My favorite D&D character idea generators

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Jhank's Spellbook: Unlike most spellbooks that have space to expand, as a Divination spellbook it already contains every spell she's ever fated to know. She just doesn't understand what they are yet.

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

I have a similar concept! A drow wizard who found what is basically a thick scrap book but because each page uses different fonts or because it's littered with stains from pressed flowers and random pieces of papers and some pages have at some point fell out and then have been glued back wherever, it's hard to decipher more complex spells. This tome is a total mess so she's copying those spells she deciphers into her own book and that's how she levels up

[@Agent719]

Brilliant.

[@miyaanimations7246]

Indeed

[@Anonymous_Individual]

Reminds me of my character. He has a frozen spellbook that thaws out further when he levels.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

@@Anonymous_Individual amazing! Stealing this.....

[@craicrushna7638]

I got: CHECK THIS SHIT OUT, I'M GOING TO BE A FUCKING BROAD-MINDED HALF-ORC PALADIN FROM THE NOW DRY SWAMP WHO NEVER TURNS THE OTHER CHEEK I got Shrek

[@jeremyfrost2636]

@@Grey_Shard From a windy city? Cubs or White Sox?

[@AliceinDisneyWorld1125]

Now play him in your next campaign and see how long it takes your party (or your DM, if you feel so bold) to figure it out. 😂

[@BoredTAK5000]

Shrek is an oath of the ancients paladin change my mind

[@rotaderp88]

MELODRAMATIC TEIFLING BARD THAT ESCAPED FROM A PRISON COLONY AND IS SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT CULINARY DISH Huh

[@evelynnsophia7631]

ANXIOUS GNOME MONK FROM THE ENDLESS CORNFIELDS WHO HAS SERIOUS DADDY ISSUES

[@GinnyDi]

Okay everybody, I’ve learned that my understanding of the word haberdashery was incorrect, you can stop telling me!! I can’t change the video now that it’s posted

[@erokvanrocksalot7545]

Hey you unhesitatingly used *Retinue* correctly … and … AND to be fair, that fucking generator isn’t using Haberdashery correctly… I thought what you thought, Hat Maker because “from” implies there’s a place where this Haberdasher sells their Haberdashery/hats.

[@bmmcwhirt]

Oh how we love the internet for it's insistence on brutally demoralizing us as they try to correct our every mishap. Just tell them all that you were working from the Sharvar Dictionary volume MMCIV and if they care to verify they are welcome to head over the the Purogh system in the Andromeda galaxy and check the definition themselves. If not then they can just go lick a 10 day old sun dried Orc turd.

[@IMightBeVanny]

They could still be called Nightcap, if hats are their favorite item to sell out of all the men's clothing they have for sale.

[@ArthurRex131]

You're not incorrect in your use of the word haberdashery, actually. I looked it up and it does involve the making of hats, but a haberdasher also deals in men's clothing in general. Basically, if you want a suit you go to a tailor. If you want tophat and tails, you go to a haberdasher.

[@taylormcdonnell5113]

Actually you weren't wrong per se, Haberdasheries were traditionally hat stores. Nowadays, hats aren't in fashion the way they once were, so it is now more generally a men's clothing dealer from what I understand.

[@seansteele6532]

If the whole party is “Mistaken for famous knight.” They could be a big gang of famous knight impersonators.

[@stypayhorlikson718]

Surprise, they're all bards that do "drag" and their personas are these knights doing no knight things

[@maximusdarja]

@@stypayhorlikson718 Or like Depp at a Disney park. PC's are all impersonating a specific knight who sometimes uses them as camouflage.

[@Bhuddapunk]

My thought was the famous knight is prophesized to save the kingdom or something and meets an untimely fate and now the part has to impersonate him to fulfill the prophesy and save the kingdom 🤔

[@maximusdarja]

@@Bhuddapunk Oh, what about a Dread Pirate Roberts set up? Where there's an order of knights all training up to become the next "This Guy" and everyone else thinks he's just immortal.

[@carlycchapman]

@@maximusdarja That sounds fun. 🤣

[@jonathanblanton9446]

"Nervous artificial spy bean." To me, that's a coffee plant turned into an Awakened Shrub. She can mimic an ordinary houseplant if she keeps perfectly still. But her own caffeine makes her jittery, which means it's really hard for her to stay still. And if she's caught, she'll probably be executed. No pressure.

[@Delarissa]

Sounds like a Pathfinder Leshy Rogue or Investigator to me.

[@antonioscendrategattico2302]

Deal but only if we have them have a steamy romance with the awakened tea shrub from the opposite side.

[@razbuten]

As a forever DM, these seem like they could be pretty rad for making NPCs. Have you found any generators that are more directed at creating NPCs?

[@bean5350]

hello mr i dislike getting recognized for my checkmark. Love your dnd stuff btw

[@snazzyfeathers]

I believe Tetra Cube has an option for creating npcs

[@hithedragon7842]

There are some apps for that, if you don't mind having to download

[@lucymariposa]

whenever i make NPCs i use a table i made on powerpoint that randomises race, gender, sexuality, alignment and age. mostly there to make sure i don’t keep making the same barkeep accidentally

[@vodostar9134]

tetra-cube lets you choose civilian vs adventurer. Depending on what you need the NPC for, one of those would probably get you what you want.

[@mooselee3053]

I'm smelling a new series here. Maybe once a month do a random character vid. Maybe have a vote and cosplay the winner at the end of the year.

[@brady6723]

Would LOVE this I just love watching people flex their creative muscles in such weird and unique ways.

[@bethanyj250]

A livestream! So we can discuss/brainstorm character ideas together.

[@lilfunbun]

This is so fun!

[@LordOz3]

The small war-forged spy posed as a noble child's toy. When she escaped to deliver a report of some dire plot, it was assumed she was stolen, and the noble child adored their toy friend, hence there is a reward for her return.

[@AzariahMarinaStarcaster]

This made me want to cry actually

[@adamnaameeazim6365]

Triumphant Spooky Warrior Girl? She exists, her name is Yasha.

[@FennaDG]

i'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that LOL

[@Striker2054]

Yeah.

[@karolinebeckett6944]

Lol same

[@popetom]

I hope to hear the story of I'm Pretty Sure She's An Elf going on the classic D&D adventure Against They Might Be Giants.

[@guybuckridge7326]

Sounds fun, I wonder how she'll react to maybe Silverondin...

[@AHGrayLensman]

Clearly that would have to be set in Istanbul (*not* Constantinople).

[@FlatOnHisFace]

She never told me (she never told me) She never told me she was a mime.

[@BecBoops]

Ginny killing it with sponsorship spots that reference old sponsorship spots? So good. 🤣💜

[@twelvefootnine]

Ginny is one of the few KZbin creators whose sponsored spots I **DO NOT** skip. Actually, the only KZbin creator I do that for. They're just too good.

[@kenninast]

@@twelvefootnine: same here! They are the only commercials that I really genuinely enjoy! =D

[@j.e.b.s.]

Always here for her awesome ads!

[@FlatOnHisFace]

If she came to my door, I wouldn't turn her away for not singing.

[@grendl74]

"Let's generate some fucking characters". I'm dead.

[@RottenBen]

"Nervous Artificial Spy Bean" - Literally my Star Wars character for a campaign that I've used for a year now. It's a Pitdroid that was designed by a smuggler, so it was trained on smuggling teams. Eventually the teams dispersed/ its creator died, and it was left on its own to just continue doing things along the lines of smuggling. The droid's name? 540R7 (Short). Everyone just refers to it as R7. I did have at the start of the campaign the droid was rundown from needing repairs, so it had a nervous tick that's cliche with rundown robots where its sentences when it was speaking had repeated words and its head would tick to the side repeatedly. So I guess I already had the Nervous Artificial Spy Bean.

[@Ken-1313]

As soon as I heard Nervous Artifical Spy Bean I also thought of a droid! Threepio's nervousness with R2's ability to go anywhere... And your pitdroid sounds great! I sort of miss my Star Wars campaign, though I played online with strangers and ultimately I just didn't jell with most of the other players. Good DM though.

[@RottenBen]

@@Ken-1313 Shame that your campaign didn't turn out too well. And thanks for the compliment about my character's origins. You didn't even get to hear about its/his greatest moments during the campaign.

[@tamadesthi156]

uh my star wars character was an old battle droid which was scraped together out of old battle droid/mechanic parts as a playmate and guardian for kids. Once the kids got older one of them took the robot with him. My Droid had mechanic knowledge and medicine knowledge to fix up himself and the kids. Savety of kids is still his highest priority (his owner [another pc character and bounty hunter] isn't a techie, so he can't reprogram him). The name of the Droid is R0G3R. Oh and he will shut down if someone points something that looks as a gun (finger pistol, twig etc) on him and say 'pew,pew'. Oh and sometimes sentences from the old battle droid programming shines through, for example when the jedis in the group activated their laser swords for the first time, R0G3R said something like: "Kill the jedi scum' and then proceeded normally

[@enericm]

I checked these out and have to share: ANXIOUS TIEFLING WARLOCK FROM A RUN DOWN TAVERN WHO IS SECRETLY FOND OF EMBROIDERY

[@emma-di5ly]

I love that so much

[@maddiek963]

I love her already

[@IMightBeVanny]

Stolen! (read: I'm stealing that prompt)

[@ZachEngelman]

The game 'Fiasco' is a must try for any roleplay group. This game is all about building characters, establishing their relationships, adding in a bunch of dangerous other variables like objects and secret information, and watching as the characters make an absolute mess through short, and usually thrilling roleplay scenes. If you haven't looked into this game I highly recommend you do.

[@matthewdowney9821]

What’s also interesting about it is that it encourages collaborative character building!

[@itslexactually]

Super good. I actually wrote a module for this game a while back! It was mostly based on Fallout: New Vegas. “Shoot the Messenger: Welcome to Vault 42.” It’s a free download I undertook as a creative project for kicks. Apparently it’s been translated into Polish! Cool experience.

[@feitocomfruta]

Especially because their fate is ultimately determined by the dice pool they built, so even if you played well and had a good balance, one bad roll meant you got the shitty ending.

[@IsaacMyers1]

I like how characters are generated in the newest version of paranoia. Not only are you choosing good things for them but having bad slapped on them. Basically you all sit in a circle and if you choose a +5 in firearms the person to your left, I think it’s left it doesn’t matter if consistent, gets a -5 to fire arms. Next you give your character 3 description words, usually positive or neutral. Then the person to your other side changes one to it’s antonym. After all that, you get a random mutation and secret society both from decks of cards (although you usually get a blank card or card that says you don’t have one.) this can give you these insane characters. For example an agitating insightful romantic who is anti-mutant although they have the ability to grow an extra arm.

[@DanteneNyx]

I second this ^ Paranoia has an incredible way of making characters! I once ended up with an absolute creep with descriptors Cunning, Nerdy, and Repulsive (Repulsive was originally Charming before it got swapped), then was given a mutant power to excrete a sticky glue-like substance from my hands… not the character I initially had in mind, but an absolute blast to play!

[@itslexactually]

I literally wrote this comment and then saw that you beat me to it! 10/10, highly recommend.

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

I was going to comment 10 Candles, which has a simpler version of this. For those not familiar, it's a game for tragic horror oneshots. You all start by picking a strength and a weakness, then the GM tells you to pass the strengths to one side and the weaknesses to the other. Then you form those into rough character ideas, and then everyone gets to pick a secret for the person to their right, that their own character knows. ("I have seen you..." worship the monsters, kill someone who wasn't a threat, etc..) The GM is included in this part, meaning someone picks a secret for the monsters and someone has a secret only the monsters know.

[@williamozier918]

Uh, oh look out: I can personally attest that seeing how a random character generator works can easily lead to you living in the dark of your bedroom like Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now running a year long campaign with you, yourself and your randomly generated characters until one of your friends asks 'dude whereve you been I havent seen you around in awhile, and then you realize Oh God how do I explain this without sounding demented and sad?

[@Cpt50Caliber]

I think Nightcap would wear a fedora and sing Shirley Bassey-esque jazz.

[@TwoScooops]

I just started using tarot cards to generate character ideas (mostly NPC's) and I'm absolutely AMAZED at how well it works.

[@hannasophia18]

I'm intrigued, how do you go about this?

[@Eowar]

This is from a different tabletop RPG but in Mage: The Awakening's supplement, Keys to the Supernal Tarot, there's a suggested way for using tarot to generate character ideas. After talking to the GM about their campaign idea, you draw 5 tarot cards to represent your Sleeper, Awakening, "Exposure", Virtue and Vice. Adapted more generally for other games, the cards inform the character's origin/background, how they got their class/abilities, an event that ties them into the plot/setting or why they became an adventurer, the best thing they do and the worst thing they do. Since one card could fit many events, it still takes a fair amount of thinking to interpret who this character is.

[@TwoScooops]

@@hannasophia18 I do a very basic reading for the character. A normal past, present, future reading can be a great starting point. I usually add in positions like weaknesses and strengths and make a custom spread for what I want. It just tells a story.

[@hannasophia18]

@@TwoScooops that's really cool. I'll try it out :) thanks for sharing!

[@sds242]

I'm running a campaign where the characters are all doing court-mandated community service. I gave them an additional character creation tool to choose their crime from type of crime (Personal, Property, Aiding + Abetting, Statutory, Financial, or Organized) and how good they were at the crime (Seasoned, Petty Criminal, Wrong Place / Wrong Time).

[@PirateCptnBarbosa]

I feel like joining you in a d&d campaign would be a dream come true for a lot of people, you're such an awesome creator!

[@kristinm6612]

I was literally just having writers block trying to come up with a character, this video is perfect timing!

[@queen_of_aces1563]

Omg I also use DnD character generators to help me make characters for my stories 😂

[@Glitch_Online]

"She's an Elf, I'm pretty sure?"... that's all my characters

[@Mobile_Dom]

i dont even play D&D, i just love seeing Ginny so excited about shit shes passionate about

[@benstapleton5319]

You've likely heard of it already, but Dread has a wonderful (if arduous) character generation system that is entirely based on the GM giving each player a unique questionnaire and the player then filling in their answers. It is time consuming for all involved, but can really build great characters for a Horror B-Movie aesthetic (that also die after one session)

[@Neutral_Tired]

Tiefling virtue names are really fun to play with, especially taking into account the meaning behind them

[@LeftWingMofo]

I’ve always loved the character creation in Traveller, with its career paths and random events that can find you playing characters you never expected. I always recall one player who started out with the idea of playing a bookish scientist and wound up as a cynical army washout with a chip on their (cybernetic) shoulder.

[@gleggett3817]

All this Traveller talk reminds me I haven't watched a Seth Skorkowsky video in a while

[@jonstephenson9660]

Ok… I now absolutely love the idea of a whole party getting the “mistaken for a famous knight” bit, and we now have a party mistaken for a knightly order..

[@first_glennie]

I love ANY systems that involves pre-forged bonds with the other PC or certain NPCs (I believe this is very common in Powered by the Apocalypse systems). A new group of my old friends recently started Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and SO MANY awesome ideas ideas and general enthusiasm was sparked from having to answer questions like "My character sees you as a threat - let's work together to determine why that may be and how they both feel about that." The collaboration and world building that can come from it is really fun, and it always gets me excited.

[@stekra3159]

"Artificial Hyper Library Grandpa" I want to play that

[@amatanata]

I know this is an older video, but I wanted to say. As someone who kinda helped guide me through my beginner phase of dnd when I didn’t know anything but had to wait a week till I learned more hands on wise, thank you. I saw those turquoise pale-looking dice you said were your first at a local dnd shop and picked them up as a way to be like “hey look! Content”😂

[@sadrak-px8wq]

I actually already used "whothef..." and it came up with a "plucky Half-orc Rogue running a small family bakery who suffers from night terrors, which are rooted in his forgotten childhood"; I couldn't use the concept for my PC, but I found it so intriguing that I decided that my gnome rogue now has an adopted halforc brother who has always suffered from ptsd (which noone knows the reason of) and who managed to open his own bakery with the family's support. If I ever get to play that character, this could provide an interesting story thread to the DM.

[@mga149]

[9:20] She was given as a gift to an affluent & powerful family as a toy/playmate for their daughter. She was to make sure she was the daughter's favorite to ensure she'd always brought along. Even if that meant other toys would occasionally go "missing". In the background she would spy, learn all she could, and reporting it back to her handlers via the Sending spell. Forced through endless tea parties, dress-up, & braiding of hair, she now hates anything cute, but is physically designed to look and act as adorable as possible.

[@corvid4933]

Ginny: talks about the spy bean me, immediately falling in love: oh no

[@Agent719]

The Artificial Nervous Spy Bean is amazing and I love her. The other two sound fun, but that one was easily the best of the three.

[@Jonalith]

"Sad Damaged Traveler Son" wait, did that generator just make Caleb Widowgast?

[@JustMe-um8zp]

One of the very few channels' sponsored bits that I actually enjoy and don't skip through. Well done!

[@themagicpotato2943]

Me who has like 5 characters I'm not even using already made on D&D Beyond: Interesting

[@fellowhuman8830]

... I feel ashamed to relate to you (1.Brisco, aasimer wild magic Barbarian 2. Cherri, tiefling abjuration wizard 3. Kelton, firbolg valor bard 4. Alastair, triton battlesmith artificer 5. Puchen, elf arcane trickster rogue)

[@isabellea7913]

5? Oh yeah I totally have only 5 and not 17 from using my 3 email addresses to get 6 free slots on each account...

[@themagicpotato2943]

@@isabellea7913 Haha I feel like it's a right of passage to have multiple D&D Beyond accounts/buying one of the subscriptions. Good luck on finding campaigns to play all your characters in! I'm sure it'll happen eventually

[@ryanridenour5181]

Traveller, a sci-fi game, has a super fun character creation process! You determine your character's childhood stuff, then go through however many years you'd like of life, choosing what kind of schooling or career you want to pursue and then rolling to see how it goes, what kind of events happen during the process, how well you get paid, etc. It does a wonderful job reinforcing the themes of the game, where your personal choices are important but always tempered by political powers, money, and luck in an indifferent universe. It is, quite famously, possible for your character to die in character creation from injuries or events. Another favorite of mine is Blades in the Dark. Character creation is super collaborative, because you're all in the same organization or gang or whatever, and you also get to build the organization together! It gets its own character sheet and everything

[@Hempus420]

“A little warforged, as a treat!” The best line in this video lol

[@smashin4nash]

Love the idea a Missionary selling d&d since most God fearing people I know also fear d&d

[@Calebgoblin]

Creativity within confines is absolutely a whole thing and we were taught to appreciate it in design at uni

[@guybuckridge7326]

True. MaRo of MtG likes to quote that as well. "Restrictions breed creativity" and the like.

[@rarazalproductions519]

When it comes to interesting character creation, I can't praise City of Mist enough. It's system is similar to Fate, where you build your character out of four "themes", broad archetypal character aspects which in turn contain different "tags" that further flesh out these aspects. The great thing is that there's no standardised stats or similar. A theme could be anything, from a traumatic childhood event or their job as a coroner to their love of chewing bubblegum, so there's almost no limits to your imagination and the skills you can equip your character with. On top of that, CoM is all about your character being a mortal vessel for a mythological or cultural story, like the legend of Herkules or the "Bloody Mary" Urban Legend. Pairing these larger-than-life aspects with the aforementioned mundane options for skills and themes can lead to fantastic characters caught between myth and everyday life.

[@christophernorthcutt2571]

You haven't lived, until you've made a character in Traveller, that dies.

[@MrDemilich]

Died in Creation? or died after the game started?

[@christophernorthcutt2571]

@@MrDemilich in the original Traveller, in the new Mongoose versions It's referred to as the Ironman rule.

[@gencydefen]

Came to the comments looking for the people talking about Traveller, was not disappointed.

[@tomdavis3878]

Knowledge that I once didn't have and feel I must pay forward, because I used to make this mistake too: a haberdasher specializes in making men's clothes (at least in American English), not hats specifically.

[@WalterPavlikII]

Those generators are fun. (and I loved your "sponsor moment", especially the insistence of a song to teach. )

[@SMon42]

My method for creating characters is: A idea pops into my mind, sometimes a race/class combo (like lizardfolk ranger) or a "gimmick" like "highest armor class possible at lv 1, not counting tortles" or a name, like "gillthunder". Then if it's a good idea. It gets made into a character. For those who want to know, the "Highest AC at Lv one" became a Mt dwarf Draco sorcerer, with a ac of 21 with armor,dex, and the shield spell, who acts more like a fighter or barbarian then a mage, (med armor and a Warhammer, with the occasional spell) and left home because of a midlife crisis, and can't return home untill he's slayed a chromatic dragon. The lizardfolk Ranger is a gloomstalker who was forced to leave the swamp after the rest of his tribe was captured by slavers, and doesn't know common (I plan on having them learn common by lv 6) And "Gillthunder" is actually a combo of type 2&3. Their gimmick is that they're a triton Storm sorcerer,with 2 levels in Tempest cleric and fighter (16,2,2 at Lv 20). This way, at Lv 9, they can cast lightning bolt, use Divine domain power to make it deal max damage (42ish) then action surge and cast another lightning bolt, with the empowered metamagic to reroll a few 1s on the damage. So, best case scenario, that's around 100 damage in one turn. Anyway, they were born in the plane of water, and their goal is to find a way home. Keep in mind, what iv just shared is the basic overview of the characters.

[@guybuckridge7326]

Mtn. Dwarf? Why wouldn't you just play a halfling or the like for the +2 dex? If you started with an 18 Dex your Draco Sorc AC would be 17 before Shield(22 after). If there was some good rolling going on you could get to 20 Dex, bumping you all the way to 23. I wouldn't count a 1 round AC as the best you could do anyway. It needs to be more consistent than that for me. In which case you max out at around 19 w.o. any spells. Bidet

[@strangecokacola5246]

My first character was a lizardfolk gloom stalker and I absolutely loved playing them.

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

I created a character based on the question: “How many different books can I use to create one character?” My answer was six. The character is a fairy (Wild Beyond the Witchlight) with the dhampir lineage (Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft). She’s a ranger (Player’s Handbook) with the drakewarden subclass (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons), but she also uses some variant class features (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything). She has the anthropologist background (Tomb of Annihilation). Unfortunately, I’ll probably never get to play her, since I’m my group’s DM, and even if I was a player, I’m pretty sure no sane DM would allow a character who requires six different sourcebooks to run. (I mean, I’d allow it, but I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify as a sane DM.)

[@williamozier918]

15:30. back in the 80s, Traveler and Cyberpunk used a 'lifepath' character generation method which I really liked; generating your character was like a mini-game itself that baked in a quick and fun backstory, but sometimes it could be too confining as to your control over the characters final form.

[@danielleholmes458]

I know you have a love of Harry Potter and TTRPGs. I actually really like that 'Kids of Brooms' focuses on the roleplay element over combat so that you are very encouraged to begin to make your character around the stats (Brains, Brawn, Grit, Charm, Fight, and Flight) as well as picking two strengths for your character to have. They have set up "Tropes" in the book for you to base your character around if you would like, but obviously characters are much more than the tropes they seem to be and you can easily ignore the tropes they have to make something unique. Considering the game is based around Magical School there probably is a little less room for some creativity but I feel like the set up of stats can create some interesting ideas.

[@JimBob4233]

The Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars RPG has a system called 'Obligations', where you pick something from your character's backstory that will come up and cause them minor - or not-so-minor - stress from session to session. It's generally someone who you owe something or a hidden secret in your past. The GM rolls a d100 at the start of each session to see whose Obligation is in effect, and if you roll a multiple of 11 then the session's story will relate directly to the hook. It's a neat way of making sure that everyone has some tie to the world in general that the DM can use, as well as giving opportunities for character-focussed episodes.

[@Formoka]

You went for Nightcap, but my instant thought was Bonnie. Like bonnets and also like a bonny lass dancing and playing an instrument? Am I reaching too far?

[@egomane3]

The "Lifepath creation" from the Star Trek Adventures TTRPG is really great.

[@C._Bradford]

I'll have random vivid spikes of imagination. Like for instance my brother got his shoe laces caught on barbed wire while we were on a run once and I immediately thought of metal thornbushes for some reason. My next thought is how/where can I attach this idea to one of my characters. This idea in particular brought me to dwarves harvesting it these metal plants. Then I thought they likely came from mechanus due to being metal, meaning a clan of dwarves who regularly travel to mechanus to harvest metal plants. That led me to attach this concept to a character I've had on the backbones a chaotic good dwarf who had an argument with his clan and left them to pursue the path he wanted rather than the one they chose. The lawful neutral nature of mechanus would clash big time with his personality so it absolutely makes sense that he would but heads with his family pressuring him to fit the mold so he could join their business. This further developed since he was a wizard I thought he was likely being trained to be the clans portal master, but rather than choosing conjuration to help open the portal to the planes he chose evocation which better fit his personality. This is what finally pushed him and his clan apart for good.

[@SpydrePendragon]

My wife loved making new characters. It was her favorite part of the game. These are great.

[@CelticShae]

I always feel so inspired and happy after watching your videos. You bring a positive intention to your work, even when discussing challenging or negative things that need to be confronted. I've been here since you were around 10,000 subs, and it has given me much joy to see your channel grow, because you truly deserve it. Pugmire (as well as Cats of Mao) is super awesome, and you should check out its world and charachter creation stuff.

[@MariannesStudio]

Great video as always! Just today I was telling a DnD friend that I feel a bit insecure/uninspired with my characters' backstories. This came at a PERFECT time. I really want to try out that last generator :)

[@heavymetalwarrior1]

In Beyond the Wall the characters are all from the same town or village, and part of character creation is figuring out how you are all connected. You also flesh out the town and add NPCs connected to you at the same time.

[@TiliaCordata]

I need to see a campaign with Jhenk, AS and Nightcap! I love them already!

[@Vextalf]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you turning me onto these generators. Character creation can be so daunting after a while, and these seem like just the sort of inspiration to keep me from rehashing the same characters over again. The Springhole method reminds me a lot of the Cypher System, which I'm sure you've heard of. Essentially, your character's identity comes down to a simple phrase: "I am a [adjective] [class] who [verb]s." You're filling in the blanks from a preconceived list of descriptors that lend definition and depth to how you experience the world. :)

[@garyn8344]

Love these generators! Will bring them to our table and share. Thank you, Ginny!!

[@SweetLitzLM]

3:47 i actually had a character with that exact same background, but she found the book in a forest clearing near a corpse instead of the underdark

[@hDansRandomCrud]

Hello, fellow pen clicker here. I'm definitely checking those generators out! One of my favorite RPGs (Traveller) is really built around this sort of character creation model. It's not quite as detailed a generator as the D&D ones you showed, but it strikes a balance between having to make up the whole character yourself and being presented with a fully grown character by the system. Of course the down side is that sometimes the generator kills your character, but that's just the system reminding you that staying in (say) the Interstellar Scout Service is dangerous. :)

[@hDansRandomCrud]

Re: your final point concerning games with interesting character generation systems. See if you can track down a copy of Mekton-2 (1 was almost more a wargame than an RPG, and "Zeta" is super crunchy) - that game has a HUGE "life path" system that generates anime "mecha TV show" heroes, from broody violet eyed space pilots with dark secrets to their bubbly girl/boy friends (who may also be intergalactic pop stars, who knows?), and beyond. It obviously helps to be familiar with 80's SF Anime like Macross/Robotech, Bubblegum Crisis, Dirty Pair, Gundam, etc. (In fact, Mekton is kinda the Gundam RPG, minus license.)

[@sergei_gruntovsky]

"I'm working on a new player character for an ongoing campaign" I'm sorry for your loss.

[@GinnyDi]

Man, some of y’all play with shitty DMs, huh?

[@sergei_gruntovsky]

@@GinnyDi maybe I misunderstood you - I assumed that your previous character died, so you're making a new one ("ongoing campaign"), thus the joke. I don't think the death of a character is a bad thing, as long as it's meaningful/epic, and players are fully aware that it can happen. Not sure what you mean about bad DMs.

[@GinnyDi]

Ah, I thought you were implying that any character you create will inevitably die. No, I just meant I'm joining an existing campaign.

[@kristykun]

The cyberpunk 2020 rulebook has a pretty cool character generation system called "lifepath creation". You use rolls to determine who your family is and a life event for each year of your character's life since they were 16, including making friends and enemies.

[@cryofpaine]

I'd call the warforged spy Sirea: Sentient Infiltration Reconnaissance and Espionage Automaton.

[@kirabrzeczyszczykiewicz2456]

Jhank, my beloved. I loved her and then I heard "eats the fingers of enemies" and man if that isn't a weirdly good selling point! I feel like she'd have the potential to have a really great arc.

[@IMightBeVanny]

valid to eat fingers

[@jetvulcan2020]

the first Ginny with a stack of characters is calling me out. working with restrictions also helps me get creative. one reason I liked creating OC for RWBY cause their are rules for OCs. the ad encountering a fan upset about the lack of singing so great.

[@quinnsinclair7028]

Me too. I generally write a single character that has way too much going on and then end up splitting them into three or four characters. I wrote a tiefling warlock a little while ago who's backstory was too busy. I then split them into a changeling paladin, a tiefling warlock whose patron is her archdevil mom, and a tiefling warlock whose patron is an embodiment of pure chaos and keeps changing her patron type at random after every long rest.

[@adamjonstone2840]

Not gonna lie I love your characters for the sponsorship spots actually watch every sponsored ad because you make it seem so interesting

[@ЯрославФилоненко-ы6ю]

As a person who has trouble starting from a “blank slate”… especially in regards to character creation - I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Those generators are a huge help!)

[@musingsofmessa]

I love you, Ginny. ❤ Your enthusiasm for D&D is amazing. I got into D&D after seeing your journal video. 😊 I created six characters. My main is an Elf with the Haunted One background (for now, during the Strahd campaign). Her main background is Charlatan. The other five characters are randomly generated, and their personality traits, bonds and flaws are super interesting. 🙂 Could you make a video on any other character journals you have? I would love that. I write a lot (campaign notes, dice rolls, and "scenes" of my characters talking to one another). ❤

[@JwiSoulsby]

For all its simplicity, Lasers and Feelings' choice between logic and emotion gives you an instant impression of the character

[@b.schurman]

For the robot, you could come up with a serial number that looks like letters. Maybe parts of the numbers are worn off. For the tiefling, it would be fun if she could still listen in on the guards even after she's on the run. Like something tipped them off but they never found out how so they kept using the (free) hats.

[@Skip6235]

Ooo, with custom origin, you could combine warforged and halfling characteristics. Very cool

[@erokvanrocksalot7545]

You just want a warforged that can’t roll a 1.

[@Skip6235]

@@erokvanrocksalot7545 You say that like it's a bad thing

[@jdhbeph]

Mythras and it's supplements have really detailed background generators where you roll on random tables for your family, status, character history and much more. Every time my group plays a Mythras game, it is hands down their favorite part of character creation.

[@ProjecTJAD]

I spent the first half of this year creating my own tabletop wargaming skirmish game that heavily draws on D&D/TTRPGs character creation (It's now in playtesting but that's a whole thing) I think this video really resonates the feel I've been trying to get, taking the pre-determined/randomly generated concept and moulding it into your own ideas and play-style.

[@kelly_seastar]

I love Spring Hole. I still use their generators whenever I'm dry for ideas.

[@Sailorella]

A cipher system actually has a pretty interesting character creator you can mess around with. You have your type which is basically class, but you also have your descriptor. descriptors is a one word description of your character that gives you benefits, and the descriptors are stuff like a appealing, tough, unlucky, cowardice Etc. Then there's Focus which is something fun and funky you can do, like speak to the dead or turn into a werewolf. Because of this system we had a player in one of my games make a wizard who was unlucky, and also a werewolf.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Yeah, the "adjective noun that verbs" concept can be super useful even outside of that system.

[@Anya-xy8qt]

I loved your lizardfolk character! Divination wizard has been on my to-play list for a while and I'm already so intrigued by her backstory

[@mscreepellavonstyx6709]

Thank you so much for making those of us who can't make a character from complete scratch feel included and normal. This really helped me feel still creative enough

[@trolliiiii]

After jamming the whole video long, I have to say that the background music is very well chosen xD

[@AerisAerith1991]

I had never heard of the first two and will definitely look into them in the future. My favorite was the warforge bean. I have a doc file dedicated to saving characters from the third option for me to explore at a later date.

[@alicel.already2907]

"Yes! Love a good Cannibal" is probably my fav Ginny Di sentence to date

[@natelittle5378]

I'm a huge fan of the character creation system in the collaborative storytelling game DREAD. Players basically fill out a series of personality and personal history questions to generate their character's identity with the final question being "what is your name?" It works really well for getting into the headspace of a character and can let the storyteller/GM set the tone of the story of the game without having to hand players a worldbuilding synopsis.

[@meta-less]

I think a cool one is City of Mist, where a main part of character creation is your characters mythoi, basically your powers, and these can come from any fictional or non-fictional character, event, item or idea/concept, so your character’s powers can come from Iron man, Cthulhu, Einstein, Excalibur, Pandora’s box or Chekhov’s gun.

[@ReadWithBlue]

Great stuff as always. In our last campaign our changeling character used tetra-cube to decide what his character would look like each day

[@elisecollins8467]

I feel obligated to tell you that a haberdashery is a sewing supplies store (or a men's clothing store in the US apparently?) - the word you're thinking of that's about hats is millinery! also, 'a little warforged, as a treat' 😂

[@GinnyDi]

WAIT, what?! I have literally spent my entire life believing a haberdashery was a hat shop!?!

[@marycav2952]

GINNY thank you omg this came at a perfect time, we're starting a session zero for Eberron tonight!! now time to brainstorm!

[@TimeturnerJ]

Thanks. I think I'm gonna go and lose hours upon hours of my life now, clicking through these generators. 😂

[@ClassesandConstructs]

Love this video. These generators are gold and I think this is an excellent example of using them to create a more complex, engaging, and personal characters. Awesome awesome advice and a video I will for sure share with future players!

[@Anya-xy8qt]

Tried the tetra-cube website and it's awesome! I spent several hours creating a warlock and it might be my favorite character I've ever created. Thank you so much for these fabulous suggestions!

[@CompleteNewbie]

New fan, thanking you for excellent content. Could have been in a lot of vids, but it was this one I popped a comment in. I made my character from the D&DB random generator, and I love it. Being "forced" to try to find a bunch of crazy elements and then squish them into a character idea is fun as hell, and has given me some great ideas. I won't quite take a random character exactly as is, but as a template I try to stick to, it's great. The results are wonderful. Things I never would have thought of. I've always loved a less-than-perfect character, and random lets you get so much juice out of a simple set up, *because* it doesn't necessarily fit the mold, *because* it's something you might never have come up with.

[@fynnsternis6432]

"I could create anything, so I have no idea where to start." Omg yes, that's why I honestly love every piece of information and restriction I can get xD When I choose spells I often choose to only take spells from the phb and maybe xanathar's bc otherwise (I would have to run everything by the DM and also) I'd get overwhelmed _so fast_ I usually hope that everyone else has already chosen classes/races so that I have less things to choose from haha

[@sharmiet.f4132]

only a ginny di ad could make me laugh so hard i cry as the salesperson gets bullied into an unenthusiastic song. the ads are as compelling as the videos. love it!

[@Stu_Farst]

Check out Traveller, character creation is a miniature story. It's the only RPG I can think of where your character can die during creation (among other events that actually lead to a character!)

[@heatherkuhn6559]

Oh gods, I remember that. I think I actually did have a character die during creation the first time I tried Traveller.

[@maggiedean5691]

So I love powered by the apocalypse games as your playbook already gives you an arch type and helps you create something fun. Your moves also help inform your character and what they do.

[@iridescentdemon]

I agree so hard that working with constraints tends to lead to more creative and satisfying outcomes!! So far I've found the subclass/subrace options restrictive yet open enough that ive been inspired to make so many characters just by seeing one option that sparks my interest and finding ways to twist it to something that fits my tastes. Actually the first generator is extremely helpful in coming up with traits to give an extra dimension to my characters and distinguish them from each other more. This is great

[@goingpostale]

I am basically obsessed with the relational character building in Urban Shadows!! Each character has debts (owed to them and that they owe to others), which can be used to build connections and tensions with other players and NPCs. It’s such a clever way to bring different types of characters into a narrative together, rather than grouping a party and hoping that it makes sense because we want to play as a group even if the characters don’t have a relationship. :)

[@wingedyera]

I usually start from a random concept and go from there. My first character I wanted her to have a cult background an follow order's blindly. Another character was literally based on the concept free hugs.. but spiky armor

[@ddnerd0534]

I just started playing a lizard folk Druid and it’s really fun

[@fenrisulfhamr]

I love random character generators and the challenge of making sense of what I get. With Jhank in your example, both the Underdark and the forest mentioned in her background as well as the large house and other seemingly disjoined aspects made me think of a large drow house in which lizardfolk might serve near a subterranean mushroom forest. I even like when people with little experience build characters for me (although I buy my own gear!) like my 10yo daughter built the character I'm playing currently. It's can be a funt challenge and a great way to make organic characters.