Creating a Dungeons and Dragons character in Fifth Edition DnD isn’t particularly hard mechanically speaking, but what if we weren’t speaking about how in the sense of point buy or dice roll but in the philosophical how? I want to talk about why I design my characters a certain way and why I think you should too!

First, I’ll answer the question of, “Kevin, why do you think you can tell people how to design characters? You aren’t exactly on a successful show or podcast playing dungeons and dragons.”

Thanks for asking! Because I’ve been playing Fifth edition since about 2014-15 and have spent thousands of hours in other Tabletop, or not, Role Playing Games, I’ve got a little experience that I think newer players to DnD might want. Obviously the popularity of TTRPGs has exploded in recent memory, so tons of new players are looking to design the types of characters that will cause them real-world sadness. Hey, I can help with that! But you don’t really get that by makin’ sure to take a feat over an ability score increase, it comes from caring in their totally real existence and in how deeply you invest in to their role.

Step one is the mindset. Step two is when we will actually make the character. Please be patient, or just skip ahead. Getting in to it, if you play a TTRPG as just a game, and make decisions or interactions based on the idea that you’re just playing a game, I think you’re already coming up short. This is your chance to be an actor! This is your chance to step in to a life other than your own and experience adventures or worlds impossible to experience otherwise. It’s about buying in. A prebuilt character can provide you an incredibly satisfying narrative journey if you’re willing to buy in. Honestly, the first ever character I played was using a prebuilt sheet that came in the Lost Mines of Phandelver and it helped me get in to what makes DnD great, which in turn helps you later create a good character. But you decide how great that character is. If you treat the character on the sheet like a person, what decisions do they make? Are they aware of their own mortality? Would they try to talk their way out of a fight in order to stay alive? Or maybe, death in battle is the greatest honor. They’d ignore healing items or spells because dying in that fight grants them eternal joy and pride. Let’s take a look at a prebuilt character sheet and talk about what I mean by that.

Hey look, Wizards of the Coast posted a bunch of premade characters you can use!

Affectionately named Half-Elf Bard 6 by Wizards of the Coast, what we have here is a character brimming with potential. (I’m assuming you downloaded the files, that’s why that link is there. But you don’t have to. Be a free spirit.) Now for the sake of this piece, I’m going to name Half-Elf Bard 6 Eldrin Aradin. Let’s cut Eldrin up in to what I think helps create the perfect character. Now in all fairness, all I’m really going to draw attention to is the background, faction, personality trait, ideal, bond, and flaw sections. That’s because this is where the person you play comes from. The abilities that they have are important in the sense of using them to play the game, but the actor or actress in you must latch on to who they are first and foremost. Plus, later in this is when I’m going to say you should intentionally play a character with suboptimal abilities and scores anyway.

Personally Flawed

Let’s start with the flaw, which in this case is being a sucker for a pretty face. This is perfect because it is incredibly easy for an average person to understand, and is therefore easy to get in to character for. Eldrin is a sucker for that beautiful elf standing by the bar in this tavern, and let’s not pretend you aren’t. A good flaw is something that can cause mishaps, miscommunication, or little misadventures. Did that divine Elf maybe get you to agree to a dangerous job for cheap? Did she steer your investigation in the wrong direction? An easy flaw to help drive a narrative journey. But do remember, this is a communal game and something like being a kleptomaniac can divide parties if you’re a little less experienced or don’t talk about what kleptomania means to you with your group. Can you have a flaw like that, yes absolutely. But when you’re just starting out, keep a flaw that is internal. External pressure is something you can do when you know your group and develop trust. I have intentionally made decisions that were detrimental to the party based on a flaw my character has had, but since I play with people with trust and who view DnD as a narrative journey and not a game with winning or losing, it goes over well. Even if sometimes I have to explain myself outside of the game later that day. That’s a tangent, let’s get back on track. Be flawed, never ignore that flaw, because sometimes the best way for a story to advance is for something to go wrong.

The other parts of Personality

But who is your character when things are going well? Let’s blend together the background, personality trait, and ideals right here and right now. This is who you are, what you’ve been, and where you’re striving to be. Eldrin is all about being the center of attention. Based on their ideal, which in DnD you should think about as their driving goal, Eldrin believes they create a better world simply by performing in it. Play this character with unabashed confidence. Let it course through your veins. But, they change their mood as quickly as one may change a note in a song. Allow your emotions and interactions to drive your mood. The elf from the bar told Eldrin that someone with musical talents like him could probably soothe that old dragon on the mountain back to sleep. They probably take that job, right? How quickly will Eldrin be frustrated when it doesn’t go well? Honestly this is the easiest part to internalize. Just allow yourself to be free enough to do it. Developing a new flaw in your life and playing a character with it may take extra thinking, but stepping in to the rest of a character should feel easier, because this is something you do whenever you play a game.

But now, the final piece.

Why you should build a character with flawed abilities

Now that we’ve spoken about how to slip in to a character that already exists, we can approach the one that doesn’t yet. Now you have complete freedom over the stats, the roles, and the personality. It’s important to weave these things together in a way that feels satisfying. To do this I want to talk about a character I’ve made that felt like a personal success.

Senna Summerwolf

The first step is to talk with your group about the expectations of the campaign. Is this serous, goofy, heartfelt, or something else? Senna was created for a serious campaign with an emphasis on narrative and role playing. Combat mechanics would be there to add consequences to actions or weight to decisions. Personally, that’s how I think combat should be in DnD. The goal isn’t a fight, but sometimes you just can’t avoid it. This also means that there really would be no reward for creating a super optimized combat character, because that character would find themselves coming up short in either high stakes conversations or incredibly important inspections. So what did I create? A multiclass fighter/warlock that was narratively punished whenever he used magic. Here’s the little excerpt from his character backstory, something I wrote almost five years ago,

He spent four years working the decks and relieving overweight merchant vessels in the Turnaway Straits and Eel Bay of their cargo. During a fateful encounter in what seemed to be a mystic’s ship, he was cursed with a dragonmark, and to brand him as a pirate forever the mark resembles the skull and crossbones flag design, and is seemingly burnt into his left forearm. Senna keeps it covered almost always, but on the rare occasions of using his power, the mark has burnt through the wraps that hide. This is nothing compared to the nightmares that follow its usage.

Congrats, you now have a character that has to pay a price every time they use what makes them strong. Now every single combat encounter has narrative consequences, can he win the fight while holding back? Will those he saves be thankful enough to look past a pirate’s brand? You as the player don’t get to answer both of those questions, which invites the other players around you to get invested and intertwined with you. One player may be thankful enough to not look a gift horse in the mouth, but another may be morally opposed to piracy, no matter who you save, since to them they’ve only seen it once. Tension and character growth create better stories. Another player at that table was an incredibly skilled magic caster, but after dying and being brought back, they could only use it when they were pushed near to death. These weaknesses and flaws allow for it to feel like every decision matters, and it’s hard not to be invested in a game where that’s the case.

So how do you make the perfect character?

By saying they have this ability, but. They have this great power, but. Create a shortcoming or setback that can be overcome through the narrative journey and character growth. Create a barbarian with high charisma and slightly lower strength because she wants to break the cycle of violence she grew up in. Create a physically strong magic caster with lower casting stats because maybe they were bullied for their lower skill and countered this with being physically violent to those that taunted them. Every setback is an opportunity! Get invested in a character that grows and changes, but remember,

The Dice will always decide your fate.

Feel free to share your favorite flawed hero, I’m always interested in reading about a great character.

-KJ