Character Development

We’ve all been there.  We just rolled up a 1st level (pick a class).  How do I make him/her/it stand out? 

There are lots of ways to do this.  Good places to start could be an interesting backstory, an unusual preference for an odd weapon/spell/ armor combination, that ‘one thing’ that’s unusual, odd, or just plain “Whaaaaa!?!’   Some editions of D&D address this to an extent but in general it’s not a priority.

This is not supposed to be an exhaustive list, merely a prod to the imagination to the players looking for a ‘different’ character.  Let’s explore this idea for a moment. 

In a world of Min/Max those characters that choose not to do follow that theory are at a numerical disadvantage to the mechanics of the game.  But this is really not ‘real’ (for certain values of real) and all true heros have a flaw.  These don’t have to be critical flaws but can add a lot of ‘flavor.

1.        Weapon/armor preference – one option is to pick a historical combination.  Imagine using only leather armor and a kopesh for an Egyptian flair.  Axe and chainmail for a Viking or Norman impression.  Samurai? Cossack?  The possibilities are endless.

2.       Choose NO armor as a fighter!  Rock it as Conan! Another idea might be a fighter that only uses a spear and dagger.  Imagine the situations that could lead to.

3.       As a mage, choose only spells that don’t have a material component.  This is a ‘fast off the bat’ type of character.  “Ain’t nobody got time for material components!”

Conversely don’t use spells that DON’T have a material component!

4.       A Thief that doesn’t steal.  Imagine having the skills but your moral compass won’t allow you to steal from individuals.

In my case, my most favorite character all time was a mage who had a penchant for the spell ‘Fireball’.  Yeah, that went as well as you might expect.  The other players nick named him ‘Friendly Fire”…….