Creating your character

A little bit of background: Unlike many campaign settings, this one isn’t medieval (ie Earth between the 5th and 15th centuries).  This world is closer to Earth in the 1700s (a time period that includes the Golden Age of Piracy, the War of Spanish Succession, the Seven Year’s War, and the American and French Revolutions).

It’s an age of exploration and discovery.  The whole of the main continent is known, and contains countries governed by the various races.  Some countries consider others friends and trading partners, others rivals, and some are even at war.  There are wizards who wield powerful magics, but there are also scientists and scholars.  As for religion, history tells of a time when the gods granted incredible miracles to their followers and even walked among men.  However, a great conflict erupted amongst the gods, leading to the Dark Ages.  It is said that the conflict weakened the gods, and a few were even killed.  While most people acknowledge the existence of one or more gods and may even say a prayer from time to time, men of faith have become uncommon, and those that the gods grant magics to even rarer.

The story will begin in a small trading city.  It’s in a human-controlled country, but it’s both a seaport and along a land trade route.  It’s far from the capital, and close to the border.  Humans, halflings, dwarves, and elves are all common, and few would look twice at a gnome or a half-orc.  Dragonborn and tieflings are unusual enough to draw a few stares and create some gossip, but still not unheard of.

Recently, some people have started to go missing...

It’s up to you to decide who your character is.  How does your character fit in?  What kind of life do they have here?  Take your character’s race and class into consideration.  Now, answer the following:

1.)  Who are you?  Please tell me a little about your character’s background.  Who is he, and what does he do for a living?  Is he respected, or disreputable, or unknown?  How did he end up where he is?  Do you have any family?

2.) What does your character want out of life? Fame?  Fortune?  A quiet retirement?  Political power? A change in the social order?

3.) For this campaign to get going, your character will choose to go on the adventure. Why?  Is it your duty to investigate the missing persons?  Are you seeking a reward, or the favor of the local government?  Is someone you know missing?  Is it your divine mission?

Finally, think about the following question carefully:

What is it you like about playing Dungeons & Dragons?

Now, consider the following six playstyles.  Rank them from what you like the best about D&D to what you like the least.

Acting: You enjoy getting into character.  You most enjoy social interactions and other situations where you have a chance to really be in-character, whether you’re talking to an NPC, a party member, or even a monster.  D&D is about the chance to live out your character, and it’s less about what you would do than what your character would do.  You put the “roleplaying” in RPG, and you’re not afraid to do something in-character that you know out-of-character isn’t always a good idea because you know that it’s what your character would absolutely do.

Exploring: The world, and what it has to offer, is the most interesting thing.  Fighting monsters and talking to NPCs just come with the territory, but what you really want to know is what’s up that mountain, what’s in that cave, what’s across that sea.  Uncovering hidden clues and treasure is where it’s at, and the destination isn’t always as important as the journey.

Instigating: You want to make things happen.  You take risks and worry about the consequences later, so long as you can leave your mark on the world around you.  You’re cool with stirring the pot, agitating, creating conflict, and rushing into danger, as long as you’re influencing things and moving them along.  You’d rather poke the owlbear and see what happens then play it safe and boring.

Fighting: You’ve armed with weapons or magic, and you want to use it.  You don’t care why that NPC is giving you a quest, you just want to know where the monsters are so you can go kill them.

Optimizing: Whatever you decide to be, you want to be the best at it.  Min-maxing is where you get a thrill, and roleplaying takes a backseat to making the most effective character you can.

Problem Solving: You prefer clues to outright answers.  You’d rather talk to NPCs and find notes on dead henchmen to figure out what the villain is up to than have the villain give a monologue explaining what he’s up to.  And a dungeon without a puzzle is just a cave.

Storytelling: All of the other categories are a means to this end.  You want to explore and act to get to the fights and the puzzles because you want to know what happens next.  And more than that, you’re making choices that are not always optimizing, roleplaying, or instigating, you’re making choices and doing things to affect the story and guide the narrative.