This text was written in order to help anyone, GM or player, who is having difficulty fleshing a character get over any writer's block they might be experiencing. Also, it helps more weathered RPGers flesh out their character in ways they might not have yet had addressed. Simply follow through the questions and write down short answers, bearing in mind that most PC/NPCs come from relatively mediochre backgrounds. Take those answers and use it to compose your history/personality text for your PC/NPC sheet.

1. (Part 1) Early History/Family Milieu/Childhood Environment:

a. Exactly where and when was your character born? Under what circumstances? Was he wanted? Was he adopted?

b. Who raised him? How did he live? What was his quality of living standards?

c. What was happening in the region while he was growing up? Any marking events?

d. Does he have any immediate relatives? If so, how did he get along with them? What are they doing now? How many sisters or brothers does he have? What are their names? Where are they now? What are they doing? Have they lost touch with each other?

e. Any marking events in his family's history? Fortunes made or lost? Migrations? Lost members? Found members? Deaths? Births? Crimes? Great acts of philanthropy or cruelty?

f. Is he well educated? Where and under whom did he study? For how long? Did he enjoy it?

1. (Part 2) Recent History/Entry into Adulthood:

a. Where is he living now? Is he patriotic towards his current locale? How is he living? What are his living conditions? How does it affect him?

b. Who are his close friends? Why? How did they become close friends? Does he currently have a love or exclusive relation of some sort? Who is this special person? How did they meet?

c. Who does he deal with on a frequent basis? Why?

d. Does he have anyone who dislikes him? Is either person currently acting on it, or just passive about it? Why does he dislike him?

e. Does he have any enemies with deep-seated hatreds? Blood feuds? Vendettas? Why? How are they acting out this hatred in relation to him?

f. Any marking events in his recent past? Did he commit a crime? Any acts of great philanthropy/heroism/evil/stupidity?

2. Motivation:

a. What are your character's immediate goals in the next year? What does he want out of life at the moment?

b. What are his long-term goals, in the next five, ten or twenty years? What does he want out of life in the long run? Fame? Fortune? Family? Land? Enemies crushed? Nothing?

c. What type of person, briefly, would be his ideal mate.

d. Who is his patron deity? Is he a devout worshiper?

e. Is he a member of any non-religious/secular cause? (i.e., is he a loyal servant of a king, baron, organisation, etc.)

f. Is there any race, creed, alignment, religion or the like which he cannot stand? Does he fight against it?

g. What is his greatest fear?

h. What is his greatest hope?

i. What is the one task he absolutely refuses to do?

3. Idiosyncrasies/Character:

a. What is your character's motto or favourite saying?

b. What is his favourite colour?

c. Describe what he would wear if money were no object. What does he usually dress like?

d. What is his favourite food? His favourite drink? His favourite animal?

f. What habits of his friends annoy him most?

g. What are his pet eccentricities, if any?

h. Does he have any distinctive mannerisms?

i. Does he have any distinguishing marks?

4. Personality Traits (a.k.a Virtues and Vices):

The WFRP Alignment system was designed as a quick and dirty system to predict a character's behaviour but has inherent limits that do not make for very "realistic" and "3-dimensional" characters.

Pick traits that you see your character possessing and rank them in their tendency to dominate in the character's personality as indicated just below. For example, the most frequent traits in an Arthurian, Good-type character would be the Positive traits, with maybe a couple of negative traits here and there. (Hey, nobody's perfect!) It's up to you to "paint" your character with the traits, thus one should not necessarily impose a limit on the number of traits to use. Think about the following aspects of a character's personality: his outlook, his openness, his emotionality, his self-esteem, his sense of humour, his sociability, his mannerisms, his political inclinations, his sense of ambition, his attitudes, etc.

Always:

Frequently:

Generally:

Occasionally:

Never:

Hereafter are listed the list of traits and behaviours to pick from. Note that Negative, Neutral or Positive traits are not necessarily Chaotic or Evil, Neutral, or Good or Lawful, respectively, in the WFRP sense of the alignment system. For example, being obedient to an Evil lord would make you evil, in a sense, since you will execute his draconian orders which in turn forces you towards evil acts. Obedience is a neutral trait, but the character could still be considered 'evil' in terms of "official" WFRP. Some of the negative traits are simply undesirable traits, while others are perhaps closer to what could pass as a common idea of Evil. Also, the classification is not hard and fast and is somewhat personally biased. Societal values, whether ours or in the game setting, would be a strong influence on whether something is negative or positive.

Positive Traits:

Accepting, Affable, Altruistic, Ascetic, Austere, Benevolent, Careful, Cheerful, Chivalrous, Clean, Comfortable, Compassionate, Congenial, Conscientious, Considerate, Courteous, Creative, Dapper, Dignified, Eager, Earnest, Educated, Enlightened, Enthusiastic, Forgiving, Friendly, Gallant, Generous, Genial, Gentle, Giving, Good-humoured, Graceful, Gracious, Handsome, Happy, Helpful, Honest, Knowledgeable, Lively, Mannerly, Mellifluous, Neat, Optimistic, Outgoing, Paragon, Patient, Peaceable, Perseverant, Philanthropic, Pious, Polite, Pretty, Provident, Quaint, Reliable, Resolute, Respectful, Sociable, Tranquil, Trustworthy, Unselfish, Valorous, Vivacious, Well-read, Wise

Neutral:

Accurate, Ambitious, Anarchistic, Anticipative, Aristocratic, Bold, Calm, Candid, Celibate, Charismatic, Chaste, Competent, Conciliatory, Contemplative, Cunning, Curious, Dainty, Daring, Demonstrative, Diplomatic, Discerning, Dogmatic, Dreamer, Eccentric, Efficient, Even-tempered, Fair, Faltering, Fascinating, Fearless, Frank, Honourable, Humble, Impartial, Inquisitive, Instinctual, Intelligent, Just, Keen, Lawful, Lawless, Liberal, Loyal, Meticulous, Modest, Mollifying, Moral, Non-conformist, Obedient, Obscure, Obtuse, Odd, Ostentatious, Passionate, Perfectionist, Phlegmatic, Pride-full, Prudent, Rational, Righteous, Scheming, Shrewd, Sober, Solitary, Straightforward, Virginal, Zealous

Negative:

Absentminded, Abusive, Addictive, Adulterant, Aggressive, Aloof, Antagonistic, Apathetic, Arrogant, Barbarous, Bigoted, Bitter, Boisterous, Boorish, Boring, Bullying, Callous, Capricious, Careless, Caustic, Cheating, Clumsy, Compliant, Conceited, Condescending, Confusing, Conniving, Contradictory, Controlling, Corrupt, Covetous, Coward, Crazed, Criminal, Cruel, Cynical, Dark, Deceptive, Deformed, Delinquent, Depressive, Derogatory, Despondent, Destructive, Dictatorial, Difficult, Disdainful, Disfigured, Dishonest, Disorderly, Disturbed, Drunken, Dull, Envious, Erratic, Exasperating, Foolish, Frivolous, Gluttonous, Greedy, Haughty, Haunted, Imbecile, Immature, Immoral, Impatient, Impetuous, Incompetent, Incorrigible, Indifferent, Insensitive, Insidious, Insolent, Irritating, Kleptomaniac, Lazy, Lustful, Malevolent, Manic, Manipulative, Megalomaniac, Merciless, Messy, Moody, Naive, Neglectful, Obstinate, Perverted, Plotting, Reluctant, Resignation, Reticent, Rude, Ruffian, Ruthless, Self-serving, Severe, Shallow, Shy, Sinister, Sly, Snivelling, Stubborn, Stupid, Submissive, Surly, Savage, Traitorous, Ugly, Uncertain, Unclean, Indecisive, Vainglorious, Vapid, Violent, Weak-willed, Wicked

Reality Check:

By now you should have a page or two of notes in front of you and the beginnings of a truely 3D character in your head. Read through your answers again and check that your character is believable and balanced. No living person is whiter-than-white and neither is your PC. Have you included any negative personality traits or influencial childhood events? If not, ask yourself what motivates him to risk his life adventuring. If the answer doesn't spring to mind, you should consider starting again. It's often best to start from scratch if you can't get your first character out of your head.

Once you are satisfied with your NPC or PCs character, use your notes to write a more detailed life history. Don't expect to get this done quickly or even in one sitting, and be prepared to revisit it during the course of the character's life.