Welcome to latest Building Memorable D&D Characters.  In the last installment we talked about how character background can be used to develop a more interesting and compelling hero, this week we shift our focus from the character’s back-story to some of the hero’s inner personality aspects, namely; Quirks & Flaws.

When we sit down to create a Dungeons & Dragons character we are usually creating a hero.  Heroic fantasy characters are the focus and the base assumption upon which the game is built.  When we think about these characters certain heroic aspects come to mind.  We think about their abilities, powers, feats, skills, and magical items.  All of these things help us to see the hero, but what helps us to see the person?  The hero is “bigger than life”, wielding mighty arcane energies, invoking the powers of the gods, even commanding legions of brave soldiers, but the person is who we really relate to.  It is the person in which we empathize with, care about, and build relationships around. 

We love to watch Spiderman in action, fighting super-villains, using his incredible powers, and thwarting crime, but what truly resonates with us on a deeper more memorable level is watching Peter Parker deal with his personal life while overcoming his fears and limitations, and still being able to rise up and answer the call of the hero.  When a hero acts heroically, it is expected, even assumed, but when a person shoulders the awesome responsibility, it becomes legend.

So how do we create the memorable person behind the fantastic hero?  One of the best ways to make characters seem more like a “real” people is to include quirks and flaws.  These are the personality traits that bring characters to life and allow us to relate to them on a more personal level, and that makes them more memorable.  First we’ll take a look at a variety of quirks and different ways to come up with them.  Then we’ll look at personality flaws ranging from the mild to the truly tragic flaw.  Finally I’ll suggest some ways in which you can work your character’s flaws into the campaign in order to tell a truly epic story.

Quirks

Quirks are the slightly peculiar habits and idiosyncrasies that virtually everyone possesses.  They range from the mildly curious, like carrying a lucky coin, to the downright disturbing, like drinking the blood of a fallen foe, and everything in between.  Quirks may be physical in nature, such as an oddly shaped facial scar, or mental, like laughing when nervous.  They could relate to an object or possession, such as the greatsword the character fondly refers to as Vera.  Quirks also take the form of odd habits or physical actions like always sitting with your back to the wall or constantly strumming ones fingers. The possibilities are endless. 

Many of the quirks a character might have may not be very “visible” while roleplaying.  In order to use them as building blocks for more memorable characters the following quirk examples are based on one of the most prominent character features at the table, speech. Speech-based quirks are more pronounced (no pun intended) and are easier to manifest while roleplaying. 

• Accents: Accents are not for everyone but one based on either race or nationality is a great quirk for a character and really helps distinguish between the player speaking and the character speaking.  Use real world accents for different races (for some reason I always think that dwarves sound Scottish, tieflings Romanian, halflings Australian, goliaths German, and of course eladrin speak with a very high-brow English accent, while gnomes sound much more cockney.  Don’t ask me why.). If maintaining an accent seems like more work than you want to do, try just speaking differently than normal.  For example when in character, do not use contractions, change the volume or tone of your voice (like always whispering), or speak in the third person; any of these techniques make the difference between you and your character stand out.
• Sayings & Expressions: Listen to the people around you, everyone has a key phrase, an expression, or a word they use (or overuse) very frequently.  (I’m sure I say “dude” 400 times a day!)  Create a word or expression for your character that stands out as a signature phrase.  These can be something as simple as an exclamation, like “Gadzooks!” or “By the gods!”  Don’t forget that your character’s class and race are great resources for inspiration.  A cleric might invoke “By the light of Pelor!” or a paladin might swear “In Bahamut’s name, it will be done!”  Warriors frequently charge into battle with a rousing battle-cry and spell casters often use “magical words” when performing magic.  A catch-phrase is a great quirk that makes your character stand-out in other players’ minds.
• Language: I assume that unless I’m told otherwise everyone at the table is speaking in “common”.  If a character is speaking some other language it is enough to simply state “I’m speaking in elven” and carry on.  However speaking an occasional word, pharse, or expression in some other language really adds “color” to a character, especially if the character’s native tongue is something other than common.  Even if your native tongue is common you can use words from other languages.  Most English-speaking Americans use foreign words and phrases all the time; like déjà-vu, bona fide, rendezvous, and aficionado.  A dwarven devotee of the Raven Queen might say;”Gorgesh moc-tar” (fate comes swiftly) over a fallen foe.  One of the characters in my campaign is an eladrin who refers to the elf in the party as valori, his elven word for “distant cousin”.  You can convey a lot about your character by what languages he uses.  Maybe a human raised in elven woodlands frequently uses elven phrases.  Even if your character doesn’t technically speak a language he may still use words from it.  I just simply make up words that sound appropriate, but there are hundreds of on-line translators out there (even for languages such as elven and dwarven).  Pick a couple and use them. 
• Forms of Address: How you address others can convey volumes about your character.  A strongly religious character may refer to others as brother, sister, or even child.  A character with a formal education may insist on calling people by their full name where as a streetwise rogue may use nicknames for everyone he meets.  Even informal forms of address such as mate, amigo, buddy, or pal, say a lot about your character and his relationships.  In my campaign the party’s leader is an eladrin warlord and a landed noble.  He addresses the other members of the party in a manner befitting his station.  He refers to the paladin as Lady Draco, the fighter (and member of the local guard) as Sergeant Un’goro, and the rogue as Mister Findoran.  He always addresses NPC’s by title and surname.  Even when publically speaking to his mother (a city councilwoman) he addresses her as Lady Eveningstar.  Creating a pattern to how your character addresses others is a great way to reinforce his personality and background.

Almost all of these techniques are easy to incorporate at the gaming table.  The key is finding a little quirk or mannerism that separates, you the player from you the character.

Flaws

Flaws can also be found in a range of severity, from the simple personality flaw, such as being a little too trusting of strangers, to the Shakespearean tragic flaw, one which will surely spell the character’s ultimate downfall.  Flaws are aspects of the personality that really ground a character in “reality”.  Regardless of how powerful, super-heroic, or even god-like your character becomes it is his flaws which make him believable and memorable. 

Creating Flaws

Much like quirks, the list of possible character flaws is nearly infinite.  The thing to remember however is that for a flaw to be memorable it needs to be something that can manifest within the game.  You character may be afraid of open water and unable to swim, but in a desert campaign that flaw probably won’t come up much. 

A character flaw is that “thing” that can keep your character from being the hero he was meant to be and prevents him from achieving his epic destiny.  When if comes to creating character flaws it’s usually easiest to think of them as an Achilles’ heel, a vulnerability, or a weakness.  Think about something that would interfere with your character’s ability to make sound decisions or use good judgment.  It could be something that causes your character to abandon his moral code or neglect his responsibilities.  A character flaw doesn’t even have to be something inherently negative like being greedy; it could be a positive quality like a willingness to always help strangers or being a sucker for a damsel in distress.  Whatever the flaw it is something that makes a character act against his better nature.

When I’m helping players come up with flaws for their characters I ask them to do the following:

1. Name at least one thing the character truly believes in.
2. Name at least one thing that is important to the character.
3. Name at least one quality that the character hates in others.
4. Now, what makes the character forget about #1 and #2 and do #3?

This exercise will help you discover your character’s flaw.  The flaw’s severity, whether it is an annoyance or a truly tragic flaw depends entirely upon how it plays out within the campaign, which brings us to the next point…

Flaws in Action

Portraying character flaws are a great opportunity to stretch as a roleplayer.  Not only that, but they are the perfect character hooks providing your DM with a host of potential plot ideas and adventure seeds.  Character flaws can also be used to help establish a central theme for the campaign.  My current campaign’s theme is corruption and redemption.  The theme is present in the antagonists, the plot line, and even in the world around the characters.  As the players develop flaws for their characters it is easy for me to tie those flaws into the theme; in this case, by actually exploring those things that bring the character flaws to the surface. 

Once you establish your character’s flaw write it down on a note card or a post-it and keep it where you can see it.  When situations arise in which it seems that it would be appropriate for the flaw to come into play; let it.  Keep in mind that our inner flaws tend to have us do at least one of the following:

• They cloud are judgment and lead us toward decisions that are not in our best interest.
• They make us act against our better nature, maybe even our alignment.
• They cause our negative traits and emotions to surface.

Work together with your DM to explore and create opportunities for your flaw to come out.  Don’t overdo it or use it as an excuse to do “whatever” you want.  The key to bringing out the flaw is to really know your character.  The better the understanding you have of who your character is and what makes him tick, the easier it is to portray the things which act against his nature.  Done properly, and in concert with the DM’s story, the character flaw becomes the perfect device to help you tell your hero’s own personal story; the epic tale of overcoming both external challenges and internal demons.  And that is what truly defines a hero.

In Conclusion

That wraps up the third installment of Building Memorable D&D Characters.  Next week we will take a look at your character’s Goals & Motivations, aspects of personality that can help you answer the question “Why is your character an adventurer?”