Creating Good Characters
Goal
What’s your character attempting to achieve in life, what’s their end goal? It should be hard to achieve but possible, though maybe unlikely. Think about what you’d want to be able to achieve in a similar situation, time period and setting.
Some examples.
“I want to become King.”
“I want to own my own starship.”
“I want to build a legacy.”
“I want to be the greatest merchant in Venice.”
“I want a mountain of gold coins.”
“I want revenge on the man who killed my father.”
“I want to make my family great.”
“I want to protect the innocent.”
“I want my name to be sung in the halls of glory.”
“I want to be the greatest mage of our time.”
“I want to visit the plane of kittens.”
“I want to crush all the barbarians.”
A goal needs to work for the setting and importantly the other players in a party, there’s little point in deciding mutually exclusive goals unless there is a plan for conflict between players, so having one player who “wants to protect the kingdom against the demon hoards” and a player who “wants to see the kingdom burn” likely wouldn’t lead to a great play experience.
Try to pick ones that work well with each other, if for example you’re joining a mercenary company one person could have the goal “I want to bring down the Empire of Tau”, another could be “I want to create the greatest weapons science has ever seen” and a third could be “I want to run this outfit”, they all naturally pull in the same direction with opportunity for modest conflict, what if the Empire of Tau tries to hire the mercenaries?
A goal should make a player drive their character forward into the adventure, schemes and, conflict. A character that “wants to stay at home and drink” isn’t going to drive the story forward and is likely to be a simple victim of fate, funny maybe to watch their trials but possibly not much fun to play.
High Concept
We know what you want but who are you and what can you do, this is the high concept as per the standard FATE rules, it can be as simple as the title of a job, or more detailed. Again a short sentence will do, however, try to use it in a longer sentence with your goal.
“I am a knight who wants to become king.”
“I am a freighter pilot who wants to own my own starship.”
“I am a barbarian who wants to build a legacy.”
“I am a shopkeeper who wants to be the greatest merchant in Venice.”
“I am a thief who wants a mountain of gold coins.”
“I am a noble who wants revenge on the man who killed my father.”
“I am a banker who wants to make my family great.”
“I am a cleric that wants to protect the innocent.”
“I am a warrior; I want my name to be sung in the halls of glory.”
“I am a wizard’s apprentice; I want to be the greatest mage of our time.”
“I am a child, and I want to visit the plane of kittens.”
“I am a Roman and I want to crush all the barbarians.”
Now that’s a bit dull, so let us work at putting a bit more heart into it. Again you should discuss with your teammates what would go well together, it’s no use if you’re going to be flying a spaceship and all of you being ace pilots or joining the king’s army against the demon lord and all being thieves. Of course, you can make it work in situations, you could play a heavy magic game where all the characters are powerful magic users except different schools and demeanours.
“I am a proud knight of the order of Sons who wants to become king.”
“I am a cunning freighter pilot who wants to own my own starship.”
“I am a wild barbarian warrior who wants to build a legacy.”
“I am a quick-witted shopkeeper who wants to be the greatest merchant in Venice.”
“I am a willy thief who wants a mountain of gold coins.”
“I am a villainous noble who wants revenge on the man who killed my father.”
“I am a cautious banker who wants to make my family great.”
“I am a pious cleric of Her Lady Li that wants to protect the innocent.”
“I am a bold warrior; I want my name to be sung in the halls of glory.”
“I am a well-studied wizard’s apprentice; I want to be the greatest mage of our time.”
“I am a curious child, and I want to visit the plane of kittens.”
“I am the last Roman and I want to crush all the barbarians.”
Wrapping Up
Now we have some more depth to the characters, we should look at their trouble. It’s nice if it can fit in with the rest of the sentence.
“I am a proud knight of the order of Sons who wants to become king despite the fact the king is my brother.”
“I am a cunning freighter pilot who wants to own my own starship, if only I weren’t in debt to the Galactic Trading Company”
“I am a wild barbarian warrior who wants to build a legacy, but first I must overcome the greatest demon.”
“I am a quick-witted shopkeeper who wants to be the greatest merchant in Venice if only my family name weren’t so tarnished.”
“I am a willy thief who wants a mountain of gold coins, sadly the guild and I don’t see eye to eye.”
“I am a villainous noble who wants revenge on the man who killed my father, except that man is the Pope.”
“I am a cautious banker who wants to make my family great, unfortunately, nobody likes a banker”
“I am a pious cleric of Her Lady Li that wants to protect the innocent, unfortunately, the holy order has cast me out.”
“I am a bold warrior; I want my name to be sung in the halls of glory. Sadly, a warrior as great as me has upset a person or ten.”
“I am a well-studied wizard’s apprentice; I want to be the greatest mage of our time. Things tend to explode.”
“I am a curious child, and I want to visit the plane of kittens. But kittens make me sneeze.”
“I am the last Roman and I want to crush all the barbarians. The world hates us, but we will show it.”