Comments on: Character Motivation

By: Greatest Hits 2011: Should PCs Charge Other PCs for Services? — Dungeon's Master

Greatest Hits 2011: Should PCs Charge Other PCs for Services? — Dungeon's Master — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:57:22 +0000

[...] Character Motivation [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:53:53 +0000

My character in our most recent campaign, a Tiefling Dhampyr Infernal Warlock’s goal was to go to hell. I’m being 100% serious. He wanted to rle hell despite the fact he’d have to fight 9+ archdevils to get there.

By: Should PCs Charge Other PCs for Services? — Dungeon's Master

Should PCs Charge Other PCs for Services? — Dungeon's Master — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:31:40 +0000

[...] Character Motivation [...]

By: Quitting the Party Mid-Adventure — Dungeon's Master

Quitting the Party Mid-Adventure — Dungeon's Master — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:09:22 +0000

[...] Character Motivation [...]

By: The 4th Action: Standard, Move, Minor… Role-Playing — Dungeon's Master

The 4th Action: Standard, Move, Minor… Role-Playing — Dungeon's Master — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:34:21 +0000

[...] Character Motivation [...]

By: Ameron

Ameron — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:20:48 +0000

@Shades
Starting with the quark is a great idea. I generally ad some kind of oddity or affectation after I create the character, but doing it your way might actually make character creation easier. I’ll try this the next time I make a character. Thanks for the suggestion.

An honest Drow… nice.

@Wyatt
I’m glad that character concepts go beyond “I want to use a big sword” and include some kind of motivation. Thanks for sharing.

By: Wyatt

Wyatt — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:24:50 +0000

I generally start a PC with some backstory, concept and motivation, then write it as necessary. For example, I had a character who I wanted to be a nun with guns for a one-shot game, so I made her a multiclass Cleric/Warlock Half-Elf (Wis/Con/Cha) with the feat to make her Eldritch Blast an at-will power, with a wand as the "gun". Now that I had the concept, I thought about why she was a nun with guns, other than "because this is my juvenile fantasy." After that, I wrote the rest of the stats (beyond getting an eldritch blast gun for a Cleric, I needed little else to satisfy me). .-= Wyatt´s last blog ..A Punishment Ill Fit (II) =-.

By: Shades

Shades — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:44:30 +0000

Absolutely.

When I create characters, I like for them to be more than a collection of numbers (not that the numbers aren’t important), I like for them to have personality. The more interesting the better.

I think a really good way to do this is find a quirk, flaw or oddity about the character and then look at how that shapes the character. By way of example I recently built a Drow Rogue with a fatal character flaw, he couldn’t lie. At all.

He didn’t dissemble, he didn’t stretch the truth, he was absolutely, brutally, honest.

Then I asked how that would shape someone from a society of Gypsies, Rogues, and Thieves. Answering those questions makes for an interesting character. It was a real hoot when he was introducved to the party. Someone asked him why he was adventuring, and he calmly turned to the questioner and informed that individual that he had been paid to kill him at some point in the future.

Good times.