Advice from Moloch on Making Character Concepts
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I enjoy giving feedback on characters, I make no secret of that. I'd like to share what has become the most common conversation I have with people about making characters though. As always, its a personal opinion from one DM, but I do find it helps players occasionally to at least hear this.
@Player:
So, how's my application look? Its the one for the Gnome Druid Shifter.
Hmm, honestly, its been up for a week and no DMs have even voted on it yet. Personally, I find its pretty hollow, lacks a concept, and the goals are generic and dull. (Mr. Moloch is often a jerk.)
@Player:
I thought I had a concept. It was a Gnome Druid Shifter, he is from the Dales and loves animals. His goals are to love animals, protect the Red Glade, and become a Shifter.
Right, I think we need to start at the beginning. Gnome Druid Shifter is not a concept, its a race/class combination. A concept is something different. Maybe we can start there.
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What is a concept in Moloch's world?
This is the point I always tell players to start with, before you even think about an application character or a character at all–come up with a concept.
For me, a concept is typically two or three words that describe a kind of character devoid of race, class, story or anything else.
For example:
Superman is an "Unflagging Hero".
Darth Vader is a "Dark Fallen Hero".
Scooby-Doo is a "Hungry Sidekick".
Malcolm X was an "Angry Visionary".
Elvis Presley was a "Rock Star".
Gandalf was a "Wise Leader".
Saruman was a "Corrupted Scholar".
Jack Skelington is a "Misguided Visionary".
Sauron was a "Corrupt Leader".
Obviously, these are nothing more than adjectives and nouns. Inspiration comes from real world figures and fictional characters. You can pick things are random to form the central idea of your concept even should you choose.
"Greedy Rebel"
"Oblivious Crusader"
"Charming Villain"
This concept though should form a seed for your character, from which point the rest of the idea will start to flow. This helps you keep a focus, it also makes it easy when figuring out what your character will do--you can ask yourself, what would a "Heroic Monster" do in this situation?
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One thing to watch out for is avoding stereotypes here. "Elven Ranger" is not a concept, as explained above because its just a race and class, but its also a stereotype.
For the most part, stereotypes are bland and unfulfilling. Very rarely will I find them the least bit interesting as a DM, and I do notice that as application characters they are almost never approved. There is so little interesting and new about them.
However, a kara-turan palemaster/monk/bard halfling is a stereotype already. Its nothing unique at all.
There are two kinds of stereotypes and this fact is easily missed.
You can stereotype a woodsy elf ranger, or a stout dwarven fighter who likes ale, or a evil villain who likes to pull the wings off flies and wear black. We all know those stereotypes. Generally, I hate them because I can predict what they'll do in most situations and find them horribly boring to roleplay with.
The other stereotype is the 'unique' concept. Its always 'different' supposedly but mostly amounts to an outlandish background with outlandish race/class combinations.
Its just as fake and one dimensional as any other stereotype and still just as boring to me.
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So decide you want to play a Rock Star character who loves glory and attention. He'll obviously be outgoing and personable, willing to play up his exploits. Deep down he's brave, but it'd take something important to him being risked to really bring that out. This important thing is really his reputation because that's what he thinks he cares about most.
Ultimately, we decide he is a romantic though and although he flits from woman to woman without regard–deep down he wants true love. This is why he tries to gain glory in the naive belief that is how you win real love. If he ever found a true love, likely a strong woman capable of keeping his urge for glory in check, he'd develop into a brave, courageous individual.
Once you get some details like that down. Start picking classes and races. You can pick what you think makes sense now, or what doesn't make sense at all. Perhaps pick randomly even.
He clearly sounds like a good guy, and probably neutral or chaotic at that alignment wise. Although he could be lawful evil with a chance to redemption, anything still fits. The choice of alignment should certainly shape the direction the concept is going, but maintain the concept.
Fighter/paladin/bard/rogue all sound likely as class choices. Then again so does cleric, sorcerer. The only class that doesn't leap out as likely is druid, but even then if you could come up with some interesting internal conflicts. A druid tends to be lonely due to his profession, as does a ranger. So he's likely fairly naive about people entirely--and now some aspects of his personality come into a clearer focus because of a class choice that didn't even seem obvious at first.
This is how you avoid wretched characters that bore many people to tears. You can still tack on the stereotypes after you build a personality. This allows you to keep the tropes of the fantasy setting, but still creating something unique and individual.
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For example:
We decide to make this guy a druid after all. Druids tend to be woodsy, wise, nature orientated. He likes to find ways to bring people closer to nature, showing them all the beasts he's tamed, groves he's rescued. He's a big fan of taking women out berry picking, trying to appeal to them by showing them his sensitive nature loving side–he probably is highly drawn to elven women even though he's a gnome.
Yes, I almost randomly decided upon a race here. A gnome, why not though? We can stick on a few more stereotypes even that fit the race.
He's a gnome! So he also likes practical jokes; possibly things he does to get a little attention in his lonely hermitage life.
From there becoming a proactive character of good is easy. He's got a strong set of motivations desiring to find friends, romance, and glory (not in that order). We decide he dislikes arrogance in others, although he's got a little hubris to himself and will mock, play pranks on arrogant people.
He's not likely antagonistic toward a city, but would certainly try to help bring it more in order with the laws of nature. Helping domesticated animals return to the wild, encouraging hunting and fishing rather than farming (but encouraging farming as an alternative to over hunting through good farming techniques) while explaining carefully how many animals may safely be taken (even hiding animal herds if he thinks too many are being taken).
You can easily move from there outwards now building more goals, more ideals, more personality. Your character can flit from being a little unique (a glory hounded love stricken druidic gnome with a fondness for elven women) to keeping to the stereotypes (far more comfortable in nature, a bit of a hermit uncomfortable with large groups for long, a prankster gnome with a streak of silliness in him).
Yet you don't have to add in bizarre outlandish characterizations, histories of war with drow bands or a vast established history to try to explain weird class/race choices as it stands. Nor do you have yet another 'druid/gnome' who follows the always predictable path of "woodsy, likes furry animals, is kind-hearted, enjoys occasional pranks".
Your guy is chivalrous, loves to tell stories about his great deeds to the point he may even lie about what he's done to impress people, he's got a strong goal that he'll work towards with a crusader like fetish (perhaps even to the point of ultimately having to choose between love and maintaining his oaths to the druidic circle).
All without going "Hmm...I should play a gnome druid." This will push you as a roleplayer, and I personally love to avoid starting with a stereotype because it makes it too easy to forget your character's personality or even lose interest after just a few weeks.
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Now, suppose I still want to play that Gnome/Druid/Shifter concept. How would I go about looking at goals for the application? I already know goals are the most important part of the application, they show how my character will interact with other characters to foster Adventure and Intrigue, so what will I be doing to earn the Shifter Prestige Class?
Shifters come with their own set of "stereotypes", as does any Prestige Class (PrC). Usually, the idea is a character who loses his individuality by adopting the physical form of many creatures, so at home with a myriad of physical forms–the mind begins to lose its own self-identity or find it less important on a cosmic scale.
That's all well and good, but our concept was a Rock Star and he is all about his individuality. So how would a Shifter make sense?
He seeks love, and remember he sought the love of elven women. He likes glory and attention. Yet he's a mere gnome and this has often troubled him.
So our shifter is looking to actually over-come some self-doubts and internal insecurities by becoming something more than he really is now. Part of becoming a Shifter for him is an escape from what he dislikes about himself physically.
An interesting story could develop here where the character learns to find peace with what he is and forsakes his pursuit of the Shifter PrC; or even where he finds it and discovers that as an individual spirit--he already was more than his physical form and this is what finally loosens the bonds he had on his gnome-form and allows him to accept the power of a Shifter.
Now, the story is interesting--but not important to the application process typically. What you need are goals that will interest DMs and players.
Shifter goals often tend to be generic, and that's in keeping with most Prestige Class goals because people try to use stereotypical goals that suit the class (or faction in faction applications). Let's avoid the obvious:
Our character is a Rock Star! and this doesn't suit the concept at all.
