Making D&D Characters with Character, Part 3
There is little value in advice without application. Understanding the importance of defining your character's personality is different from being able to consistently portray that character. How are we to inhabit the minds of fictional characters, especially those that only exist in four or five sentences?
Let's discuss how to turn a potentially problematic character background from 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons into a factory of fun for everyone at your table.
Background: Outlander The Outlander is a popular background for D&D characters. It's available in the Player's Handbook, so almost everyone who plays will have access to it, and it's a natural choice for anyone originating from rural areas or wilderness. Their skills and features make them excellent at surviving on the trail. For today's analysis, I rolled the following personality traits from the background's tables. Personality: 8 - I was, in fact, raised by wolves. Ideal: 1 - Change. Life is like the seasons, in constant change, and we must change with it. (Chaotic) Bonds: 2 - An injury to the unspoiled wilderness of my home is an injury to me. Flaw: 5 - Violence is my answer to almost any challenge. |  |
With personalities like wolves and flaws like violent problem-solving, it's no wonder the murderhobo cliché persists in tabletop RPGs. Taken at face value, we're looking at an angsty, assault-prone loner - exactly the type of character that will get on your friends' and DM's nerves. That makes this result perfect for today's discussion.
Personality: Raised by Wolves
Our goal is to come up with a character that plays well with others, so let's start by steering away from the image of the lone wolf howling at the moon that we're all picturing right now.
Aspects:
Raised in a pack, not as a loner
Not only are you used to being part of a team or family, you tend to prefer it. You may desire to lead the pack, or you may be content to follow the alpha and perform your role without being a disruption.
Always hunting for the next meal (reward) that will benefit the pack
What is good for the wolf is good for the pack, and what is good for the pack is good for the wolf. You're always on the lookout for means to improve your group's standing. This could mean many things, from quest rewards to subverting competition.
Comfortable outdoors, eating simply and sleeping on moss amidst the sound of wildlife
You could insist on sleeping with the windows open to connect to the wind and the sky outside; if some bugs get in or the temperature isn’t perfect, it's no big deal to you. Sounds in the wilds that would be scary to cityfolk make you feel at home.
You are still a sentient humanoid, however; if not accustomed to creature comforts like beds and hot meals, the prospect of a stay inside could be exciting, rather than chafing. Instead of falling into the, “I’ma sleep on the floor or in the dirt outside,” trope, get excited about a bed, a bath and hot food! These are atypical luxuries for you, it's OK to enjoy them!
When in town, it could be fun to play up the bumpkin-ness of this background. Always being surprised by the price of things and hesitating to negotiate - the cost must be the cost, if I could get it for less they would offer it for less, right? - could create fun roleplaying opportunities for you and your more urbanized party members.
Finally, there is no obligation here to act like a reticent wallflower. Wolves are social creatures, but they aren’t exactly masters of vocabulary; instead of avoiding speech, engage willingly, and appreciate big words. You don’t have to act like you don’t understand, especially with high mental stats, but admiring - or being flustered by - impressive speech could be fun.
If so inclined, fitting in a speak with animals-style ability would be apropos.
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Spells are an obvious option for this:
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Ideal: Change like the Seasons (Chaotic)
How cute would it be to take this literally? Be the older person on the block that goes all out decorating for every holiday. Be fashionable and get very excited about fall jackets, scarves and winter hats. Another literal interpretation might be an avid sports enthusiast: always on the water in summer, skiing in winter, and whatever it is people do outdoors in spring and fall… hiking and sportsball, maybe?
Let’s not overlook the fact that this ideal dictates a Chaotic alignment, however.
Chaotic good (CG) creatures act as their conscience directs, with little regard for what others expect. Copper dragons, many elves, and unicorns are chaotic good.
If it’s good, it’s right, even when the law says otherwise.
Chaotic neutral (CN) creatures follow their whims, holding their personal freedom above all else. Many barbarians and rogues, and some bards, are chaotic neutral.
You could fight for the oppressed, bristle at overzealous magistrates, or express your personal freedom physically with tattoos, hairstyles and fashion.
Chaotic evil (CE) creatures act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their greed, hatred, or bloodlust. Demons, red dragons, and orcs are chaotic evil.
I keep saying you don’t have to be a jerk, then the rules steer us right back to it. CE tends to be less interesting than every other alignment and requires additional thought and care to make work at the table. Selfishness and violence don’t play well with others.
If you must play Chaotic Evil, perhaps posture yourself as using the party to further your intentions, and consider discreetly playing them against one another to prevent strong bonds from forming between them that might overrule your influence. If you view another character as the leader of the pack, you could be their aggressive enforcer, gnashing at those who oppose them; there’s only one alpha in the pack, remember, but all the wolves have a place. I’d suggest working with your DM on a good way to fit CE into the party dynamic. If you want to be violent, you’ll likely need to do it in a clever way, and if you want to be clever, maintaining the façade of being a dutiful companion requires actually being one most of the time. |
Alignment is worth its own discussion, but if you want more help now, check out RPGBot’s alignment guide.
Bonds: An Injury to The Unspoiled Wilderness of Home
If you’re working with time constraints and need to bang out a working concept quickly, go with something obvious that doesn’t require a lot of tie-in to the setting. An example would be the annihilation of your pack. This might establish a favored enemy for a Ranger; whatever bigger, scarier thing destroyed your wolfpack is now a creature type you are adept at hunting down. Other classes might opt for a group of soldiers or a particular tribe of wild folk like orks or wood elves, who you now hold a grudge against.
With more prep time, or at a session 0 prior to campaign start, you might try to work with the DM on something a little more elaborate. Is an empire expanding or building a fort and chopping down trees to build with? That would infringe on your pack’s hunting grounds, inflicting suffering on them due to either having to migrate, or trying to survive in a reduced habitat with less plentiful prey. From there, you could realize you have the ability to speak for the pack which would otherwise lack a voice, and so you’ve left them to pursue a sort of environmentalist path, or perhaps a political or legal one to try to force the government to reduce environmental impact.
This would fit a variety of characters, young or old, because you could be someone that’s just coming out of the wilds and kind of dumbly trying to affect change, or you could be older and more experienced in your city’s culture and politics.
Flaw: Solve Problems with Violence
Here we go again! Are you kidding me with this, WotC?
Grok bash heads. Only bash. Grok need learn use words, fix things. Grok have satisfying character arc. Good Grok.
The easy implementation of this is to slash your way through every roleplaying encounter, refusing to accept “no” for an answer or to respond with anything other than spilled blood, but that’s a boring and problematic way to play. Let’s stick with the wolf: they use violence to fight their way up the social ladder of their pack, to fend off aggressors, and to hunt down their prey. Only one of those scenarios has to result in death (eating your next meal).
You could always be on the lookout for worthy opponents to wrassle or otherwise physically challenge. This could be for fun, to break ties, or to subdue opponents (rather than eviscerate); a nobler character might throw down the gauntlet for a duel. When you are compelled to seriously fight someone, remember you have the option to deal non-lethal damage, knocking out your opponent rather than killing them. It’s in the rules, seriously, maybe do that instead. You can also utilize intimidation instead of assault; a wolf will bare its fangs and growl before it attacks. An older or more established character would have contacts to carry out these threats for them. Send a message to your foes instead of indiscriminately slaughtering your DM’s carefully crafted NPCs.
The fun thing about this process is that every person is going to have a different take on the Outlander described above. Far from an attempt to impose firm rules for a singular way to play this background, these are my suggestions for trying to find inspiration for your character beyond the surface level. If you can take a handful of short sentences and turn them into a textured individual with some depth, you're on the right track, no matter what track that might be.
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