describing how you do it and then end it with “... as I cast wither and bloom on them” or “... using my multiattack.”
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You can leave the stuff that happens once it hits/misses to me
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I am more than happy to award that sort of thing with advantage or the like. For instance adding a feint to an attack could force the opponent to make a WIS saving throw and they might take the bait
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Or going for a certain part of his body could lower or raise their AC
This runs off into casting magic too, are there movements your character makes, sigils they write, how are spell components used, do they have any quirks or bad habits
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Casting Infestation could have the magic bugs crawl out from their clothes or you have them swarm out from your hand/spell casting focus.
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Your character shouts the spell name
Your motif from before can also affect the way you attack too.
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Re-flavour ‘magic missile’ to become spirals of fire, or petals appear and fall each time you swing your rapier.
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An echo knight who’s echo is actually a spirit from the feywild or is the shadowed spirit of their fallen lover or something - you can flavour it in any way you want.
How about reflavouring your main stat to be something else?
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A barbarian with INT, whose rage is seething and calculative, choosing to strike specific places on their body to break them down
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A wizard with main stat CON who learns his spells by getting hit with them first
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Sorcerer with DEX or STR, his lineage had changed his body to be stronger
Signature Move
Each player could also have a signature move that utilises a spell or ability they have. This will give a boost in damage, using the proficiency bonus stuff from before, but can only be used once a day or a couple times a day. E.g. Lightning bolt in the form of twin dragons.
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Burst damage vibe
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A spell in the next tier that they hope to learn but haven’t mastered yet. A DC would be appropriate to cast
What if you changed into a different form instead like lycanthropy or form of dread?
Inspiration
Having a cool mechanic that is inspired by something else is fantastic, let's use it and personalise it
- Maybe you want to have a weapon similar to Bleach Zanpaktou's (very personalised, with multiple forms and a special ability).
- Jujutsu Kaisen domain expansion is a cool idea, set up a range around you where your abilities or spells automatically hit.
Signature Item
Players that don’t want a signature move can make a signature item, this being a unique magic item made in tandem with the DM - Soulgorger mace, Everflame gauntlets.
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Consistent effect vibe,A sword or bow that’s too strong for them to use but they can whip it out once a day and unleash a big attack
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Could be any sort of item that is incredibly close to the character’s backstory. It has gained effects somehow like a zanpaktou from Bleach
Here’s a character idea using this -> Ezekiel is an incredibly rich man, his clothes are purple and red silks with golden lining, the heavy rings he wears make it difficult for him to use his fingers dexterously but make for a solid bitch slap if provoked. His money has allowed him to have an arsenal of magical artefacts rather than learning it himself. His ‘magic missile’ revolves around Ezekiel firing 3 gold coins magically infused as projectiles at the enemy and his ‘fireball’ spell is a sack of gold that explodes like a grenade.
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This money could be actual money or even just a magical artefact that shoots them like a cannon
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Or it could be magic shaped like money because of his love for it.
Example
Here's a character I cooked up for my church dnd group using much of this character creation method
Thaddeus Aurelius Rayleigh Thatch
Races
I have made some changes to many races, let me know which one you’re thinking about and what direction you’d like to go in and we can work together on how it fits into the world.
If you prefer the RAW versions we can definitely run with it too.
Adestria - Overview - Race Changes
Here's a compendium of some fan made stuff that you're free to try as well, they're japanese inspired - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k3ujsjPjMU4mSR-LvYhydXk2LqRLAwC1
Class inspiration
Here are some questions for each class to think about. Look at the ‘Creating a ****’ for your class on dndbeyond as well. They got tons of questions, these ones are supplementary.
Class Questions
Artificer
- Do you have a signature, something that another artificer could see in your work to identify it as you?
- Why do you tinker - as a hobby, to better the world or make it worse, just for money?
- How do you fund/find the procuring of materials?
Barbarian
- Why do you rage? What does it look like?
- How do you fight?
Bard
- What does your college look like/do? Why do you bard?
- What is your comfort music? -> does that change the way the spell looks?
- Do you have any songs that are famous (for good or bad reasons)? Are you proud of them?
Cleric
- Do you have liturgy to perform? How often/how devout are you? How do they guide your actions?
- How did you first come to this faith?
- Do you have a home temple or church?
Druid
- Is there a part of nature/element that you have an affinity with?
- How far will you go to protect/preserve?
- Is there a go to wild shape you have? Why/not?
- Why would you leave the place you’ve been guarding/nurturing?
Fighter
- How/where did you develop your fighting skills?
- Why do you fight?
- Favourite weapon?
Monk
- Though you've left the site of your monastery, do you feel a connection to it and its ways?
- How has it been coming to the outside world for the first time ever/in many years?
- Is there a mantra you live by?
Paladin
- What is your oath?
- Was learning to fight part of your oath or separate?
- Is your oath religious in nature or linked to a certain god(s)?
- How easy is it for you to follow your oath?
- Do you belong to an organisation?
Ranger
- Is this part of your training or have you completed or not completed it?
- What are some things that you have learnt about your favoured enemy + favoured terrain?
- Are you a loner or do you belong to a group/organisation?
Rogue
- How does your thieves guild operate?
- What does their dialect of thieves cant look like?
- How do they look to the outside world, what about the thieves?
- Was there a hazing process?
Sorcerer
- How aware of your lineage are you and/or how common is it? Has it changed your physical body?
- What was it like discovering these powers? Was it catastrophic?
Warlock
- If your patron is a god, why would they choose a small, insignificant person?
- Do you know what you're doing/giving in exchange?
- Was this accidental or prompted, if intentional, by whom?
- What are the details of your pact?
- Is it a song
- Verbal Agreement
- Piece of paper
- No Idea?
Wizard
- What institute did you learn at?
- Who was your favourite teacher?
- How did you end up choosing a school of magic?
- Since you specialise, does this affect the way you cast other spells (less effective, less likely, less fun)
Blood Hunter
- What is your order like?
- What made you become a blood hunter as opposed to other things?
- How do you feel about using blood/pain as an engine for magic - is it gross, cool, masochistic, necessary?
Worldbuilding
Stats and equipment
for stat blocks i dont really care about rolling but youre free to do so. have the stats make sense, here's a list of what the stats are sorta linked to but i also don't mind too much -> https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/81cras/dd_ability_score_ranges_described/
for any standard equipment, gold, weapons etc. = take stuff that makes sense for your character again
Ask your DM
I always have character ideas if you’re looking for something