How to Introduce a Character
Introductions can be hard. Careers have been born from giving advice on how to do it, Apps have turned people into billionaires because of it and many a Dungeons and Dragons campaign has died because a party is just missing that one extra person. Fictional characters are exactly the same. Yes, your party will meet more peasants, farmers and merchants than you can shake an immovable rod at but the amount of them that amount to more than a scribbled name in a player's notes is few and far between. How do you cement an NPC as a true cornerstone of a campaign? Well, it is all in the introduction my friend and if you have a few minutes to spare, pull up a seat, get comfy by the fire and let me share a few tips I have gathered over my almost 20 years of being a Dungeon Master.
Like onions, characters should have layers!
For me, the most important step starts before any dice have been rolled. If you want your people to invest time in a character, you have to be willing to invest time into making them. I am not meaning rolling stats and coming up with what gear they are carrying, instead, what is their backstory, their motivations? Are you creating a new Big Bad Evil Guy or an NPC there to help the players out? Why are they doing what they are doing? Do they have doubts about what they are doing? What would they be doing if they weren’t here? It isn’t practical to write pages of backstory for a character that might only come up a few times in a campaign, but just answering these questions for yourself will create layers that players can discover which in turn, helps develop an interest in the character, bringing them back to them time and time again.
Break expectations!
Remember, there is no copyright in your personal Dnd game!
Once I have a little bit of context for a character, I think it is always good to reflect on what you have created. Look at how their backstory fits into the world, is there a way to link them to a player’s backstory? Maybe they worked in the same organisation as one of the character's parents, or maybe they were tormented by the same evil character in the past? I personally enjoy looking for any tropes or similarities to known characters from popular culture. It is inevitable that you will pull ideas from things you love and your players will be looking out for this too, so use it to make the character even more intriguing. Perhaps your new Dark Sun character was enslaved as a young child after an evil warlord and after learning to grow strong has broken free and sworn for revenge?
Instead of having them become a powerful warrior who wanders the desert for justice, maybe they broke free using dark and forbidden magics, now they lust to take the warlord’s place? Creating something familiar and just switching a few small details can really send your players on a roller-coaster!
Make an entrance.
This may seem pretty obvious, but nothing beats a first impression! Write a short paragraph in advance to get a really defined description for your character's entrance. As a general rule, description is always going to be more impactful if it is clear and concise. If you are improvising a description of your character approaching the party, you don't want to muddy the moment with backtracking and repeating details. I say this all from experience, I improvise a lot in my sessions and I still forget details. I once forgot the word lace mid-description for a Vampire and my players were too busy laughing to hear that the Vampire was about to attack them!
Bad time to forget the word hammer.
Finally, have fun with it! Creating a new character should be really enjoyable, you are creating something that your players could remember for years! If in doubt, just think, if you were playing, what would get you hooked? Always leave your players wanting more, with enough details to get them interested, but not enough to destroy the mystery!
Finally, how could I not make this post without introducing someone? Well, allow me to introduce Phantasia Bobbleknot!
By Von Milano
I can’t tell you much yet, only that Phantasia is one of a whole cast of completely original characters from Unlimited Realms next project, (See the importance of mystery in a good introduction!) If you want to know more about this enthusiastic alchemist, stay tuned to our social media pages or sign up for our Newsletter below!
Oh, who am I? I am Mat from Unlimited Realms, I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of my new blog, look forward to sharing more next time!
