I was just liked to a D&D tech support video hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan. He answers 32 questions sent t him via various platforms. Even though I don’t play much D&D, I found a lot of his advice, or the thought process he applied it, spot on.
There’s one piece of advice he gives on creating characters (1:04) that I know in my head but sometimes forget in practice.
Creating characters that are wrestling with a heroic problem I can keep coming back to. Perhaps their wizard academy was burned down or their parents were heroes that were betrayed. Perhaps a war is raging across these five kingdoms. Pick someone from one of those kingdoms with something to lose, not only on a physical level, but an emotional level as well. Pick characters who care about the world they are in, and you will find yourself swept away by adventure very quickly indeed.
All of my favorite characters have been deeply tied to the situation of the game. This relates to my last post, by connecting your characters to the world and the problem at hand you not only raise the stakes, you give them something to do. They will have decide if it’s worth it to risk the lives of their beloved in order to stop a horrible evil that will affect everyone they know. They will question themselves and their path. How much good have they done vs. how much harm have they caused?
