Quickie Character Flavor

Spicing up the game persona




I use three methods to immediately impart flavor to characters. One or two significant traits should be enough for regular NPCs. For PCs, the traits just tend to pile on as you keep playing.

Details, Details
This is when you delve into the background of a character and write in as much info as you can. You note down favorite foods, catchphrases, signature moves, maybe even
whole family trees. You can also create thematic details like Otto’s musical spells or Bigby’s hand spells. One of Helmut’s men keeps starting his comments with “my grampa told me…”

The Not aka The Exception
The lawful good Lich. The happy-go-lucky dwarf. The stocky elf. Melee hungry mages. Take one or two stereotype traits and turn them around. Depending on the effect you want the characters can be effective or ineffective, funny or serious. They will be surprising though if you don’t overdo it.

Cyborg

It’s a term I use for tech driven characters, those that use metagame ideas to make them unusual. Sometimes, but not always, they are created to be combat monsters. This includes those half-giant spiked chain masters with spring attack. Note that it also includes multiclass commoner/rogues. Technically, lawful good lich is also a cyborg but categories overlap anyway.

Session One

The Well of Adventure


Kendric is hired to travel to Geoff in search of a rare item. Helmut is asked to seek the aid of the [very small] town of One Well in the fight against the giants. The two meet and investigate the town’s mysterious immunity to the Giants’ incursion. They stumble upon an old Oeridian tomb being explored by orcs.

Finally! After schedule conflicts pushed back our starting date, we managed to get the game rolling.

The first session establishes two of the PCs: Kendric the rascally halfling and Helmut the beer brewing cleric [diety to be announced]. Sure enough we manage to get everyone in the same tavern in a small town in Geoff. From there it took less effort to actually have them work together. In this case Kendric needed some religious sigils interpreted.

Aodhan [Kendric] was a bit surprised about how it played, noting that a lot of important things did happen before they even got to the tomb. We played out a lot of establishing scenes just to immerse ourselves in the setting. Then I had to convey the strangeness of the town. It seems I did give them enough information to mull over.

He also liked the part about characters acting according to internal logic. During the first encounter they were not fully armored because they were busy searching the countryside. When they discovered the tomb and the orc sentries, it was too late to gear up.

Helmut was all over detailing his band of fighting men which added much flavor and humor. Most of them were Perrenland natives except for new recruits from the Ulek coast. The potential for cultural comedy is present.

The next session Mal’ahk finishes up his paladin.