Don't leave your D&D character's personality at level 1

[@GinnyDi]

Take 40% off any annual membership with code "GINNY": worldanvil.com/ginny (And yes, this WILL be on the test.)

[@MonkeyJedi99]

That is a very nice sweater, and a good shade for you.

[@SaffronicSaffron]

Dear Ginny. I just have one question... I have not played Dnd, but I would like to, however I would like to play as a doppelganger... not really a malevolent one, I would like to play this species but I'm wondering if that is allowed in D&D. .... is it?

[@Nosmo90]

@@SaffronicSaffronUltimately, it depends on what your Dungeon Master is cool with. Also, I recommend making a good, character-based case for why being a doppelgänger is an important part of your character, as more Dungeon Masters will be receptive to that than “I just thought that it’d be cool” or “I wanna use these mechanics”. 🙂

[@a.m.pietroschek1972]

What could I say: Most pseudo-roleplayers these days are only eager to monetize their videos about roleplaying. I learned to like their `make pretend´ about every geek having incomes far above $ 5000,-, but it fails, when the number of customers is limited to their buddies aka partners in crime. 😉

[@Azriel637]

My character had spent her whole life trying to find her mother. She(genasi) was abandoned, but had convinced herself in a very childish way that her mother was waiting for her on the Elemental plane of Air, and if she could just get strong enough, she would make it there, find her and they would be a family again. After living on her own for most of her life she had grown to see people as transient and was friendly, but never felt connected to anyone, after all she wasn't going to stay, she was going home...eventually. When she found the party she liked them and worked with them towards common goals, and eventually formed a sister-like bond with the wizard. She was more naive and innocent then the wizard, but also she was a combat powerhouse and took it upon herself to keep them safe. Over time colleagues became friends, became family. She took up roots in the city where they lived and helped restore the druid grove when it was burned, both literally and metaphorically putting down the first roots she has ever had in her life. In the end, her life's goal to find her mother ended in the only way it could. She quit. Stop trying to find a family who never wanted her, and love the one she had grown.

[@lazerboi6607]

No reply. Well I will be the first. That has gotta be the the best ark for a character I have seen. Because most of the arks don't actually continue out(early end to campaign, or just not worrying about it). But that ark must have been the best ending for that character

[@AnAutistArtist]

Love how I have a fire genasi who is basically the same at the beginning but trying to find her father in the fire plane

[@kayakMike1000]

Great character arc! Love it!

[@_emory]

🥺

[@LiamOliver02]

😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@F3TTST3R]

A note on negative character arcs: They _can_ be opportunities for future positive characters arcs. One of my characters started out very confident and self-assured, but after a failed mission resulted in the loss of a party member and near-death for himself, his self-confidence cracked. Over the course of the negative character arc, that cracked self-confidence further crumbled, leading to hesitancy and self-doubt. He is presently in the middle of a positive character arc, regaining that self-confidence, and the journey has been wonderful! It definitely takes a table that is on board, but if they are it can be a lot of fun.

[@kazeboiii]

100%! It’s really about communication and building trust at the table with your other players and DM-checking in with everyone as things are developing, making sure people are on board with how things seem to be progressing when things are in a negative space in game, and that everyone is happy and excited to explore your character’s growth with their own respective characters. It can be a great experience! Usually best played with a table you’re familiar and comfortable with, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case as long as you all remain communicative. & being open and willing to be flexible when someone communicates uncertainty or discomfort is equally important as that helps build trust with your table! As trust grows, people become more open to being open and vulnerable with a group, but that’s something that has to be earned. And everyone has a different threshold for that, so it can take time. Sounds like you had great chemistry at your table! Love it when we’re able to make such meaningful character arcs unfurl :)

[@Konpekikaminari]

My greatest memories from D&D are often the ways my characters developed: -my Dragoon, who learned the hard way that you can't save everyone and that there are consequences for being lawful stupid -my arrogant, self-centered wizard whom I intended to grow more humble, who ended up _more_ arrogant but started viewing the party as "they're idiots, but they're my idiots" -Arthur Crowfeather, my magnum opus: who went from a cheery altruistic adventurer to... cheery altruistic adventurer! after dragging himself through multiple great losses, life shattering truths, and enough trauma to fill an arc of Berserk

[@Xaalderan]

My dhampir went from someone who hates her curse and every vampire to fully accepting it because she found out she is that way due to her mother's sacrifice. On top of that, she used to want others' acceptance, but now she only wants everyone she loves safe, even if she has to put her own life at risk for it and even if they hate her for it. A little something I'd like to add, we're playing Curse of Strahd and she's Strahd's daughter and had her memories changed so she didn't remember it. That plot twist took a toll on her. Her mother was her patron as a profane soul blood hunter but I changed class to a wizard and we roleplayed it as mom taught her magic.

[@LittlePinchofGinger]

I once went from a young naive teen who was the epitome of a happy little village girl with no major lifeplans, to a legit monarch with PTSD-issues and two adopted kids. From silly happy-go-lucky to strong responsible adult with hidden trauma. She changed so much trough the years we played that campaign, that I almost did not recognize her at the end. It was awesome but challenging!

[@prophetisaiah08]

I have a character that was loosely inspired by the revenge driven gunslinger archetype, at least at first. He was searching for the person who killed his blood sister, but got caught up in much bigger events. Our campaign started with our party getting petrified for almost 100 years and waking up to a zombie apocalypse. A year of playing this campaign later, and Kolvo has given up on his personal revenge, and is now dedicated to protecting his fellow survivors and ending the zombie plague. If one of his companions ever gets killed, however, it's a short trip back to that revenge train. ;)

[@TwilitbeingReboot]

The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed.

[@prophetisaiah08]

@@TwilitbeingReboot I can't say that it wasn't an inspiration, lol!

[@LatiDragon]

My character’s growth really actually came from her ideals rather than her flaws. She witnessed her eldest brother get murdered by a monster and her other brother get turned into a dhampir. Traumatized, she lived only for her dhampir brother, did only what he wanted even when she disagreed, and didn’t care about anyone else because she didn’t want to lose him and be left alone. They became monster hunters, swearing to destroy werewolves, vampires and the like so that no one else would have to go through what they did. Well of course when they entered Barovia, she became a vampire herself and she hated everyone and everything even more. But now near the end of the campaign, when there’s actually some hope for her becoming mortal again, if she as a monster can be redeemed, why can’t others? She’s still attached to her brother to an unhealthy degree, but the monsters she swore to destroy, maybe she’ll try to save them if she can.

[@glarak9819]

Corvus, my Aasimar bard, changed from someone who follows every rule to the last bit, and would never say anything unless he could 100% guarantee that it would happen, to someone where his friends came first and everything else come after. Even if supporting them means to be unlawful at times. Took him a whole lot of time to recognise that his teammates where actually his friends and not just teammates. My characters sometimes subtly change without me realizing it until reflecting on some character driven choices that where unthinkable at the start

[@Corvus-fw2hr]

It was hard to get out of that mindset. I'm glad you noticed that I've grown. It really is about the friends that I made along the way!

[@glarak9819]

@@Corvus-fw2hr This response made my day 🤣 Thanks for the response

[@janTesika]

"corvus." you named them _crow_ and they aren't a kenku.

[@christhewritingjester3164]

One unexpected personality change that happened for my barbarian came up when our cleric asked if I ever prayed to my god. Religion was very new to him and he only started just before he joined the party. So she guided me through a prayer and our DM had me roll a religion check to see how well my pleading went, and he gave me advantage since I was being helped by our cleric. I rolled two nat 20s. DM did an awesome job of not giving me an answer, but this overwhelming sensation that someone was indeed watching me. He's since done a few more things over sessions that played that out (phenomenally well btw, I freaking love our DM) and my character has been pursuing what it all means.

[@TrueLimeyhoney]

My current character is being thrust through rapid character growth. She came from a small town that lynched her parents for ‘practicing witchcraft’ and recently moved into the city to find magic freely being used everywhere. I’ve been finding it fun playing a character marveling at all the magic. She’s chaotic at heart, but has been forced to follow the rules out of necessity. Now she’s in a group with a bunch of chaos gremlins. She plays it off cool by just saying she enjoys their company, but she secretly loves the antics they pull her into.

[@Thorrison]

Our group was talking about this recently, how our characters now are a fair bit different from how they were at session 1. All of their perspectives and values have been challenged and shaped by their experiences with each other and the world, and some of the most fun we have is exploring that development, even more than combat sometimes.

[@eldritchexploited5462]

Honestly development is my favorite part of roleplay IMO. I love taking a character's experiences and extrapolating what that would mean for them and what that does to their outlook going forward. Like for instance my tiefling necromancer character, Chthonic started out as being generally kinda dweeby and excited to explore the world. She had some guilt in her past regarding her girlfriend being falsely accused of some stuff and being locked up for it but overall she was in a good place mentally. Then she had a few REALLY BIG trauma experiences in short succession that really impacted her. several of her party members went missing and/or died, she had a BRUTAL encounter with Weeping Angels where she *died* and had to be resurrected by a powerful mage ally of hers (at the cost of seriously injuring said mage) and she learned that while she was hopping dimensions, her home in Faerun was assimilated by a wave of pure darkness, trapping the souls of all her loved ones and leaving HER as the only one capable of saving them. Overall, she went from being a wide-eyed explorer with a slight chip on her shoulder to a more grim, mournful and reclusive figure willing to go to extreme lengths just to bring her home back to the way it should be. The campaign she's in is currently in a wierd spot right now with the story not having much direction, and so the DM has decided to take a break from it and come back to it later, but I really hope I can bring her arc to a satisfying conclusion and have her grow from her lowest point back into a more mature, thoughtful and determined version of herself.

[@CastorGaming]

I'm playing a character named Alma, who is a 16 year old Aasimar priestess. She's known that she was always meant to inherit her father's position as high priest, but she's always had this timid reluctance to the inevitable passing of time. Well, over time, she's met a tiefling that she's saved from being enslaved to a devil, joined new companions (the other players) and learned more of her lineage than she ever wished to really know. Over time, she's slowly losing that timid awkwardness of being a young lady. She's picking up pieces of her companions' behaviors (for better or worse) and showing more self-confidence. Eventually, the worst happened, and her father fell in battle, forcing her to assume the position of high priest. I wrote a speech, and actually recited it in character, that she gave when she assumed the role. We are currently about to head into the final battle against the BBEG, and I honestly couldn't be happier with how she's turned out. No longer is she this timid girl, who stuttered the moment she was challenged. She's become a powerful young woman who stands on her own two feet, backed by all the friends and loved ones she's found along the way, leading the charge into a brighter future for her people and those who follow their shared faith. Alma is no longer a cloistered, timid bookworm. She's worldly, and has experienced the best and worst of the world she lives in. She's met friends, felled foes, and found the love of a goofy but adorable tiefling lad. She's grown into a strong, self-reliant woman who is the true leader of her people. Alma grew up.

[@llamaslemonade9133]

🥰

[@ThymeKeeper]

When I played D&D in the old 1e/2e days, we really played it more as a board game than an RPG proper. If I tried to get more actual role playing into the mix versus just wandering around and fighting things, I got a ton of pushback. Still, my best D&D experiences were always at least a little roleplay-centered. I really appreciate your contributions to the general milieu of the game, even though I don't actively play anymore.

[@ThymeKeeper]

I should say I experienced a lot of what I would call "reverse role playing" People played their characters as as way of inserting THEMSELVES into the game rather than creating a new fictional character and inserting THAT characters interactions into THEIR actions as the player. I wouldn't even call that the wrong approach. It's just different and melding players who prefer either approach can be...challenging. It's hard to explain and I'm doing a really shitty job of it :).

[@pauligrossinoz]

Yeah, back in the old 1st edition days of the early 80s it got kind of boring when it degenerated into _open the door, kill the monsters, take the treasure._ That's It's ok when you're 12 or 13. But as we got older we started to want more than just a slash-fest. The role-play could still be there, but it was hard to do well for teenagers without some more mature guidance.

[@leonelegender]

@@pauligrossinoz you don't know what you are taking about.

[@pauligrossinoz]

@@leonelegender - when I speak of my _own_ experiences with my _own_ friends, who are you to say that I don't know what I'm taking about? If you are here just to contradict me without any reasonable basis, then you are nothing but a *Troll.* 🙄

[@firestorm165]

Story time TLDR edition: I've got a half elven sorceress named Mhearai who was terrified that her chromatic dragon heritage meant that she was slowly turning into a monster. She started off upbeat and cheerful but as time went on she got increasingly withdrawn and morose as she had to take increasingly drastic measures to hide her draconic features culminating in the manifestation of her wings and flying off into the forest to hide. When the party finally found her she was sobbing in a clearing, she looked up at the party with tear filled pleading eyes and asked "are you here to un-alive* me?" When they said that they weren't she became enraged and asked how they were so blind that they couldn't see that she was turning into a monster and now that the transformation was nearing completion it was only a matter of time before she did something horrible. She ended her rant with a declaration while pointing her fingers underneath her chin "If you won't do it... I will" So yeah that was an intense session. *word substituted to keep KZbin bots happy

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Wow. all that and no Zanu in your head! (BTW, if you haven't already, watch Dingo Doodles' Fool's Gold animations. Great story, amazing character arcs so far!)

[@firestorm165]

@@MonkeyJedi99 Took me a moment, but yeah I do see the similarities

[@chadking9086]

I've just come to know your videos from the last part of this year. And you were the first one I had to join as a patron. I promise to always send players and DMS to your videos and recommend they join as a patron. Please get rest relaxation and refuel for next year. You are what we all need to help all see what fully D&D can be. Thank you for all you have done and will do in the future. May all you do grow and prosper as you have helped us grow and prosper in our games. Thank you so much Ginni

[@7352100]

Sick lyrics dude

[@IamWhovian]

This is so sweet 🥺

[@mevensen]

One of my best tools for character growth, and staying in/better defining my character, is to keep an in character journal. This is separate from the game player’s notebook, but can serve both purposes in some cases. This journal provides a place to reflect on the past session from the character’s point of view, explore how they felt about things in the session, and what they might have learned. This can also be a place to better define how your character feels about other PCs and NPCs, events, etc. Also, in the case of extended breaks, it can be used to get you back into the same space you were at the end of the last session, providing for more continuity.

[@futuza]

GMs/DMs can help facilitate this idea by providing a space (there are a lot of online tools to facilitate this - I personally use obsidian portal), for players to write and share these journals, and then also integrate it with the game by giving inspiration (or some other similar equivalent depending on which TTRPG you're using) to anyone who wrote a journal entry for their character that week.

[@Lunasera]

I usually just let it happen. For me my characters tend to develop their own life. For example: Carisia is a noble daughter who ran from an arranged marriage and was dead set on showing her parents that she can hold her own and was worthy of being her father's successor. However during the journey she found not only friends but new perspectives and love. Right now she is questioning If she even needs to succeed her father or if her happiness might lie in a totally different path. I can't wait to see where she will be after the campaign.

[@theclockworkheart]

just wrapping up a campaign that took my wizard from level 1-20 with two epic boons to boast of. and while having two ninth level spell slots makes me feel like that ELMO IN THE FLAMES gif, what makes me emotional just thinking about her is how much she's grown as a person. i'm proud of her like she's her own person and not someone that i played at the table; it's honestly an incredible feeling, so forgive me for gushing a little. 😌 calypso was raised in an emotionally abusive home that she ran away from, and then a corrupt leader of a thieves guild took her under her wing and fed her lies and manipulated her into being a loyal little puppet, alienating her from others in the process. as a result, calypso spent most of her life never trusting anyone beyond her mentor, emotionally closed off and terrified of being vulnerable. and so when she had to team up with the rest of the party, she fought a lot with some of the more tactless or bumbling characters at the table, who always assumed the worst of her, or didn't understand why she didn't want to open up right away*, not realizing her vulnerability in the past had always gotten her hurt. but over time, she started to start getting comfortable around people for the first time in her life; started trusting them with information she learned; started turning to them for comfort, and comforting others. the big breakthrough was when her closest friend in the group, the sweetest little gnome monk with a sharp mind, YELLED at her. and told her how frustrating it was that calypso would never open up, or always pushed people away, and how it was so hard being her friend sometimes, and how she didn't even know if they *were* friends, only people who fought together. it was **tense**. but in the argument, some lock on calypso's heart shattered: realizing that she was hurting the one person she had come to trust and care for above all others, she willfully made the choice to put aside her fear, and open up. eyes open, walking into family and love, despite how much it scared her. that was one of the most electrifying scenes to play out! after the session ended, my friend and i talked for HOURS about our characters, and how they'd open up to each other, and what they'd share, and it was an enormous turning point for calypso. after that, slowly but steadily, she started opening up more to everyone else. she even found out she had a half-sister, and had to go back to confront the mother she'd run away from when she was a kid, which was her greatest fear. calypso will always be an introvert, will still get stiff and awkward when being hugged from most people, but she's someone who loves deeply and passionately and truly -- and her making the conscious choice to love and walk forward into better days, will ALWAYS get me. i love her. 🥹🥹🥹 (*would just like to clarify, this was something we all had a blast playing through at the table! my character's defensiveness in no way held the party back, and frankly a lot of the time she was in the right haha. just want to make it clear this wasn't a case of someone playing the "lone wolf" character who is almost impossible to play with, we all loved the drama. 😉)

[@brokenses4418]

This relates to one of the things I have recently realised I was doing wrong in my dnd games. As I want character growth as part of the story, I was building into my character concept the growth that was gonna happen to them before we even started. Then I found myself frustrated when they died as I didn't get to see that change bare out, or unsatisfied because the experiences they were having wouldn't lead them to grow in that way. I'm learning now to not have expectations of how the character will change but to instead create them as they are and play them as I see makes sense considering what they go through. It's exciting to not know how your character will change over the course of a campaign

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I've read things from some of the authors I read, particularly Michael Anderle, where they talk about how the characters do things and change in ways that weren't in their original story outline. So even in literature, the unexpected can happen. And often, it's better than what you planned.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

This. My first character had a wonderful arc from “ahhh!!!! We’re all going to die!!!” To “f*****. we’re all going to die. I’m going to drown in booze.” To “f**k it, we’re all going to die, so we might as well make the best of it”. Then he died in a random encounter without getting a single turn in that combat 😂 it was amazing.

[@OldtimeGamer-j8e]

​@MonkeyJedi99 R.A. Salvatore has said the same thing about the characters in his books. He says he is often very surprised by either the choices they sometimes make or how events around them affect the characters.

[@GM_Flynx]

My Mark of Hospitality Halfling originally started out as an homage to a Japanese delinquent exorcist manga character that I had hoped to bring into another campaign. She eventually ended up in a completely different campaign setting. Her background adapted to fit her in with the patron that had brought her into the party to assist the two original members of the first party, after the party mostly dissolved and a majority of the characters returned to their home plane to resolve their own things. She came from a desert world and her family was a well-to-do clan of halflings that maintained fancy inns and hotels across that world's cities and major travel routes. She was being groomed to become a skilled inn matron and also served as a shrine maiden to worship nature and other concepts of passion and inspiration. She befriended a nekomata that was feasting on the offerings at the shrine she helped maintain near the inn where she was training. One day, the nekomata heard her complaining about a rival inn that was opening up. Considering her its friend, it approached a hag in the desert it knew and beseeched them for a blessing to help the girl, not realizing that a hag's blessing would often come at a steep cost. This led to the halfling girl becoming a delinquent who left the care of her family, cut ties with her shrine, and became a desert raider with a gang of goblinoids. She was a tough-but-fair thug, who still maintained the skills and traditions that were trained into her through her life. She dated the bugbear leader of the gang for a time. Got into all kinds of trouble, though she was good about making sure the gang didn't kill people, unless they ended up defending themselves and had justified recourse for the violence directed their way... Ended up breaking with the leader of desert gang and seeking a path to break her curse. She learned that the cat she had befriended was a nekomata, it and was part of the reason she had become an impetuous, quick-to-anger cinnamon bun. The hag had taken her natural serene elegance and practiced, noble discipline in exchange for bolstering her family's inn while causing the rival inn to suffer ruin. She snuck aboard a Concord Jewel and stole away to the Radiant Citadel, in hopes that she could find someone to help break her curse. In the process, she pissed off a lot of people, including Lady Sholeh, an Ancient Brass Dragon, who gave her the "oblittunity" to assist the current party with their work to aid the Citadel and the Dawn Incarnates, while the Emerald Dawn Incarnate of their home plane was located. She has tried very hard to rein in her anger and state of being prone to violent outbursts by redirecting her energy to be playful, energetic, and helpful. But, it came to a head when she almost died TWICE during the last outing to another plane with the group. She has since become enamoured with the shardmind druid that brought her back from the brink of death, and is now trying to think of ways to woo them, despite them being inorganic by their very nature. Next session should be quite interesting.

[@nanatheneko]

My 2 current chars Dawn was a crybaby who was easily upset and flustered. She also hated hurting others. Slowly her group has helped her along and she's crying less, and become slightly more confident Amala, runaway elven royalty and genius mage, was a self centered, evil, know it all, jerk who didn't care about anyone but herself She fell in love with a member of the party and is now making active steps to become a better person, mostly for that love, but she's also realize she needed real friends

[@BKScience812]

I think I did this best for my 1st D&D character. His name was Josiah, an aasimar palladin sorcerer. I made his flaw that he was fearful but not cowardly so that he wouldn't leave his party in a fight. To overcome that flaw he took the oath of redemption and followed Torm (he's a symbol of courage and justice, what my character wants to be). I played out his fearful nature by never engaging in the frontline and getting too close to enemies. As he grew, he gained a signature spell that made him dangerous in close quarters to symbolize his willingness to fight for his party and gaining courage, and the DM allowed me to make the spell progressively stronger as I leveled too. Long story long, he started out afraid of everything, but became a champion who discovered his origins as a reincarnated Solar named Peacebringer who represented justice and mercy.

[@michaelcohen8259]

I have/had an entire arc for my female half-elven bard. Her backstory wound up with her unable to reconcile her human and elven sides, splitting her personality into a lawful good "human" and a chaotic good "elf". As she levelled up (the (limited duration) story is almost over but I hope to play her again in a full campaign), the "split" became more severe, but eventually, she learned to merge the two "halves" and become a stronger person as a result.

[@laughingpanda4395]

I'm rather proud of my group. The players I DM for have slowly gone from brash to calm and measured. From greedy and vain to giving and selfless. I'm a very lucky guy to have a group that cares so deeply about their PC's. I've definitely DM'd for groups that never change or change in ways that make zero sense. Getting players to RP their flaws and only what they know in game is a gift. A gift that I will never take for granted.

[@reed5528]

As a “forever DM”, I had a hard time answering that first question, but that also means I can give some good advice to other DMs. I think, along with players being mindful of how their own character will change over the campaign, it’s also important for a DM to encourage character development. I have a campaign that I’ve been running for over two years now, and I’ve watched and helped with some character development that has helped to shape the story of my campaign in some really major ways. Some of my favorites include an amnesiac Tiefling Bard learning to take control of her own life, but struggling from a moral/ethical standpoint with the means she’s taken to do that, and a Goliath Cleric struggling and eventually loosing his faith in his god after the death of a friend, and also learning that revenge isn’t always the best path. Like was mentioned in the video, arcs of ‘learning to trust the rest of the party’ are difficult to pull off. I had one player who ended up asking to have her first character killed off, as she had made him an antisocial jerk, and she ended up not liking playing him that way even if she planned to eventually have him change. Another player pulled this sort of arc successfully with their werewolf character, who, due to being shunned in the past, was rightfully suspicious of others, but, through the kindness of other characters, learned to trust and be vulnerable with others again.

[@tobak952]

i hope yalls charecters grow nicely.... mine are over here developing additional flaws from the Trauma my DM puts them through XD

[@sabretoothMajs]

Half a year ago i started playing my current game with a group of strangers. It was decided that my character and the character of an other players would be sibblings. A tough move seeing that me and the other player did not know eachother. During the months we started writing our backstory togeher and really delved into creating a strong and emotional bond to eachothers characters. Sadly, the last session we played his character tragically fell, and I literally and physically started weeping. I felt so connected to these characters that I've been mourning since last we played. I feel that what ever character development my character will have moving forward will be a personal character development for me as well.

[@danielgoldberg2129]

I’m an older D&D player and I usually let the younger people in our group do most of the NPC interactions even though that’s not how I am in RL. It helps keep everyone engaged and coming back week after week. My character has an 18 Charisma so it’s tempting to take over a lot of the dialogue.😊

[@claudecolclasure2239]

I love love love this video! I made this accidentally gruff but mostly super protective Dwarf Wizard. His extremely reckless brother was another PC and my character’s entire drive to adventure was to follow him and make sure he didn’t die. Thennnnnnn, we ended up in the Hells. And the brother DID DIE. My character made one morally gray choice after another to resurrect his brother and get the party out of hell, including attuning to the Book of Vile Darkness. But in his eyes, he was doing what he needed to do for the good of the group. So the love for him brother and overprotectiveness still exists…but now, you know, evil. I play him very much as the “evil doesn’t mean stupid” though, so mostly we are still doing good deeds. We are all very much invested in his redemption arc, as the whole reason he gathers all this power is for his family…but his brother is slowly pulling away. Our DM has done an excellent job weaving this world and allowing us all to live in it.

[@firebird8600]

I love the concept of having characters with proper growth, roleply-wise. Oh, my goodness! This has my new favorite ad spot! I couldn't stop laughing at poor Wisteria. 💛

[@StomeAura]

I actually created a custom race for my character (With DM permission of course) who were a race of aliens that were born as blank slates, basically blank white skin and no hair, and used technology to rewrite their DNA to match their environment once they reached their first birthday. Think of Changelings, but its only one time use, lol. Before that though, the newborns are checked for any defects, and those with defects are considered an "Inferior" and are sent away from the planet. My character was considered an Inferior and was sent off to another planet, precisely landing on his 1st birthday, which caused him to morph into one of the other custom races that the DM made, and lived with a family of some pretty prestigious dragon riders. Many inferiors on other planets develop a disorder I came up with called EPSD or Exo-planetary Stress Disorder, which is the distress of not belonging, and the sudden feelings of wanting to go home, even if you already are in your own dwelling. My character was of course unaware he was an alien the entire time, and developed EPSD without realizing, so his entire life he felt like he didn't deserve to be born into a family of such prestige, and felt he was inadequate and inferior to his peers, especially his family, no matter how much care they treated him with, nor how much vigorous work he spent improving his intelligence and strength instead of actually having a childhood. I am still currently campaigning with him, but my planned character arc with him is that he comes to terms with the fact that he's an alien, learns to realize that he is adequate, and recognizes that he's worked hard enough to be treated on the same level as the rest of his family.

[@archsteel7]

My favorite character I ended up having a lot of growth for was a Lizardfolk Monk named Vessetchi. He was my character for Curse of Strahd, and he started as very callous and with little interest in other people’s opinions problems. He had been taken in by an elf Kensei who saw him as having immense and unused potential, but he had a lot of trouble relating to non-scaled peoples (Softskins is what he called them). He was very grateful to his master, and would show this gratitude by leaving dead animals like deer or goats in his temple. So his master basically sent him to a party that the master was supposed to go to, just to get a bit of time away from him. Vessetchi’s reaction to a group of vistani begging for aid on a baroness’s property was to basically say “Wow, I sssuper don’t care. Get off this property, or we’ll torch your caravan.” But after getting abducted into Barovia anyways, he slowly found himself disgusted at the way the night-creatures there hunted. Especially the repeated miserable treatment of “human hatchlings.” He became very protective of children, and as he spent more time around people began to extend that protection from children to all “softskins” in general. He ended up coming to the decision that most softskins are helpless and frail, like hatchlings, and ‘ought to be protected so they have the chance to grow into powerful warriors like his adventuring buddies. He never quite lost his mild condescension towards humans, but he became way less callous and genuinely became one of the most empathetic characters I played.

[@laurelynealliot958]

I'm actually playing Birgit, some kind of paladin for a Light deity (we're playing in a world created by the DM with homerules so it isn't exactly D&D :) ) loosely inspired by the crusader class in Diablo 3. I intentionnaly created for her a traumatic backstory (family murdered by the army of an ancient BBEG, which defeat and death is now part of history but no precise memories of all that as she was very young) and decided that she used that trauma to become paladin and help people by redirecting her anger into her faith. For few sessions we are in Birgit's birthplace and she is experiencing flashbacks and a lot of confused emotions. And Birgit and I are both discovering that she THOUGHT have overcome her trauma but was basically in denial all these years. Now I wan't to explore the "anger phase" of her mourning process (carefully, to not spoil the fun of the table, of course) and see what will happen ^^

[@micahj5388]

I think your hair looks really cute with the dark roots! It adds a really cool contrast

[@nordicson2835]

My 17 yr old daughter ran a one shot when l was not feeling great. (All l did was pass terrain pieces ) , and put them away as needed. She had a Lady of the Lake type character. She had a pair of throwing axes made of Zombified Whale bone... As a player failed the questioning her response of ... " lt is not what you have done ... but who you have become that will determine your worthiness" I thought that was brilliant.

[@maxinesenior596]

Session 1 of the campaign I'm in, Cyra (Aasimar Divine Soul Sorcerer) was a bewildered, shy wallflower who never spoke a word except in response to someone thanking her for healing them: "it's just my job." She ran away from the party to try to go back to her abusive family so everything could be how it was before. She abhorred violence and protected cultists from being executed by her party, even giving one food. She saw the dreams from her angelic guide as at best incessant and at worst cruel, the fact that just because of her celestial blood the gods saw fit to recruit a 16 year old girl to fight evil. And what was evil? Whatever good said it was. She had the most potent magic upper city dwellers had ever seen from the undercity, but she just wanted to use it to heal. Her first reaction to any spoken word was to figure out if it was a lie, and her first instinct to reply was a deception. Now, in session, like, 75, Cyra's in a better place. The paladin is her adoptive older brother, and through his guidance, she has become a cleric of the sun god and moon goddess along with the goddess of nature whose power flows in her veins; a twilight cleric. She accepts thanks when healing. She makes decisions and socializes. Her powerful magic leads her party to victory without fail, and she beseeches her deities with prayers when she uses her cleric spells. She has an enbyfriend, Zephyr, a half-elf who guards the sacred grove where lies a sword of legend destined to be drawn from the stone by a hero who will save the world. Cyra's name's linguistic origin? Feminine version of Cyrus; the sun, young, darkness, bestows care, hero. She used to think destiny was what you made of life and that the gods had no hand in it, but sometimes coincidence after coincidence leads you on a path to a place where you feel like you were meant to all along.

[@minnevolved]

I really appreciate all the awesome tips! This actually got me thinking about the character that I made recently. My concept for her was ask wielding bad ass who has a little bit of a drinking problem. She’s confident. She knows she’s good at what she does, but she doesn’t really show off intentionally. She started out fighting for survival, but found out that she really loved doing it. She often gets lost in it and gets carried away sometimes. And her drinking stems from her unwillingness to confront the loss of a very close friend. I’ve only played one game with her so far, but I’ve already had moments where she’s run into someone who’s just as bad at handeling Lois as she is, and the only thing she could find herself saying and response is “I can relate…” There was also a point where a couple of street thugs tried to rob the tavern we were in, and a fight broke out. Having lived on the streets herself, my character tried to convince them to leave, but she didn’t shy away from the fight either. Those thugs ended up dying, and she was kind of sad about it. She ended up saying that she would have paid for their food if they had just asked because she knows how tough life can be when you’re not really well off. She’s more emotional than I originally intended her to be, but I think that’s for the best. She has the instinct to protect people, but she gets lost in the fight and ends up potentially causing more trouble in the end. And despite how emotional she can be, she still makes a conscious effort to hide how she really feels inside. Hence the drinking, since she doesn’t want to confront it. I’m honestly hoping to have her grow to the point where she chooses to stop drinking, but I’m going to play it by ear. I’m not even going to tell my DM about my goal for her specifically because I want things to happen organically and see what happens. Like, my DM is great. If I told him about this, he would be more than happy to attempt to steer things in that direction. But I wanna see where this goes and where my character ends up without that kind of direction in mind.

[@isaachepworth7860]

I have a Blood Hunter who started the adventure not understanding that anyone in this part of the world would be friendly to her, but at this point in the adventure has started to understand that the party doesn't care about her strangeness, but is still a bit worried.

[@cjtemby9353]

The amount of effort and energy you put into your video sponser section always blows my mind.

[@bmyers7078]

In my current campaign I think I have character regression. I started as an overly helpful chatterbox. After a lot of murder hoboing, he’s almost silent now. Usually staying in the back & sniping with his bow. The elven ranger brought up PTSD, as a joke, last month. Our DM asked if it was intentional.

[@TheKawaiifan]

I had one of my characters get her growth by accident lol so my high elf cleric is a cowardly character who got isekai'd unwillingly and was thrown into this dangerous post-apocalyptic fantasy world and had to fight terrifying monsters all the time. she was constantly getting the frightened condition without the DM needing to do much, and needed pep talks from the other party members. Girl was too scared to even hold a weapon in the beginning! but over time she was getting more and more used to her circumstances and while slowly got used to being in battle; albeit by spending a lot of time hiding behind sanctuary and casting support spells on her allies. but then we had this one arc where we had to cure a little girl from vampirism. My cleric is actually a christmas elf who worships Santa Claus as her god (yes its a very concept and its loads of fun), so naturally she would get attached to a small child and want to go out of her way for them. So when this angel was withholding an important component for the cure, she had little problem fighting him. I actually didn't realize that I forgot to play up her cowardice until nearly the end of the fight, and just concluded that she was growing past that flaw for the sake of that little girl. from then on I hadn't been playing up her cowardice as much anymore. She's gotten so much braver, and instead just berates the party for their more questionable actions like stripping a zombie to sell it's body parts. Giant venomous snakes? She was hardly phased anymore. forgetting to play her cowardice was an accident, but it ultimately worked out and the timing aint bad either. we have a lot of isekai victims in our campaign and a portal back home has since been found. once she's finished throwing her christmas festival for the citizens of this down-on-their-luck town and whatever else ends up happening in the christmas session, she'll get to go back to the north pole a hardened hero

[@JTurows]

I am definitely guilty of making anti-social standoff-ish characters who grow to trust their party. And it is hard to roleplay, because I want to play the game and have fun with my friends, but that character I came up with wouldn't want to help these strangers he's forced to work with. I'm definitely adjusting his personality a lot quicker so I can actually interact with my party in a more consistently positive way. Although it is fun having a rival in the party that you can banter with.

[@RocKaFella57]

That's actually a pretty common thing. It makes an arc easier but it can make sessions less fun.

[@centurynostalgia5148]

In the start, my Hexblade warlock/divine soul sorcerer, Navari, was very violent and reckless, charging headfirst into battle with her sword. Now she’s more calculating, utilizing more spells, yet still refining her combat skills with her sword, and has a lot of value in friendship. She’s still violent, but only really to those who threaten her friends/adventuring party.

[@PheonixCheeseStudios]

Mystic, my human Monk Warlock, changed from an impulsive reckless revenge and knowledge seeker to someone who is way more cautious and is more of a lair than ever before (but it's to protect her friends) but she feels bad about it and she is more focused on the reason why her rival/bff hired an assassin on her and what happened to him then just getting revenge on her death (The game is filled with homebrew)

[@WorgenGrrl]

Critical Role does a great job with character growth and character flaws especially during Season One. Grog faced off against Kavdek the uncle that beat him and left him for dead. Vax and Vex had trust issues, Keleth had Self Doubt, Percy was hellbent on vengeance, and Scanlin was a bit self absorbed.

[@procrastinatinggamer]

This is kind of why I like the idea of porting over Intimacies from Exalted. Namely from its 3rd edition. The idea is that Intimacies - be they positive or negative - represent things that matter to the character. There's no limit to how many you have (beyond things like physical sheet space or how many the player wants to have to keep track of) but at least one of them is considered their Defining Intimacy; the thing they care about the most and either something they're working towards or their motivation behind what they're working towards. Percy De Rolo for example, namely how he was at the start of the cartoon we'll say, might have a Minor or Major Intimacy towards the rest of Vox Machina, a Major Intimacy towards Whitestone, and a Defining Intimacy of hatred and revenge towards the Briarwoods. And they can change, as we can see Percy's priorities shift over the course of the Briarwood Arc. Having this stuff written out as a reference point is a great help and then can let you clearly see when one is no longer applicable for some reason (a goal achieved, the target of it dead or defeated, etc) and you can then consider how your character would feel about that stuff now.

[@jestinjeffries9430]

I have been talking about his for over 25 years. Set short term medium and long term goals. Allow for your character to grow take new flaws over time. Don't be afraid of character flaws they add depth to your character and help to make them more personal to you ands allow you to get in the headspace of the character, and can allow you to learn from your characters, you can learn a lot about playing characters with different flaws it teaches you different things about yourself.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

And what if your character achieves their goals? Well, to steal from Tangled, “Well, that’s the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.”

[@horusemerald97]

Thank you Ginny for always providing insightful and helpful ideas and suggestions for players and DMs alike. Your channel is very dear to my heart and I always share your videos with my players. Hope you have a wonderful end of the year + holidays!

[@andromedastormcrow3288]

My current main dnd character is a middle aged veteran who is set up as both the shady amoral party member and also the mentor. She is not a hero or a "good guy" but more like a devil on the side of the angles. She's 10 years older than the rest of the party, a the idea is she had her defining character arch a long time ago. She is still a deeply flawed person who has and will do many horrible things. But she's okay with that. She is also deeply loyal and caring to those she allows into her circle. She has become the person she wants to be and her primary goal now is to amass power. My ultimate goal is to play this deeply flawed mentor who guides the party onto their respective paths. But also is bound by her own nature. she is being set up as the primary antagonist in a campaign that i am dming. Which is very interesting for the players who are in both of them.

[@bobbyed5383]

That feeling when your character starts off as a sweet bubbly hyperactive monk who just wants to get out of debt and make her mentor proud but ends up traumatized, driving the party forward in a single-minded mission to find out what really happened to her mother, what mysterious illness she inherited, and how her mentor may have been involved... that was a good character. Poor Snow deserved more love than she got.

[@tomasc1664]

I’m eating lunch while watching, and then your ad showed up. I spent so much time watching that blue Navi-like fairy that I forgot I was eating until the ad ended! So congrats on making ads so good that I literally stop eating to be able to focus more 😂

[@duskstorm3560]

I find _writing_ a personality far easier than _playing_ one. As someone with social anxiety, thinking of what my character would say in any given moment is incredibly difficult when I wouldn't even know what _I_ would say. It leaves me sitting in the corner and occasionally cracking jokes. But I intend on fixing this. Coming up with a character flaw is helpful, except when that flaw isn't applicable to the situation. Instead, I think it may also be useful to gauge your character's values, and I don't mean morals. Determining what your character would be most willing to sacrifice themselves for and weighing them against each other can really help you understand the thought process that character would have. Even though these values can be situation-dependent and are constantly changing, it's important to know what your character cares for. Would they sell their soul for knowledge? Would they give up their friends' lives for gold? After determining what they care about, it's much easier to explore the extent that they would go to for those things.

[@patchodraws9200]

basically every character i create has room for character growth since i'm really into roleplay and flawed, complicated characters, but my two favourites are characters from the same campaign (one took over for the other while she was on a sabbatical). the first one, rose, was a veteran bounty hunter who took on jobs to help her mothers retire after their small hunting business was shut down by local nobles poaching the local game, but who otherwise spent a lot of her money on luxuries she could never afford as a child. she also had a brother who originally went into thievery to do the same, but eventually ended up leaving the family, which led to rose constantly vigilant for his face on wanted posters. she joined the party originally for a quick buck, but ultimately she ended up making enough money to send back to her mums before the quest was complete. she eventually discovered why her brother never came home and realized how much bigger his situation was than just petty family grievances, and decided she would give up luxuries and meagre bounty hunting jobs to instead track down the big bad with another team of adventurers while the PC party looked for a way to stop her plans. it felt like a subtle arc, but i enjoyed playing someone jaded and selfish who ultimately found a reason to do the right thing the second one is actually a negative character arc. my tiefling artificer, dr. spark kohler, began the adventure as a scientist trying to solve the origin of an artifact left behind by her late father, but promising herself not to fall into the same obsession he had while studying it that caused her to leave home for her own studies. in one of the cities they visited, spark ended up finding out that her father's assistant, who she had also been searching for, was actually a fiend in disguise who was helping him discover the secrets of the artifact while feeding on his spiral into madness and obsession, which spark also began to experience once she met and spoke with him. after a brief sabbatical that cost her her left arm because she mishandled the artifact, she's now a lot more unhinged and obsessed with the artifact; even after being told by her party what its origin was when they returned from their quest (in a manner that left a lot of information out since they were under a spell similar to the voidfish from TAZ:B), she refused to believe that that was all it was for and continued to study it, believing there to be more potential than they told her. now, knowing that they intend to eventually destroy it so that the big bad's plans can't happen, spark is in a mindset of paranoia and obsession that earlier in the campaign she'd promised not to fall victim to, and it's only a matter of time before she has to confront that anyways, just thought i'd share some of my favourite character growth i've gotten to play out in one of my campaigns !!

[@Katinthekingdom]

My paladin’s flaw is imposter syndrome. She doesn’t feel like she is good enough to be a paladin. She was getting better but then she died and had a negative character growth when she came back to life as an Oathbreaker. It was fun for the rest of the party to try to see what she was hiding along with seeing her magic taking a darker turn. Finally she broke down and revealed to the party how she came back from the dead and is an Oathbreaker. She is now on a redemption arc.

[@HeyLizardLeigh]

WHY WAS THIS WISTERIA AD THE CUTEST 😭😭😭 i love her so much

[@RukaKikuchi]

Okay, so here's a funny story. When I was prepping for my first game as a dungeon master, there was one NPC, who I initially intended to be at most a reoccurring supporting character allied with my friend's party group, that I grew incredibly attached to and ended up making a more fleshed out DMPC. I originally intended on making her a normal human mage from a wealthy family, but then I rewrote her backstory and made her a Changeling who was taken in by a human family due to losing her home as a baby. Her character arc has basically become one about building her confidence and self-acceptance, and now she's hoping to grow into herself as a hero. It's been a lot of fun to play this character that, had I not decided to flesh her out more, I think it would've been a missed opportunity. As a new DM, I'm still learning a lot about expanding on my worldbuilding and my friends have helped me with that by contributing their own ideas to build upon the lore I already have. So I'm happy that I was able to tap into this character's potential as an individual in this fictional world I've made.

[@believeinfaeries8713]

My current character is a low Wis fighter that ended up adventuring because she impulsively left to go find her kidnapped fiance, instead of waiting for help. As the game has gone along, she's learned a lot. Between rescuing her fiance (now husband) and the death of a party mate at her hand (darn you crown of madness!), she's slowed down. She tries to think through her actions. Her instinct still is to hit things first, ask questions later, but she's learned to control it, at least most of the time.

[@DonsArtnGames]

Me: *enjoying the latest Ginny Di video* 11:47 Ginny: OMG! Me: *rewinds and watches the video from the beginning* HOW DID I NOT NOTICE?! Proof that your videos information shines brighter than your hair... even without the signature coloring. I actually kinda like the "Dark Ginny" thought... Maybe you could follow that up into a fun video segment/series?

[@flossiebell]

My half-elf Druid I play in my group's Curse of Strahd campaign has definitely toughened up over the course of staying in Barovia... not just physically, but personality-wise, too. She's a lot more independent now that she's been away from her mentor/adoptive father for the first time ever, and she's definitely learned to stand up for herself.

[@paxtenebrae]

Evolving internal life is hard to represent while in play. I like to jot down a few sentences after the fact in character in a fictional journal. It makes it much clearer to me what's going on in their head and heart on a deeper level. Introspective time in the characters head without need for action helps a lot. Little changes every few sessions feels huge by the end of campaign.

[@davidjennings2179]

One of my best character arcs was sort of tied to my own. Early on in D&D I played it more like you would a computer game, trying to get to the goal without much thought to there being wider consequences. The whole party did. So we started off with a reputation for being reckless but I tried to take that on board, be a more careful and think about the larger effects on the world. My character was a monk so I tied that in to his master sending him out to learn more about the world. Became a better character and player.

[@nicostarkloff]

Your roots are fine! They're just experiencing some character growth

[@seamama]

Had this moment tonight!!! I am a high elf bladesong wizard named Ara... she spent her life studying. She is very studious, thoughtful, and lightly naive. (Has experiences the party doesn't know about). The group is mostly chaotic... we had a moment that I literally said "it was at this moment ara realized she wasn't the same." later her best friend pulled her aside expressing concer that Ara was turning into her. Ara's response was "Don't worry im not Turing into you. I'm turning into me." She is unlocking family secrets and exposing more then she ever thought. It was beautiful.

[@TheRawrnstuff]

7:26 "You should only explore that if your whole table agrees that it would be enjoyable..." I'd like to introduce an addendum to that: the characters "flaw" does not have to be a negative one to have a rich and fulfilling growth story. The key factor to keep in mind is that the _lesson_ the character learns doesn't become a point of contempt in the campaign. Sure, it is easier to pick a negative flaw that needs to be fixed, but it would be just as valid to choose a positive trait that transforms to another during the campaign. An ever the optimist doesn't have to start as a naïve trouble magnet who learns a modicum of caution, for example. Perhaps the hero/heroine starts off as a friendly goofball, but after years of meeting shapeshifting dragons and backstabbing rivals and bandits who do what they do to survive, the character develops paranoid habits, like asking strangers they meet some suspiciously specific questions to suss them out, or starting to pour salt on the windowsills of every inn they spend the night at ("to keep the vampires out"). While the youthful optimism of the character fades, and they become less sociable, they still participate in the overall story and narrative in a constructive manner without hindering its flow - while developing traits that might, at least on paper, be "worse". The question shouldn't be "what flaw does my character have", it should be "how does my character's growth contribute to the scenes they're in." If that 'how' is positive, it's probably fine. YMMV, of course. I've met people who _despise_ anything even resembling the "hero's journey" because it's "so unoriginal".

[@jeffrossi1642]

Very grateful for anyone in the community who reminds us of 5e Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. RIP to IBFs in OneDnD

[@romantheboat9118]

My d&d group is very role play heavy, I love seeing the changes of the characters over, regardless of how big they are. Some character changed in alignment, others gained habits, others changed completely as a person or their entire goal changed. Sometimes it's planned or intentional, but I love the changes that come due to the actions of other characters :)

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t skip through a sponsor add in a KZbin video. This one was good enough that I might just rewind it and watch it for the fun.

[@raithirn]

My first Vampire the Masquerade V5 character ended up committing diablerie a few times throughout the campaign due to unfortunate circumstances. They ended up getting to a humanity level of 2 before jumping up to Humanity 8 through an npc teleporting a party member at a very inopportune moment. Went from a classic murder hobo archetype to a monk type and managed to peacefully convince a cult leader to take him down into the depths of their sanctuary when the god was "spoke" to my character. Through a couple close call persuasion checks and a very unfortunate case of going with a majority vote they were killed and became that god.

[@Neophoia]

I have a character that I gave a few traits that can work as flaws, because nobody has just one. She gets overly excited when she sees items that are well crafted, and will bug people about where they got them until they tell her (sadly rarely comes up...). Another is that she is very proud of who and what she is, and will not back down when people try to "put her in her place". This one has come up a few times in story, and most of the time it ends with npc very shocked that them trying to boss over what is essentially a griffon in humanoid isn't that easy (my dm always has fun with this for some reason). She has learned that violence is not always the right way to go about when people try to boss over her, and tries to not respond with force if avoidable... but if somebody throws a punch she will return it in kind. She does have respect for authority, and so far she has managed to not get in trouble with law because of this (I think my dm is just being kind at times with this.).

[@Lizzy3D]

My stoic paladin character with acolyte background has grown up in a pretty strict monastery in which minimalism (simple life) was very important. He's become a group with very childlike, chaotic characters who like to gather stuff and collect souvenirs. I've only had about 4 sessions with him, but he's become really fascinated in this whole 'souvenir' idea and even gets a little enthusiastic about it now and then

[@Splashyyy]

My current characters personality "growth" was a wild ride. He started as a good natured Cleric that wants to help people so everyone would like him. But after having to deal with all of the problems in the region, having not quite good natured party members and adopting previous slave Goblins, he is becoming more and more the kind of dude that will literally kill or torture anyone who threatens his friends, goblin underlings or hometown.

[@jreed3842]

One of the examples you gave is the situation my character is in! My character was a merfolk who’s sister was kidnapped and taken on to land. He makes a deal with a Sea Witch to become human to get onto land and rescue her. But his flaw is that he rushes into situations without thinking. (Thus why he made a pact with an evil being to save his sister.) And a few times in the campaign he has messed a few situations up because he rushed into things without thinking. But he is learning to hold back, by listening to his companions and seeing how a situation was messed up by him and how it would have been different if he just took his time, took a breath, and thought the situation through!

[@Strash1892]

I don't think my character has grown that much as a personality, but rather that I've gotten a better understanding of why he is the way he is because I've been thinking more about how he gained the abilities, items, and character traits which I randomly picked for him because I thought they sounded cool. One change I've seen is that while he initially used to make snide remarks about every other party member, particularly the half-orc, he has come to like them and, apart from the occasional dig, treats his companions more kindly.

[@giuliafornaciari9235]

One of my current characters is an Investigator (I play Pathfinder) who got abducted to the Shadow Plane with his brother and was subject to inhumane experiments that made him a fetchling (or shadow-touched), rid him of positive emotions and empathy. When he finally escaped, losing his brother in the act, he was unrecognizable to the point that his own mother, when he visited the inn his parents owned, didn't recognize him at first sight. I decided he would get better and regain his humanity over the course of the campaign, and the DM made sure to support this. I started with CHA 9 and an acrid, sarcastic, unfriendly character that kept tabs on everyone in the party, was paranoid, couldn't sleep for more than one or two hours per night and was utterly unable to feel compassion. Enters the revelation that his brother is actually alive...as a part of him. He's his shadow now, and is able to possess his brother's body to talk and reveal to the party that: "You don't understand: my brother is the most selfless person I have ever met. Look for the acts, not the words." Party realizes they have had no night encounters since the beginning of the adventure. My character had a level of exhaustion (which he cured with potions every morning) because he'd scout for hours and set traps to protect his charge, and later the rest of the party. They realize he knows everyone's favourite colours, styles and measures when we were in sudden need of winter clothes and my character had them in the Bag of Holding. He knew everyone's favourite drink and dishes and made sure to have at least the ingredients on hand for when they were craving something or were in a bad mood. The ranger realizes he's not threatening him to not get close to the witch: he's making sure he's serious because the witch has suffered enough and wants her to be happy. He was secretly and anonymously supporting his parents with every coin he gained, allowing them to rebuild their tavern after they bankrupted themselves looking for their missing sons. Due to story reasons, he's slowly regaining his humanity and feelings, and he's grown into caring, attentive and supportive team-player. He has his own love language and is broody, still sarcastic and prickly, but from level 1 to 12 there has been a change that made me happy to have nurtured and believed in this character.

[@amatanata]

Currently playing a wood elf cleric who started the game(candlekeep mysteries) pretty much looking down on the other characters asking “why should I heal you?”, being a snob. Slowly, however, he is trying to help the party. Most recently, he tried to knock a few apples down by using thaumaturgy in a forest full of apple trees, but ended up instead knocking them all down and actually hurting the players. Literally the epitome of “he’s got spirit”.

[@Mark-ki7ic]

Had a fighter PC with the Soldier background, at first he treated the other like recruits. At the end it was with more respect but occasionally he reverted, the others realized it was stress. Made great RP when Kelvin barked orders they knew stuff was bad.

[@SwedishSalmonbox]

I like to describe nat 1s and other failed checks with the character flaw, if possible! A character rolled bad perception? - was lost in self doubting thoughts The sneaky rogue failed a stealth? - got distracted by a beautiful bug and audibly let out a "wow" Rolled bad charisma?- was expressing themself arrogantly As a Dm i like to ask people to roll checks first, and after they see the result ask them what they said/what they did for it to get that result. And sometimes tell, dont show is great! Love it when players describe what their characters are thinking.

[@ananaville1503]

also I love the way your hair looks with the dark roots and the bright color! I think it adds a really nice effect to however you style it :D

[@fightingfalcon777]

My Aasimar Paladin Marik’s main flaw is probably his stubbornness: while he doesn’t go looking for a fight, once he thinks one is going to happen, he doesn’t back down even if the fight is not a good idea. Additionally, he has something of a martyr complex, putting the value of the others in the group ahead of himself because he sees himself as their shield: his health comes second because he is there to keep them safe first and foremost. His character arc would probably be learning to know when to flee/when fighting is unwise and to put value on his own needs/self-care as well as his allies

[@katiecakesl4691]

I'm working on my homebrew space campaign. It is my first time DMing and I'm so nervous but excited. I can't wait to see the characters grow.

[@JKevinCarrier]

This is great stuff. Thanks especially for those warnings at the end -- I have run into so many players who were so wrapped up in creating their own legend, that they forget there are other people at the table who are affected by their choices. "Reading the room" is vital. I play with two groups currently -- one is a bunch of old-school grognards, and the emphasis is on combat and loot. If I tried to pull some "meaningful character arc", they'd laugh me out of the room. I save that stuff for the other group, which is much more into RP, and the campaign theme is basically "misfits looking for redemption". I enjoy both.

[@BreezyDefrag]

I have a method I implement with leveling up when it comes to ability scores. I actually reflect on what I did up to the level up and actually spend my new ability points into skills that I used and was successful at. So even if my Dex is low, I didn't use Dex all that often up to the level up and so I more focus on spending those ability on the skills they used. It's a really fun way to specialize into skills. I always struggled with the idea of charting my whole future of my characters and fixating on those things. It feels too stiff, and life is evolving and changing around the character so there development should reflect the changes of the world. Really love your vids! There are so much fun to learn from.

[@connorfahrenwald3469]

A few sessions into my first campaign, my fairly calm and relatively innocent character was inadvertently forced to live out the memories of several other versions of himself dying painfully in alternate timelines. This shook him a bit, but all our sessions sense then have been fairly combat heavy, so he hasn't really had an opportunity to contemplate the trauma he's just gone through. Once a good roleplay opportunity comes up again I want to let his behavior reflect the new perspective that kind of experience could give him, but I'm grateful for the action as it gives me more time to imagine that would look like for this character. I uh...have plenty of real world trauma of my own, but I don't want to draw on that to much for inspiration if I can help it. I want this to be his story, not mine, and I'm kind of excited to act out how someone with a different personality from mine would react to something that really shook them. Still musing...but looking forward to seeing how it plays out!

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

I have been playing D&D for almost a year and the character who has changed the most is my first character, my Paladin. She had a folk hero background and hated lying. As of now, she pretended to be an old lady and goes out of her way to support her friends. Character change often happens alongside the player.

[@foofoocuddilypoofsaang2472]

Great video. I do think it can be beneficial to talk with the dm about the possible arcs your see your character going through. My main character right now started the game with a goal of vengeance with the possibility of leaning more selfless or self serving as the story progressed. Now he is on the path of forgiveness which the DM and I were not expecting but made sense with what has happened.

[@Thepopcornator]

Probably my favourite example of character growth that I've personally had for one of my characters was a Haunted One Loxodon Bard I once played named Tantor Shep (yes, I know, really creative naming an elephant man after two famous elephant characters). In his backstory, he was part of a family of evil mage nobles who committed atrocities across the land. One day, a local village raided his home at night and killed several family members of his, including his wife. He unleashed a massive spell of some kind that killed everyone there, with the help of his patron (I multiclassed him with Warlock). He was traumatized at the extent of what he'd just done, and so he left his family to try to make his way as an adventuring bard and seek penance for what he'd done by helping people. He started off very closed-off and gruff. He refused to kill, always finishing off enemies with non-lethal attacks when possible, but he was otherwise kind of an asshole to the other party members. He still interacted with them and showed compassion and interest, but didn't share a ton of his backstory with them and sometimes got overwhelmed with rage if he saw one of them committing what he saw as an injustice (other players were cool with this since it didn't happen every two seconds). Once in a while (at times the DM designated with failed dice rolls), he'd lose control, get consumed by the patron, and the other party members would have to fight him as a miniboss-type encounter to bring him back down. Over the course of the campaign (which we sadly never got to finish), he began to open up more, and became able to use his music to help heal both his own pain and those of others. Eventually, he was able to often resist the call of his patron because of it. It felt pretty rewarding.

[@JediKnightDTV]

Wow, Ginny!!! Are you psychic?! Again, I feel like you are speaking to my very soul with this video!!! My character from our Curse of Strahd campaign was pretty insufferable, and that was because I (as a player) was still learning how to play this game that we all love, and especially what it meant to play it as a part of a party, a team, and for everyone to have fun at the table. I feel like over time, this has resulted both in my character becoming less insufferable as well as myself as a less selfish player. I just wish it hadn't taken an entire 3 year campaign for this to happen (for my character or myself, lol)! Overall, I feel like my character has had real "character growth," going from someone who doesn't think about how his actions will affect the rest of the party, to someone who is carefully considerate of how his actions affect others, and I feel like I have (hopefully) had a similar growth in myself. Thanks for all of your hard work making such useful videos!!! Do you think that you could make a similar video to this one, except instead of from the player's perspective, make it from the DM perspective? Like how to create opportunities for your players to experience character growth? Thx again!!!

[@andrewlustfield6079]

This is so much more important than back story. Back story is everything that happens before page 1 of the story---the interesting parts is everything that happens after page one. The events of the campaign are far more important to shaping a character in role play. You're drawing on a shared experiences with your fellow players giving more gravity to role play.

[@complicatedcelery4781]

My husband and I started a new campaign a couple weeks ago with our friends and our DM allows us to change things about our characters up to 4th level. I started as a Monk but after my husband watched your 3 myths about Bards video, and we'd only played one session at this point, he believed I'd do better as a Bard from the way I'd been roleplaying her that day. I didn't see it at first but after I watched the Bard video, I had to agree. Last week was the confirmation while playing. So thanks for the video and push to play a class I didn't see myself playing before.

[@paulfrancis7972]

Halfling fighter that background he was a farmer and the farmer's wife ended up in jail. I broke her out and we are on the run. I rolled with disadvantage on to hit rolls because I didn't know how to use weapons to hit creatures. I did this till I was at level 4 and the farmer's wife got attacked by a bunch of creatures and I rolled a critical hit with disadvantage and then I started attacking without disadvantages. Love the roll play aspect of d&d

[@gayane_igityan]

Hey Ginny, love your channel and your ad parts are just genius! Some of my characters have changed alignments as a result of developments in campaigns. These refers to some very drastic ones. My current character has learnt to be more open due to a fellow PC, however she still suffers from over analyzing everything and being more of a control freak as some of her actions in the backstory led to some drastic developments. It's also due to her being the healer, hence taking each combat scenario more carefully as opposed to her fellow fighter and monk. This results in a lot of fun RP.

[@armphidiic2609]

This is terrific. Great thoughts and it made me reflect on the character I'm currently playing too. He hasn't really changed since the start of the campaign and I think I need to rectify that.

[@joshuabryant974]

That's a good video. My D&D character just now is an Ancients Paladin. We're 13 levels into the campaign at the moment, and he's had a mostly flat arc. Started out the usual thing for a High Elf Noble, all righteous and ready to lead, sworn to defend his land and people. The campaign's main villains are the Drow, whom my character hates as ancestral enemies of his people, alongside greenskins. Over the course of the campaign, he's softened in his attitude to the Drow as a race, since he encountered Eilistraee and some Good Drow, to the point where he actively bears her holy symbol and makes reverence to her alongside his own goddess (Seirana, a homebrew Elvish deity of nature and the hunt). He's had his hatred of the Drow and desire to protect non-combatants used against him and lead the party into some foolish situations because of it and is beginning to become a bit more wise to it. Another party member shows signs of being favoured by his deity (some metaphysical test was given and some characters came out of it with gifts, the party's Druidess ended up getting elk antlers which is the symbol of his goddess), so whenever any major harm befalls her, my Paladin just smites whatever did it into next century. The Druidess died again last session, so might be a major moment for my Paladin to remember that he swore to protect his dear ones and change his behaviour. I have a feeling he's in for a massive negative trend towards the end of the campaign, though, especially if he actually gets the main antagonist in his grasp outside of the battlefield... I also have a regular WHFRP game going, and my character in that is also a devout man, serving mighty Ulric, god of Winter, Wolves and Warfare. He's usually capable of backing up his bluster, and is currently growing well into a position of leadership in the party. He's already turned down an offer of straight cash from a high noblewoman, and gotten her to agree in writing to a favour owed to be collected in the future. Not bad for the illiterate son of a backwater village's smith, eh? (I feel the need to mention that illiteracy is the standard for Humans in WHFRP, it's a very grim-dark low fantasy setting).

[@jpierson]

Trick I stole from Pelgrane Press' Dramasystem that I just love: dramatic poles. Dramasystem describes it as the character having opposed identities at war with each other; I usually just think of it as opposing or conflicting motivations. As I play, I look for opportunities to act on each motivation, trying to alternate between them, so my character is pulled one way in one situation and the other in the next. It really helps me break out of that, "character's entire future arc mapped out," thinking Ginny talks about. Instead of a plan, I have prompts that guide my roleplaying, and I get to explore the character, riff off what happens in the game, and discover through play which identity they end up embracing. Basically, it gives me a foundation to build the character's growth arc during play, through improv, instead of trying force (script) my play to fit the arc. Also gives me an out for playing anti-social loners! :-) I just have to give them an equally strong drive for family/connection/friends that constantly pulls them back to the group and makes them make nice.

[@FiddleForge]

What a warm looking sweater.

[@drguthrie7621]

One of my favorite characters is an ambitious wizard whose major flaw being that she is sometimes careless of consequences of her overzealous ambitions, in campaign and roleplay she without much thought interacted with an artifact that raised an ancient tower with teleporting capabilities not thinking about how they were in the middle of a small mining town which led to destroyed homes and even deaths. For awhile she tried to justify to herself that it wasn't her fault and ultimately the tower being raised was a good thing but was confronted multiple times in how what she did was wrong and she was at fault. She had to learn from this that she needs to be more careful with the power and knowledge she holds and is trying to do better everyday while also making amends with her mistakes. It was mistakes and learning from those mistakes that made this nervous wizard character one of my favorites.

[@scrubyt2668]

I'm playing an anti social and shy Changeling currently in my campaign but I found a creative way to get around the bogging down this would bring the party. Basically I hard locked her to a set limit of forms then I gave her Disassociative Identity Disorder and she changes to a new personality so she is never around very long allowing a more social personality to take over for more dialogue heavy sessions. She also has a little quirk where she become more outgoing and willing to talk when her face is covered by a mask and hood, currently she is very popular with pretty much everyone in my party

[@michaeledmunds3878]

Well done once again Ginny. We are trying character development at our table. For example, one of the characters is Mog, an Orcish Paladin. He has been trying to be upright and righteous, but still has a brutal orc nature which comes to the surface from time to time. Fortunately, the DM has embraced the arc and when Mog is especially brutal and orcish, he might not be able to use Channel Divinity for a time, or another spell of divine nature might elude him and he is reminded of his oath and how he should behave. In time we hope to see Mog overcome his past nature and embrace his Oath of Devotion better with practice. At level 5 he is still a work in progress.