Chaotek Thoughts

Create unique and memorable characters

One way to create a memorable character is to create a unique character by breaking the standard mold. We’ve seen this in novels, namely Drizzt Do’Urden the goodly drow, and Olive Ruskettle who was a halfling bard when halflings couldn’t be bards (in 2nd edition statted as a thief with music instrument proficiency). These characters followed standard rules for character generation, just taking the rules and spinning a good background story. Without house rules, you can break the mold very easily by changing the “power source” of the character. Here are some ideas to get you started on breaking the mold for your next PC:

• Two Minds – Instead of a barbarian flying into a wild rage because of their less civilized culture, rather they become a different person while raging. Imagine a barbarian who is possessed by a demon (real or imagined), and that demon takes over whenever the person uses their rage ability. While not in a rage the character is cowardly or otherwise passive, but turns into an aggressive monster when threatened or hurt. Alternatives: might be multiple personality instead of possession or any use a non-rage character like a fighter and use the same personality change.
• Culture Shock – Many character concepts have a stereotype based on culture. Try using an alternative culture which results in the same game effect. Try a wild bard, like a Viking war-chanter (skald), who has all of the same skills as a typical bard but acts like a barbarian or druid. Another example is a barbarian from the city. Maybe they grew up on the streets, lacking formal education and harnessing anger as a street brawler or thug. Alternatives: consider a character who is not typically found in a given culture, like a sorcerer from Thay (Realms), a paladin from Neraka (Dragonlance), or a dwarven druid (Pikel Bouldershoulder).
• Monster Race – Like everyone’s favorite drow, using a monster race as a PC can definitely make for a unique and memorable character. Now I’m not encouraging the creation of more dual scimitar wielding drow, or an absurd monster race. Consider something weak, like a kobold, goblin, etc. This will allow the PC to avoid that ridiculous level adjustment and still have a special character. Alternatives: consider using a character, who like Drizzt, has abandoned his race or culture but instead comes from a normal race. For example, a human who has abandoned humanity to live underground with dwarves or a half-orc who yearns to live as an elf.
• Poor Training – How about a character who did not receive the normal training for their abilities. Imagine a martial artist (monk) who did not receive standard training and instead learned their superior fighting skills fighting on the streets of a city. Or a wizard who is self-taught, maybe from a culture which looks down on magic. Alternatives: maybe consider a character who was trained, but in something else. Maybe they spent years training to become a wizard, but it never sunk in.
• Retirement – Perhaps instead of being a spirited youth seeking adventure, your character could be an older, retired person before their started their adventuring career. In the modern world, this would be akin to a mid-life crisis. Something mundane like a blacksmith who took to the road after closing up shop, keeping his trusty hammer retooled as a weapon. Or a career soldier who never saw any action, so after retirement he’s set out to find it. Or a librarian who grew tired of 20 years of reading others’ tales and wants one of her own. Older characters benefit from lots of experience, even if indirect, which could be a lot of fun. Alternatives: Obviously the alternative to old age is youth, perhaps the character is a child or teen (or equivalent for their race). The youth could make them fearless, yet naïve. This could be a very good character concept for character growth, as the realities of the world start to sink in.
• Divine Power – A common concept in RPGs is divine influence. This is obvious for religious characters like priests and paladins. However this doesn’t mean that a character from another character type can be divinely powered (or believe that they are). For example, a bard could be an evangelist instead of a common storyteller. In a modern game, imagine a vampire who is a devout catholic (the self-loathing would be immense, I know), however this vampire might believe that God made them this way for a reason. Maybe the character believes that their magic is not arcane at all, but divinely granted and requires prayer like a priest to accomplish. Alternatives: instead of using divine power, maybe the character thinks their abilities are a display of their own divinity. This delusion could be quite entertaining. Additionally, any character can be highly religious, regardless of character type. Even a fighter can have a lot of interesting flair if they are devoutly religious. On the opposite grain, perhaps the character is an atheist, or doesn’t believe the deities are really gods at all, powerful yes but not divine.

I hope these ideas get you started on creating unique and memorable characters. Like I said above, I’m not encouraging more dual wielding good drow, as that’s not unique anymore. Create a character who stands out, with a lot of personality. It doesn’t require house rules or major rules “interpretations” to have a character break the mold. Just take a character’s abilities and apply a different source for those abilities other than what is provided in the text