A Backward Approach to Character Creation
Without the PCs (player characters) there would be no game. These beloved characters are the centre of the story, the figures embarking on an epic journey to restore the fabled Crown of Many Jewels to its resting place in the Forlorn Tower atop the floating earth mote... or more likely, the murder hobos running from the guards in yet another town and going so completely off track that the DM doesn't even bother bringing prepared notes anymore.
Either way, you can't have adventure without adventurers. And, of course, the best adventures need good characters. Let's look at The Hobbit as a classic example. Bilbo is a simple hobbit (halfling in D&D terminology) living a simple, cozy life in the Shire, who ends up entertaining a party of Dwarves seeking to reclaim their homeland and drive out the dragon that now lives there. The group is joined by a mysterious, old wizard who comes and goes as he pleases (like that annoying NPC in all RPGs that gives you quests but then vanishes right when you're thinking "Man, we could sure use that guy right about now"). They find magic items. They encounter all manner of foes. They ultimately find victory, but not without a cost. Lives are forever changed by the events that occur, and in the end, Bilbo is no longer the tame, innocent hobbit he once was. Little did he know that he would become the archetype for the stereotypical halfling rogue, but that's besides the point.
What makes the Hobbit such a great story isn't merely the adventure, however, but the characters themselves. It is their personality, their faults and their strengths, their struggles and triumphs, that make us remember them. The best thing about Bilbo is that he never planned on becoming an adventurer or a burglar, but he ended up being a pretty good one, surprising even himself in the process. And it is in this example, this truth, that I find the core of creating good characters for D&D. Bilbo is a person first, and an adventurer/burglar/goblinslayer second, not the other way around.
In the 5th edition PHB (Player's Handbook), there is a section near the very beginning that talks about how to create a character (pgs. 11-15). The book uses the figure of Bruenor as an example, which made this R.A. Salvatore fan extremely giddy! It's a pretty simple and straightforward mechanic to follow:
Choose a race
Choose a class
Determine Ability Scores
Describe your character
Choose equipment
At first glance, there's nothing wrong with this system at all. Following it will help you create a character that is ready for adventure. I want to propose a different method, one that starts... backward. Before I get to the actual order of creation however, let me introduce you to Magnus Helmfist.
Magnus - one of my all-time favourite characters I've played - was a Dwarven Fighter. He was an orphan from a large city - a clanless dwarf in search of his heritage. I played as Magnus while DMing (either a bonus or a tedious task depending on how you look at it), and before introducing Magnus, I had no idea he'd be a dwarf. I began thinking about the type of person I wanted this new addition to the story to be, and I began by thinking about his upbringing. Was he rich or poor? Where did he come from? Big family, small family? How intelligent was he? Was he funny or annoying, a loner or a people person? Leader or follower? I had so many questions that I wanted to answer before even thinking about race. What class this person would be was actually the last thing on my mind. So I began my thought process as sort of a brainstorm:
"Okay, this character comes from a big city, but maybe they weren't born there, or at least it's not really their home - OH, an orphan! Perfect. They don't know who their parents are and know nothing about their heritage or background. Orphans get in to trouble, so maybe he (hmm, yeah, it's a he) gets in to trouble, but doesn't really want to enter a life of crime, despite having a knack for thievery. He does odd jobs to save up some money so he can try to discover his homeland and his heritage, maybe find his parents..."
I continued this process until Magnus, the dwarf without a clan was born. Along the way, he almost became a rogue, a paladin, and a cleric, before I settled on fighter. He developed a strong affinity for the dwarven gods, however, and was a very devout person. He was proficient with thieves tools based on his background, but was a reluctant thief - he'd pick locks and disable traps so long as it was the right thing to do. I ended up settling on Fighter, because it best personified Magnus's desire to be a protector, somebody who could use his strength and fortitude to aid his friends, but not necessarily in the name of any particular deity or cause (so not a paladin). I landed on chaotic good as his alignment. Magnus was more concerned with moral right and wrong versus legal right and wrong. He would do what he thought was right and would trust his gut and intuition.
Really, the class was the least important thing about him. Yes, it dictated which weapons he used and what his proficiencies were and what his role in combat was, but Magnus was so much more than just a Dwarven Fighter. I have a feeling that, had I begun with Dwarf and Fighter and gone from there, that perhaps he wouldn't have been the same. Maybe I'm wrong.
I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone following the 'typical' method of character creation is wrong, nor that the characters created by this method automatically lack depth. What I am suggesting is beginning with that depth and allowing things like class to actually become secondary as opposed to primary features. This is especially handy if you (and/or your group) is big on the roleplay elements of the game. If you're spending most of your time in combat, then maybe depth of character isn't as big a deal, but I'd like to assume that your characters are interacting with one another, building relationships, and interacting with other characters in the world in ways which will bring the story to life. Who your character is, as opposed to what they are, will be what defines those moments.
So here is the method of character creation that I have adapted over the years and rely on almost exclusively:
Describe your character
Select a background (if applicable)
Choose an alignment
Choose a race
Choose a class
Determine your ability scores
Choose your equipment
1. Describe Your Character
Go beyond selecting a trait, bond, ideal, flaw, etc., when describing who your character is. Come up with a well thought out back story that will give your character depth. What have they experienced in life up to this point? How have they suffered? How have they flourished? What impact has their family, social status, circle of friends, location of birth, where they grew up, etc., had on them as a person?
2. Select a Background
As the PHB points out, backgrounds are optional. You can easily just give your character a couple of skills, a tool proficiency, and some sort of feature if you want. Personally, I like the idea of having a background in place, whether it comes from a source book or is your own creation. Use the background in combination with what you've come up with for your character's story to figure out what skills or proficiencies they might have. I like doing this step before picking a class, because a) it can help lead to a class choice, and b) it is an opportunity to add skills and interests to your character that go beyond their class, or in some cases, might even be at odds with it. A Paladin with a criminal past who still has connections in the underworld, for example. A wizard who was once a sailor and can operate waterborne vessels. A failed acolyte who got kicked out of their temple and now fights as a godless barbarian, yet still retains their religious training and proficiency. Picking a background first can help your character break the mould and become something interesting and unique.
3. Choose an Alignment
Why would I do this even before race or class? Simple. I believe alignment is based more on life experience, upbringing, and choices, and less on profession. It is theoretically possible to have a Lawful Good warlock, after all, even though that combination isn't what you would normally expect. In the PHB, each race has a typical alignment listed along with other racial traits and features. These are guidelines and not hard and fast rules. Classes also tend to have assumed alignments. Take the Barbarian, for example. Their very nature screams "chaos", yet there is nothing that says a barbarian has to have a chaotic alignment. Picture a lawful good barbarian that fights their own nature and is at odds with the person they become whilst raging. Depth! No mould!
4. Choose a Race
This step could be interchangeable with step 3, but I still tend to choose race before class as the PHB suggests. Take everything you know about your character so far and think about which race they might fit in to. Again, don't limit yourself here, however. If you think your character would make a really interesting gnome, even though their upbringing, background, alignment, etc. don't fit the typical gnomish outlook, who cares. You make that gnome, and make them glorious! Chaotic Good Drow Ranger partially raised by Dwarves in the frozen north, who is somewhat agnostic but aligns himself with a nature goddess, and believes his people can be redeemed from their evil and their subservience to the Spider Queen, and who wrestles with the concept of even orcs and goblins as being inherently evil, anyone? (That'd be Drizz't for those not familiar. Oh, and I guess spoiler alert if you haven't read the 30+ books in the story written by Mr. Salvatore, yet...)
5. Choose a Class
Okay, now we can choose the class our character is going to be and fill out the rest of their story. Put all of their life choices, experience, upbringing, moral compass, and race together, and based on those factors, figure out which class makes the most sense. You know what? It may be something completely different than what you originally envisioned, but I challenge you to own it and play the heck out of that class, especially if it's one you're not familiar/comfortable with.
I knew a player who, without fail, played a wizard. All the time. Every character. Elf wizard, human wizard, gnome wizard, dragonborn wizard. They would change the alignment, change the race, change little details here and there, but - no seriously - they never played anything other than a wizard because they wanted to be the magic user of the group.
Not only did it mean they never got to experience any other type of character, but it also made it hard for the rest of the group. Nobody else felt like they could play a purely magic-based class without stepping on Mr. Wizard's toes.
6 & 7 - Abilities & Gear
Finish up by selecting which abilities your character is best/worst/mediocre at, and finally, what gear they are starting out with. Even when determining abilities, however, don't just think about the class. Think about the background. Perhaps your character is a super intelligent fighter with great strength and "just okay" constitution. Perhaps they were schooled as a member of the nobility but just loved melee combat as a way to unleash, and finally realized that they'd much rather be a champion fighter than a scholar. When it comes to gear, there are the standard starting packages for each class as listed in the PHB, but feel free to work with your DM if you have something else in mind. Honestly, speaking as a DM, I love it when players come up with something different, and as long as it's not a game-breaker or an OP (over-powered) situation, I'm more than happy to try and make their ideas work. I want my players to enjoy playing, and I want to encourage them to own that character and bring them to life!
So there you have it - a method of character generation that I call "backwards" only because it starts with one of the last steps in the PHB, though in all honesty, I think this method makes more sense. But that's just my opinion, and the beautiful thing about this game is that we can all do it a little differently. So feel free to use this method or not. Give me feedback. Critique my method, improve on it, or ignore it. All good choices.
The next time you ask yourself, "What type of character do I want to play?", I suggest thinking about what kind of personality you want to try out and going from there. Are you going to play a loner or a socialite? A noble or an exile? A friendly, caring individual or a person who finds it difficult to trust others? Fill these things out first, and let the rest fall in to place, and may your adventure be as glorious as Bilbo's!
-C.
