D&D Character Creation is More Than Numbers and Abilities

Developing an interesting character for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons can be tricky for some, especially those newer to the RPG hobby. What I’ve found over the years is that interesting characters come not from the big stroke events of their past, but instead the small habits, looks and decisions attributed to your character. D&D character creation involves making mechanical choices certainly, but beyond the numbers and abilities there’s a character waiting to be revealed.

The cover of the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide illustrates a diverse group of D&D characters. [Art by Tyler Jacobson]

Figure out your logic for D&D character creation

This is a really easy place to start, especially if this is the first time you’re trying to flesh out your character. Let’s take a fifth edition D&D cleric I played a while back, Adui the Trickster Cleric. When I made Adui, I really wanted to make a Obeah man, kind of like a voodoo shaman, but standard cleric abilities and spells don’t exactly elicit shaman in people’s minds. I wanted to make my cantrips and spells make sense without changing them mechanically. My sacred flame became bringing out my enemies’ evil and exposing it to the light, my healing spells coils of dark energy that grip and pump the heart back into activity. Developing and describing your abilities and spells can give your character a very unique flare. Using these abilities is going to be one of the more common things you do in session, even if you don’t describe the look of your abilities every time you use them. You’re still expressing your character’s choices and background in a non-obtrusive method.

Habits, traits and flaws

While creating a sprawling background that talks about years of life in the city you come from and the people in your life, most of that is fairly useless to everyone at the table. Without translating it into your actions or habits, writing eight paragraphs about the cobblers guild you come from is just data. Your past events or occupations are often nothing more than a travel comment of, “I did that.” However, if your past as a cobbler makes you a bit twitchy around people who don’t care for their shoes properly, that can be a lot more compelling. The idea is to translate things that have happened to or because of your character into effecting the way they act. Ideally, most of these will not have such major effects that is comes up every session and derails every scene. The sweet spot is throwing your traits in maybe twice a session with something very small and don’t let it over stay its welcome. Mention to another character that you can fix up their boots and don’t persist the conversation after a minute or so. Then, don’t bring it up again for awhile. You want to inject flavor in the scenes, not take them over with your over the top tendencies.

What do you think? What is the next idea for your character? Have you used something similar to these ideas before? Share your thoughts and tips on character creation in the comments below.

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