Assuming a Persona

So you're on the other side of the DM screen. You are the Player. But before you sit down to the first session, you need to create a character. The mechanics of making a character will vary from system to system; but before pencil gets put to paper you need to know who you are making.

For D&D the personality is secondary to the mechanics of the game; but is no less important than rolling dice. What motivates your character? What do they dream of? What are their goals?

More importantly: where do you go for the answers to these questions. If you've roleplayed before, the answer is trivial, but a to a new player it can be mystifying. How are they supposed to come up with these answers?

You can look to many different places for inspirations on personalities. If you're just starting to play, perhaps playing someone whose beliefs match closely to yours will make the experience easier. You know what you will and will not do in most circumstances, so you can just be yourself.

If you want to go outside of who you are, you can look to literature, movies, and even psychology for ideas. Find a movie or a book that you like and base your character off of a character you are fond of. Using this manner, you know how the character has acted in situations presented in the book or movie and can extrapolate from that.

Or you can take a favorite character and change in ways you find interesting. What if Batman was willing to kill? Would he approach everything the same way. What if Superman was the poster boy for religion instead of patriotism? Not all changes need to be that dramatic, even subtle differences can result in unique characters.

You can even turn to Jungian psychology and look at archetypes in developing a character. Basing a character off of ideas such as the Wounded Healer or the Wise Old Man can lead to very rich characters.

Finally, you can show up with a blank slate of a character, relying on their alignment to provide the framework of who they are. From there, you develop their personalities as situations arise. Perhaps your characters first encounter with a dwarf is unpleasant and your character then becomes somewhat of a racist towards dwarves. The key here is to remain constant in how you act. Any changes to the way you behave need to be evolutions of what happens in game.

After you've done all that, or just decided to use "The Blank," you can begin the number crunching.