The key to creating a good player character in a pencil and paper RPG is the same thing writing a good character in a story. It’s all about motivation. You have to understand who your character is, where he or she is coming from, and what it is that they want.

Personality

The first step in creating a fully fleshed out character is to determine their personality. After you’ve rolled your dice and determined your stats, technically yes, you have a character that’s ready to play, but if you don’t know anything about your character’s personality, they will end up being just another generic barbarian or wizard (remember, mysterious is not a personality). Depending on the game system your playing with, there may actually be a mechanic already in place to help you with this. In the Savage Worlds system, your character’s Hinderances can go a long way in helping shape them. If you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder though, this is something you’ll have to do outside of your standard character creation.

One mistake that happens all too often is people trying to make their characters’ personalities too complex or playing them too subtle. I think a good rule of thumb is to pick two or three easily identifiable character traits and start from there. Maybe your character is overconfident and charges headlong into situations without stopping to think first. Maybe he’s compassionate and wants to help every NPC with a sob story he finds along the way. Maybe she’s always jovial, no matter how grim the circumstance, or maybe she’s a real curmudgeon and has a hard time getting along with strangers. If you come up with a few good traits that are easy to incorporate into your role playing, it will make your character seem much more like a real person and not just a collection of stats. The most fun can actually be when you pick traits that actually conflict with each other, like the braggart gunslinger who goes on and on about how great he is, but when the shit hits the fan, ducks and hides like a coward.

Back Story

Now that you’ve got an idea of who your character is, you need to decide where he came from. A good back story is the key to a fully realized character. Just like you didn’t suddenly appear in your room for the first time ever this morning, your character shouldn’t feel like they popped into existence two seconds before the start of the game. Ask yourself, why would my rogue be sitting in this particular tavern on this particular night? If you can’t answer that, you’ve got more work to do.

You don’t have to write an entire novel, but you probably should jot down a few paragraphs about your character’s life before the start of the game. Where was he born? Was she part of a loving and noble family or an orphan raised by a secret society? Understanding their background can help you get a better grasp on your character’s personality. Additionally, it allows you, the player, the ability to start shaping your character’s story. A good GM can take elements from your back story and incorporate it into their world building. In some of my most recent games, characters and groups from the players’ back stories have become the most compelling NPC’s we’ve interacted with.

Goals

There’s a rule in fiction that says every character needs to want something. The same is true for RPG’s. Your character’s goals can come in a few different forms. There are the fairly standard classic RPG goals like, making a name for yourself, amassing a fortune, or seeking a life of adventure. These will work in a pinch, but they are also incredibly generic and don’t really help build your character at all. You might want to consider giving your character something to motivate them on a more personal level. Perhaps she is seeking to bring justice to the land due to a particular injustice she suffered in her younger days. Maybe he is on a revenge quest to find the man that killed his family. You can also make your long term goals purposely difficult to attain, like toppling a corrupt regime or destroying an evil organization. Your GM can work with your goals, weave them into the plot of the campaign, and they can provide more structure to your game.

Characters with defined personalities, histories, and goals, are compelling characters. You’ll have more fun playing them and your party will have more fun interacting with them. If not, a dragon will eat you.

*All original art in this post by Dave Ganjamie