My favorite method for character
generation is to have the player decide answers to all of these questions
and for the DM to then choose the character's attributes based on what
the player says. If anything is left unclear, the DM should roll
dice based on what the player says. For example, if the player says that the character is tall, looks muscular, and trained as a warrior for the first 20 years of his life, the DM should not just give them the 18. Obviously there are more factors, (like genes) so the DM should try rolling 1d4+14 or something to determine the warrior character's strength. I also think that attribute scores should be used which give characters significant bonuses AND penalties on one or two attributes, rather than have almost all attributes fall in the 7-14 range, making attributes an insignificant part of the game. Attributes should be used to assist in making the game interesting. Another way to determine attributes, which is less subjective, is to roll 1d20
There are many ways to roll the stats for a character in AD&D. You could roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, roll straight down the list, roll and place later, roll 3d6 16 times and take the best, or whatever. But an approach I like better is the 1d20 roll for each attribute.
Everything is the same as
the normal 3d6 roll, but instead of rolling 3d6 for each attribute, you
roll 1d20. If you roll a 1 or 2, you get a 10 for the ability.
If you roll a 19 or 20, you get an 11.
Some DMs will argue that this
will give less chance for a character to be above average, but it doesn't.
A normal NPC in D&D will have nearly all 9s or 10s and a few lower.
11s and higher are sporadically placed among one out of ten of the people.
With the 1d20 Creation System, you can make a character with several highs
and lows but a good strong average to count on. After all, the
only thing the system really does is make your chances of having average
abilities greater (a lot like real life...).
Questions for character generation:
Obviously, the character's race, class, alignment, and
gender should be listed.
What does the character look like? Does he / she have
any scars or tattoos? If so how did she / he get them?
Obviously this includes eye and hair color, but unusual gaits and accents
come into play here as well. What does he or she wear? Character's
height and weight? Does the character look muscular feeble,
fat, or thin?
When first meeting the character, what aura is projected
by him/her? What kind of person does he/she seem like? Buisnesslike?
Violent? Thoughtful? It can be anything.
Who were the character's parents? Did they raise
the character? If not, why? If not them who?
Did the character have any childhood friends? Any
siblings? Where are they now? Does the character stay in touch
with them or have they become separated? If separated why?
What was childhood like for the character?
Calm and peaceful or turbulent and traumatic?
Does the character have any or did the character have
any role models? Describe them?
What did the character do before he / she entered the
story? Who trained the character to do what she / he does now?
What is the character's relationship with his teacher(s)?
What are the character's moral, ethical and religious
beliefs? What lengths will the character go to defend those beliefs?
Who or what taught those beliefs to the character? Remember that
a character's moral and ethical beliefs, combined with behavior, not just
behavior, defines his alignment.
Does the character have any unusual habits or physical
traits? What are they? What do they stem from? How do
others tend to react to them?
What is the general reaction to the character of other
characters? Why, in the character's opinion, do they act that way?
Can the character kill? When did he decide (or learn)
that he could? Why would the character kill? Does he / she
have any enemies at all? Would or could the character kill them?
What kind of relationships does the character currently
have? Does he / she have any close friends? Bitter enemies?
If so who? What are they like? What is the history of the character
and this person's relationship?
Does the character have any mental problems? Phobias?
If so what are they? What do they stem from? (Please be somewhat
realistic here.)
How does the character generally treat others? Does
she / he trust easily, or not? How does the character relate to people?
Is he a shy and withdrawn or a condescending snob?
Does the character have any daily rituals?
Any habits?
Does the character have a notorious or celebrated ancestor?
What did he / she do? What do people assume about the character when
his / her ancestry is known? Does the character actively try to live
up to the reputation, try dispel it or try to ignore it? (Feel free
to make this part up, but get the DM's permission here for anything out
of the ordinary.)
Where is the character's homeland? What is it's
history and what are it's people like? Is the character patriotic,
or a social outcast? What is his opinion of home?
What are the character's dreams? Ambitions?
Goals?
How does she / he seek to obtain them? How does
adventuring fit into this dream, or does it at all? Why does the
character adventure?
Does the character ever want to have a family of his /
her own someday? If so with who or what type of person?