The Philosophy of Character Building

How can you use the Socratic Method to create a good character? let me explain how I use a series of questions to help myself and my players create dynamic personalities for their characters.

But wait, Everybody Knows how to make a character for an RPG right? Pick your race, assign your points, pick your special abilities and then come up with a backstory that will explain him/her being in the party. throughout my time as a DM I have heard people explain their characters like this:

“My character is a Brutal Warrior whose only desire is glory on the battlefield. He hates orcs and is chaotic neutral”

“My character is an outcast dwarf who seeks redemption and honor in helping others”

Both of these are excellent starts and are seeds that could grow into dynamic characters. However, these backstories are very broad and while they speak volumes about where the character has been and their large scale goals, they don’t really reveal much of a personality. I think often in games people are told to create a history for their character but not a persona. Where a character has been and what they have done informs their personality of course but it does not define it.

Due to the emphasis on a character’s history instead of personality many characters suffer from an inconsistency of behavior or what I call “situational personality disorder” (SPD). You have all seen this, a character has up until that point not engaged in X behavior or expressed any leanings towards X but since the campaign now requires it in order to overcome a challenge the character shifts his or her behavior to fit the situation. I believe that in many cases this occurs because the player never established what the character would do in morally ambiguous situations. The answers to the questions that follow form a frame of reference which can help the player react to situations in a manner consistent with a dynamic (realistic) personality.

These questions take the character from a collection of characteristics and abilities on a sheet to a unique individual that the players will feel more inclined to play with consistency of behavior, almost like they are doing the character wrong by not following what their personality would desire. These questions also create a framework in which they can think like their characters instead of thinking only in terms of game practicality.

Question Examples:

how does the character feel about killing? is it ever justified? does he feel that monsters can be killed with impunity but not humans? what about Dwarves, Elves, Aliens, etc?

What is the role of the law in the character’s mind? is it for the good of all? does it stifle freedom? is it the tyranny of government? does the character obey the law? what kind of situation does it take for the character to commit serious crimes?

does the character believe in higher powers? what does character believe he owes the gods?

how does the character think of those higher in society? Lower? what does the character think of his/her place?

what about the opposite sex? Strait, Gay/lesbian? are the opposite sex to be protected or to be manipulated?

how loyal is the character to his/her word?

how does the character feel about other adventurers? does he/she seek camaraderie or just the accomplishment of personal goals?

Does the character care about the opinions of others?

does the character want to find love?

does the character have a family? wife/husband/Lover? where are they? what are they doing?

why did the character join his profession? is his profession in line with his class or was he a farmer until he became a fighter to defend his home from bandits?

these questions are just a small sampling of the questions I ask my players to answer when making a character. I tailor them depending on the vague backstory they give me and the setting I plan to run.

I have met with a lot of success using this system. The players have often created memorable characters they love to play. Using this system I have actually seen long time dungeon crawlers try to skip through combat to get to character interactions.

The Lone Wolf

So you’ve made your character and your so excited for your new rebel without a cause, he’s inspired by Jayne from Firefly or your favorite badass from fiction and he doesn’t take sh*t from anybody. He wanders the world keeping an eye out for number one, he’s probably chaotic neutral and will never do anything without substantial personal gain involved. To put it simply hes a lone wolf, the down to earth self interested hero that we love so much in American pop culture. Well guess what, you just created one of the most notorious problem characters in roleplay, second only to the chaotic evil sociopath.

My judgement of these characters may seem harsh but I know from experience both playing and storytelling that there are fundamental flaws in the lone wolf / self interested character. First foremost the lone wolf does not get along well with others. The lone wolf archetype does not like taking orders and he doesn’t liking people depending on him making him a difficult character that usually throws a wrench in game flow. In many situations you will either have to sacrifice your roleplay to get along with the party OR you will extort the party for extra shares of treasure OR always suggest that whatever you are dealing with isn’t your problem. Many a game I have played where the party couldn’t roleplay to the fullest because they didn’t want to deal with the lone wolf telling them that he had no interest in saving the town from undead without coin.

Which brings me to my next point: even in games where the players aren’t intrinsically ”good” the party will usually get wrapped up in a quest or arc that involves sacrifice, selflessness, and periods without direct rewards for their actions. The lone wolf character is hesitant to trust in his allies and undertake dangerous quests that seem hopeless or overly risky compared to the rewards. Now most of my anger about this archetype is because players model these characters after their favorite anti heroes without watching the end of the movie. In westerns for example the lone wolf who never cared about anybody but himself has an epiphany. After which he decides to make a stand for the weak and the helpless even at great personal risk. It is this transformation from a very flawed and selfish character to a hero that makes the anti hero so attractive to the American psyche, the anti hero is accessible and human.

So my advice to you is that if you like to play lone wolves remember that there are other people at the table besides you. Remember that you chose to stay with the party so you should roleplay your character accordingly, don’t act like the party has to convince you to stay. Finally remember that the characters of any roleplay game are heroes and while they may be good, evil or neutral they are always doing great deeds. A character who walks through the campaign uttering the phrase “it’s not my problem” will rarely do great deeds.