Let me say this is optional and is intended as a way to give you a chance to make your character more real. Answer all, some or none of the questions as you see fit.
Physical and Personality Traits
- What do they look like? Are they happy with the way they look?
- How do they dress? In or out of fashion?
- What gender do they identify with? Is that their birth gender?
- Do they have any personality quirks?
--- (give small list)
- Do they have any phobias?
- Do they have any vices?
--- (give small list}
- How do they feel about: members of the opposite sex, members of different races or social classes, magic/psionic creatures, martial characters, religion?
- Do they live by a code or creed?
Relation to the World
- Do they know their parents? Are they living?
- Do they have siblings? Do they know them? What kind of relationship do they have with them, if any? How are they related (half-, step-, etc.)?
- Any friends? How’d they meet? What makes them friends? What influence do their friends have on your character, if any?
- Are they involved in any religion? If so, how active are they in it?
- How do they interact when meeting someone for the first time?
- How do they treat strangers?
- How do they view the aspects of alignment (law, chaos, etc)?
- How is your character connected to the world? Do they have prominent family, member of organization or religion, famous, infamous, or with another PC?
- Were they trained by a mentor? Who was that person, where are they now? Are they self-trained?
- When did they leave home? Under what circumstances did they leave it?
- Where do they live? What kind of building? (house, communal house; what city?)
Goals
- Why do they adventure? (money, fun, “fight the good fight”, religion, order/organization)?
- *Are they anti-heroes?
- How much money do they have? What do they do to get it when not adventuring? What are their monetary/wealth goals?
- Education: Do they seek more knowledge? How can they get it?
- Do they seek power? How do they get it?
- Do they have religious goals?
--- Setup a temple, spread the word, defeat enemy of the church
- What organization would they like to join/thwart?
- What do they consider wants/needs? Do they want to build guild, towns, business or kingdom?
- Where would they like to live?
* A word on “anti-heroes”. I am not against them, but anti-heroes are reluctant to be heroes. While that makes for interesting characters in a novel or movie, in a cooperative group setting two or more make things slow down, the party do-gooders always having to try and convince the anti-heroes to participate. The whole party should have a desire to accomplish something beneficial (at least to them) and should not need constant prodding to move the story along. Consider this when making an anti-hero.