Many players struggle to create interesting characters while playing tabletop RPGs (ttrpgs). They may not put a ton of effort in because they lack knowledge about what to do or worry about messing up their character. They don’t realize that it doesn’t take much to make a character interesting.

You don’t need a 10 page backstory going over your character’s traumatic past, they just need a reason to be in the party. Give them a personality. Two characters with the same backstory, but different personalities will seem very different! What grounds your character? What flaw or flaws do they have?

Think of your favorite book series. Think about the first book and then think of your favorite character in that book. What makes that character so interesting to you?

“Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters.“

Cassandra Clare

The Foundation

When you create a character you may feel tempted to detail every aspect of your character. Being in a shorter campaign can make this daunting or even a bad idea. Let’s examine some broader strokes.

1. How did they grow up? Are they from a simple farming family? Were they the child of a duke? Did they travel with their tradesmen father? You can tell a lot about a person based on how they grew up.
2. How did they get from their normal life to being in the party? Perhaps they always dreamed of being an adventurer, maybe they are on the run, or the may be trying to get revenge. What we need to know is why they joined up with the party.
3. What kind of person are they? Are they optimistic, happy go lucky, reserved, mean, a scaredy cat? Try to think of it as describing one of your friends to someone. “Have you met Joe? He’s a great guy. Quiet and nerdy, but really reliable.”
4. What flaws do they have?

Example Character

Here’s an example:
Harn was kidnapped and enslaved at a young age. He grew up serving his captors and resenting them for what they did. Harn eventually escaped and is now on the run. He joined the party to make some money while hiding, but to also find the family he was kidnapped from. He is very reserved and suspicious of others, especially of those that are in power. Once Harn trusts someone though, he would die for them.

That’s six sentences. six! I bet that you’re interested in what happens to Harn though, right? What will the party do when they find out that Harn is a fugitive? Will he find the freedom he deserves or be recaptured and possibly killed? Will the party earn Harn’s trust? After creating your character, it is important to have them interact with the world, not have you interact through the world through them.

Consistency is Key

Once you have your foundation, who your character is, we get to the hard part. Making sure you play your character in a consistent way. Here you have to make it up as you go. Would your character do this in this situation or would they do that? Only you know. Just make sure that they aren’t just swapping personalities mid adventure.

That isn’t to say that they can’t or even shouldn’t change, that’s what we call a character arc. For example, lets go back to Harn. Harn is generally going to be suspicious of people so if we come across someone in the woods, like a merchant with a wagon in some mud, they are going to be wary! Would Harn help the merchant without being pressured to? What if a reward is offered? How far would Harn go to help them?

By keeping your character consistent in their actions, they will feel like a real character with a real story. People are irrational though and so you don’t need to be 100% consistent, no one is. If you are going to “break character” that there is a reason for it. Harn would be much more willing to help a lost child or slave, for instance. He may be a cautious person, but he isn’t heartless.

Character Arcs

Another important thing to look for when making an interesting character is to have a character arc. A character arc is simply the change your character goes through over a period of time. This is where we take some character flaws or problems and work through them. A character can have one or more arcs happening at any given time.

An arc is a big deal for a character. Deciding what the arc is about and how the character will change are important things to think about. Like creating our character, this doesn’t have to be complicated.

We will look at Harn again, as an example. Remember the people that enslaved him and are now hunting him down? Well that is going to be the basis for our arc! There are a couple of directions that this arc can end up going, but it will come into play as we encounter some bounty hunters and go into cities. Harn will have to hide his appearance to avoid getting caught and if someone does find him, does Harn kill them, scare them off, or something else?

The decisions that Harn makes will determine how the arc ends. Perhaps arc is able to trust people more and gets bought out and freed by a nobleman that Harn has helped. Maybe Harn goes on a quest of vengeance against his former captors with his new friends and makes them pay for what they did. How the arc ends and how your character changes is ultimately up to you.

Conclusion

Creating a character might initially feel intimidating and overwhelming, but in reality, it is much easier and more approachable than you might think! It’s all about understanding the basic elements and letting your imagination guide you through the process. Create what you feel is cool and other people are bound to be drawn in as well.

Go out there and write up some interesting characters!