How I Make Characters in Pathfinder 2e

[@Nonat1s]

Thanks GX for sponsoring today's video! Click the following link and download OperaGX today! Or download GX Mobile for your phone! mtchm.de/98ifc

[@TheEventide]

I spit out characters every 15 minutes most days. I have a problem. You should see my Pathbuilder library.

[@ChivalrousyWalrusy]

I have to dump mine every month or so

[@coolboy9979]

Are they all level 1?

[@TheEventide]

@@coolboy9979 built to level 20. That being said, I don't write detailed backstories until later. It takes between 15-30 minutes to build a character this way, but leads to a lot of character envy during games. Like "I wish I was playing this other character instead" kind of stuff.

[@coolboy9979]

@@TheEventide you might want to see a psychiatrist

[@lingtongable]

I know that feel bro

[@Wukong330]

I have to say that I am coming from 5e and your videos on pf2e have been extremely helpful.

[@fabiomaurell3215]

You use Bard as your icon so I'm SURE you are an awesome person! Welcome to Pathfinder 2e!

[@Wukong330]

@@fabiomaurell3215 I love bard. I appreciate it bud. I was a fan of Pathfinder 1st edition back years ago so I am trying to get my gaming group to try pathfinder and hopefully theyll switch over lol.

[@Atrianpaul]

Nonat: I goning to walk you through my whay is apparetly my 9 step process Also Nonay: And my 10 and final step is... Love it

[@zamba136]

My character Creation goes as such. #1, i speak with the other players to see what general role and skillsets they want to play. I have enough preset builds to cover any role or concept. #2, i speak with the DM about the specics of their setting. I don't often create a specific counter to their campaign, but nobody wants to be a Vampire Hunter in a dragon-slaying campaign. #3, if there is an NPC that fits, i ask to naritively replace that NPC. Did this once for one of my players, and it was fantasic! Otherwize, i imbed myself in the setting. #4, Import one of my hundreds of pre-planned characters and edit the sheet to fit, or start a new one if my idea is unique enough. I pick a background first. Usually, this is the day job or role i am filling in society I usually pick a native Ancestry, or an ancestry related to the social story i want to tell. Sometimes i pick for Mechanical reasons, such as my Superstitious Orc /Superstitious Barbarian Priest. Class is related to my role in the party. I usually pick interesting combos. Barbarian Priest, Fighter Sage, Witch Chef, Paladin Pole-Dancer. It isn't always unrelated though, like an Swashbuckler Acrobat My favorite way to play is with Free Archetype rules, and i like to make this an extention of my character's Background/Job. Choices past this are purely for Flavor. Spells, weapons, armor, feats. I ignore power and choose flavor. Sometimes character creation starts here, "i want to play a Sleep Bard with a Scythe for super-powered Gaurenteed crits and Heavy Armor. He'll be the town Executioner." #5, i make sheets for all family, friends, rivals, and possible Antagonists. Sometimes, they are Also secondary PCs for when my other character is busy, or i want a break. "I have too many customers to Adventure, ask my sister." 6# names...i HATE names. I usually find something that fits before session 1, though.

[@nilescaron-sadkfpemployee8260]

Ah, perfect, a character creation video. Just what I needed, considering my character of 3 years just died last session. I’m totally not coping or seething or malding about it btw. Also YES NoNat we have the same naming process. One of my recent characters name was Kotori, meaning Ash Bird, if I recall. The character I’m making to temporarily replace my deceased one is a Jinx Tengu named Feliz (Man of fortune) Desgracia (Misfortune)

[@Nonat1s]

NO. THREE YEARS!?!?

[@nilescaron-sadkfpemployee8260]

@@Nonat1s A Lesser Death had decided that our Champion had escaped death one too many times, and during the fight began to prioritize the Cleric that was healing everybody back to full constantly. Crit downed her than crit her by one point while unconscious. We were lucky enough that we could recover her body in time, considering she was Air Walking above a ravine, and we happened to be by a place where she can be revived.

[@ishythetaffer]

These days i come up with characters sort of randomly. I usually search down for art of fantasy OCs around the internet, and the one that inspire me, i save them in a folder. Then, when its time to play, i usually open the folder, scroll down, take the art that inspires me the most and create a character based on the vibe, following it or subverting it. For the name i take random generators, see what inspire me and then modify it.

[@VafnirGrafta]

Naming characters is definitely one of my favorite parts of creating a character. My female Gnoll Oracle with the Ancestors Mystery is called Anima Singura, which means as much as "Lonely Soul" or "Singular Soul", which is kind of ironic considering she carries the souls/spirits of her ancestors in her.

[@TheSonicShoe]

I've never once thought of picking spells or feats that are necessary to a PCs survival as not being flavor. like even if I were a powerful illusionist wizard in Golarion, I'd be goddamn sure to have several spells that do physical damage prepared every day since I'd be well aware of the fact that many common monsters are fully immune to illusions, and there are horrors from the dark between the stars and demons from other dimensions trying to invade and conquer the world every other Toilday. Wouldn't catch me running around without at least magic missile prepared as an arcane caster no mater what my magical specialty is. having basic survival instincts is a part of my character's flavor too. lol

[@kelpiekit4002]

I had a grung (5e) character called Syllulluniau for the Welsh words for staring and paintings. Him habitually staring at paintings as a youngling led to him becoming a scribe and painter for his tribe, which eventually led to him becoming an anthropologist outside the tribe. I also felt the name was nicely rhythmic like frog song. He fought as a barbarian using a concoction he discovered when developing new pigments, but that wasn't a significant portion of his identity.

[@kylone1]

I still think my favorite name was my female Gnome named Ann. Who was into theatre. (she wasn't a bard, she was an inventor, but took the Gnome Obsession feat for theatre lore)

[@KyU433]

Pathbuilder is an amazing tool for character creation too, just need to throw it out there! :)

[@carbonscythe]

It's fun that you and I have the same strategy for naming our characters, this was for DND however but I named my Half-orc Oath of redemption paladin Raka Marumaru, Rakau means Shield and Whakamarumaru means protection, both in Maori. His idea is that he just runs around the battle field and protects his friends with his shield and different spells and feats that make sure there is as little combat as possible. Raka Marumaru means Broken Wood though, which in general is just a cool name.

[@blevenox1916]

Absolute yes for the spells. 100% agree. Why should my Abjuration wizard know fireball? They just want to protect. Made a bard who only had sound/voice themed spells cause they were a singer.

[@Jasonwfd]

I approach character creation very similarly. The big thing that stuck out to me is in step 1, where you said you usually let the other players make their ideas first and then try to fill in a role that the group is lacking. This is absolutely what I often prefer to do! Like you said, I can always think of 1000 different character concepts that could be fun to play, so I don't want to take anyone else's thunder away from them if I'd just as easily and happily play something else.

[@kwintenkoeter7274]

My method of character creation is always mechanics first. What do I wanna do? Am I aiming for certain feats? What's my role in the party? Flavour comes pretty much dead last. I like to have a point of reference I can fall back on, starting on a completely blank page scares the hell out of me. Backgrounds I usually leave up to flavour; only when stats are really important (for an archetype, for instance) or if I'm starved for skills I'll pick an optimal one, but since my backstory's still undefined at this point, the character could literally be anything. As said, backstory comes last. I like to come up with "how did I end up here" and work my way backwards (or work towards), rather than creating something from nothing and seeing what fits best.

[@ArborusVitae]

Very similar for me, my characters always start with a mechanics idea or gameplay pattern I want to explore and then everything follows that with backstory/lore coming together last.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

My two character inspirations: 1) our group has one person who has PRACTICALLY EVERY MINI AND BONES KICKSTARTER EVEN DONE, and I sometimes browse the minis to get inspiration, and work backward from the mini. 2) I have a concept of something mechanical, like “never played a fighter, that expert/master/legendary weapons thing sounds cool”, or “the alchemist infusion mechanic sounds neat” and work from that mechanic to optimize it and see how far it goes. I then decide what kind of character was informed from that choice, what person came into that profession or class, or what they did when born as that ancestry.

[@umpum3963]

I love that bit about finding character names. It's what I did for my most recent 5e character in the Grim Hollow campaign setting. He's a Downcast (essentially a now mortal angel who lost all but the barest scraps of their divinity after a war in which all the gods died) Zealot Barbarian named Asmodei Leichenberg. Asmodei because it's vaguely biblical sounding (also has a plot thread where he's torn between trying to return to being a vanguard of good in a literally dying world, or succumb to the violence and join the side of what demons/devils there are left), and Leichenberg which translates to "heap of corpses" from German.

[@CommissarMitch]

Oh I agree on a lot of points. I have a Kobold Rogue who holds a Fangwire and Leather armour because he is a Hired Killer. He is essentially Kobold 47.

[@ARTHURVANPAS]

The naming step is really cool, definitely using that one for my next character!

[@vincentbouscarle3523]

Mostly same process at the end of the day, but a few exceptions: -sometimes the first spark of concept can be a gameplay gimmick (especially if I know the game enough to want to try a specific combo, or if summoning/pets are available and manageable), a specific choice like an ancestry or class or power that caught my eye (like leshys

[@PatricioINTP]

First of all, my character sheet is in Excel, which handles a lot of the calculations and allow me to do some layouts. One sheet is just on planning. After filling out the ABCs, I do all basic ability boosts to Lv 20, then all feats to Lv 20, including any archetypes. I then fill out all the details to my Lv 1 character with AoN help. My second sheet is spells. Third is equipment. Fourth is calculations which includes everything that has a proficiency level plus weapons. Again, excel does all the math. The fifth sheet is the character sheet itself where I copy all the content from the previous one into this one in a format that will be good to print out if desired. Sixth is just something to put down tactics notes to particular actions my character might use a lot so I don’t have to look it up on AoN.

[@iridradiant]

I like giving my elf characters plant based names and my favorite was Sundew Aldrovanda the thief. I played her as a Carmen Sandiego type and although she wasn't the best suited to straight up combat, she did well scouting and tactically flanking the battlefield with her stealth.

[@JeremyLohan]

it's exactly the way I do it, I love the whole creation process. My character is called Morana Senka, she is a necromancer, and her name means dark death. AMAZING!

[@hilken]

I do something similar for the names, for example, my current half elf's name is Neurion Itzcoyotl: Neurion is an elvish name from the arwen-undomiel website that means "succesor" and Itzcoyotl that means "obsidian coyote/wolf" in nahuatl, I choose these because he is from Xopatl, has a Coyote-shaped leshy familiar made of wood of dark color with leaves and flowers (for the ears) of a purplish red hue and his dream as a Druid is to master the growth of living ley lines like the arcane botanist of old and revive the Kumaru tree.

[@LadyLagsalot]

For me, backstory is always step 1 for me. Maybe it's barebones idea, and then character creation. Other times it's write out the whole story, and see what fits. Apart from that it seems like we make our characters much in the same way. I am also very much a flavour over function kinda gal, and nowhere is it more apparent than in my sadistic half-elf pirate with anger issues. She's a fury instinct barbarian/maestro muse, who's spells primarily are either healing or single target damage spells (dual class rules variant). The only thing I have that "bridges the gab" between the two classes is time jump (to help close the distance when I go from spellcasting at range, to get close and personal). For story reasons I kept the barbarian class a secret from the other players. I'll never forget the "You what?!" reaction I got from one of the other players, when I raged for the first time. I love her. Also, I am to tally stealing the "two mundane items" idea. It's great flavour.

[@dragongold3]

Untill you called it out, I didn't even realize that step 1 was a thing that I had considered before making a character. I had been making character ideas for (PFS) rules and figuring that I could make small changes for a campaign I got to play in.

[@LetholdusKaspyr]

Regarding backgrounds - I have some give-and-take with backgrounds, like most other fluff-and-crunch intersections. I figure out what gives me the stats I need, then find something on that list that best fits my concept. Unless I want to make a Dexterity melee character that's not a specific kind of Rogue, because then it's Sword Scion, so I don't need a specific archetype to get the weapon I want.

[@mizerablegit4720]

Greatly agreed that background should be fitting fluff over feature, I made a dwarf miner for my first campaign because...well...dwarf

[@Bluepuertorican5]

I literally saw that PF2e had a Gunslinger and a Summoner and my brain went to Halfling Summoner and Orc Gunslinger. Like I immediately saw an Orc Bounty Hunter who left his tribe for a better kind of hunt. He has a thick cigar he always smokes after each successful hunt. Legit, cant wait to play him in PF2e since its the first character I made

[@AlexKlindt]

This is an outstanding framework Nonat.

[@KnicKnac]

Nvm you actually answered my question in the video. I sometimes start with artwork I've seen and mold and idea from that or pick a lineage+ class I haven't played and give it a go. Names are tough. I pick simple names that are easy to remember for me and the group.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

During all steps i reread basically everything about class and ancestry i chose for MOAR inspiration. Also i like to detail my personality and background details during a dialog with DM.

[@philopharynx7910]

I usually start with mechanics. I look for something fun to play in that game and make the character. That night, my character muse will wake me up at some ungodly hour in the morning by telling me who that characters is and what their story is. From there I usually have to change some or all of the mechanics to fit the story. Which will sometimes trigger changes to the story. Which triggers changing mechanics. I've done the language thing. I'm playing a Conrasu Staff magus named "intonga" in SoT - "intonga" meaning stick or club in Zulu. But my secret weapon for character names is movie credits. I'll put on a movie and fast forward to one of the parts where the screen is full of names. I'll flit around with my eyes and pick syllables out. I'll shift them around and keep picking until I have something that sounds right.

[@ElFenrir13]

I sometimes get an inspiration from a game or something and tweak it to be my own. A main character I have a monk that's basically a tribute to this one clan of assassins in the King of Fighters game. I have a Fetchling Giant Instinct dude who I made because I wanted to make a character who "felt like a Dark Souls Boss." I made a Magus with Necromantic spells because I was inspired by the old Diablo 2 Meleemancer build that I played a lot. One of my more "shameless influence" characters is a brutal monkmodelledd after Onikage from Tenchu. Other times, I just get a random cool idea and whip it up. Either way, I always try to make the characters my own regardless. My King of Fighters assassin clan influenced monk has his own story, likes and so in, he just is like, "if I made a character for this clan, this is what I'd do." The Dark Souls inspired guy isn't modeled after any particular boss, just if I designed one. Even the Onikage inspired guy has a lot of originalnaspects that I plugged into him, I mostly just borrowed his appearance, brutality/fighting style, and nasty streak. The Meleemancer is more an appearance/theme thing, but he's got his own story and everything. As for builds, I try to balance flavour and power. Backgrounds are very character oriented, feats I try to take the strongest but most fitting ones. So if there's like a 10/10 feat that fits poorly, a 6/10 that fits very well, but an 8/10 that fits nicely, I'll often grab the 8. I do armour and weapons similarly. Pure flavour weapons, but the most buff armour I can that I fluff to appear however. And I love having random small items. My assassin is fond of strategy games and fine tobacco, so carries a mahjong and Go set equivalent and a pipe. The wicked monk has trophies he took from strong enemies, like a bloodied cloak, cracked oni mask that he wears on his belt, a damaged signet ring and so on. Nice vid and comments!

[@coolboy9979]

I feel like you should be picking the class as second, because if you are playing a champion, or a rogue your backstory, character and background will be very different (Most of the times at least)

[@KeenanCasey]

Technically he does it's a part of the "Concept" step which is step 2. When you get to the real ABC's You might actually choose a background that fills out the concept and an actual class that is similar. For example maybe the concept is a Gnome Beastmaster thus you would choose a background that would potentially give you that flavor but the actual class could be maybe Druid, Ranger, or Summoner to flesh it out further. This has the potential to fit within the scheme of choosing not to play the same class as another player "Context" and yet still play a "Concept" by choosing a different class.

[@harrythefish4593]

This is often the case but Paizo has shown this not to be required with their Champion Iconic. I believe she was a street thief who stole a helmet from a warrior which caused that warrior to die. In penance she took of the way of a Champion. I like the background first and it makes me think why did this person decide to take this job in life. Was it money / fame / regret / duty? You can go the other way but I feel it might lead to a situation where your background is always a precursor to your class. This is fine but for me gets a little stale after a while. Oh unless you use free architypes where you branch out at second level to some VERY different branch of what your character REALLY wanted to do all their life and can finally do because they are away from the people who forced them to be who they were even if it wasn't their true self.

[@daniellebittner13]

My boyfriend's long-time pathfinder group just started a new campaign, and very kindly let me join! It's my first time playing pf2e (I have a tiny bit of experience in 5e), but I've enjoyed Pathfinder soooooo much more than Dnd! (LOOOOVE THE 3 ACTION SYSTEM!!!!) Your videos have been a GODSEND to someone who's new the the whole system and learning how to play for the first time

[@Nonat1s]

That's so freaking sweet! Thank you so much for the kind words!! I'm super glad my videos were helpful and binge-worthy!!!!

[@MK-pm9zi]

Welcome back Ray 🎉

[@itsLemontree]

I just choose what nethys told me to cause it was my first character and I had no idea what I was doing. I'll definitely reference this video for my next character

[@benrogers7935]

When I make a character I usually pick something I haven't done before, like right now I am working on a human ranger with the archeologists archetype

[@andybarr2406]

Have a look at the dyslexic character sheets as they give hints on how to fill out the character sheets

[@level20art50]

I had a character named Chen Oshvietvash, literally (and yes I changed the spelling of the surname to be closer to its English pronunciation) "Light in the dark" in Polish.

[@fabiomaurell3215]

I have a Very similar path as yours, but I start with the image I will use to "play" as I only play at VTTs. I describe my character but always use a image to help people visualize them.

[@TheEventide]

Typically I'll make a concept that sounds fun, pick a few roles for in and out of combat (normally 2), and just build. The backstory comes afterward, and ancestry is chosen based on whatever theme meshes with the original idea. For instance, I made a new trigger brand yesterday. I looked through the weapons and how the gunslinger abilities worked with them, chose the firearm/dagger combination weapon, and got to work. Picked up the gun and sword feats that don't need one in each hand and started thinking about why someone would fight in that way as I went into backgrounds. Then It struck me: SAVED BY CLOCKWORK, impossible lands, Alkenstar. My brain works weirdly like that. Being in the impossible lands, I decided to go for the desert heritage ratfolk for flavor. So by now, I have a TriggerBrand Desert Ysoki from Alkenstar, saved by clockwork in some way. Someone with clockwork body parts and firearm weapons will need some experience in crafting, so I pick up a few feats to focus on repair and alchemy. Being a desperado type I'll likely need some charisma and thievery. In the end, I crafted Saltzpyre: named after the harsh salty sands of the mana wastes, and the fire at the heart of Alkenstar's gun works (and a blatant ripoff of Vermintide. You know if you know.) A junker from the lower echelons of Alkenstar, they make their humble living by gathering old war materials from the Mana wastes, doing their best to avoid conflict at all costs. They decided to graft together a gun and a dagger so they could keep one hand free to carry whatever scrap they could find. It was a tough life, but it was a life nonetheless, and having traveled through the dangers of the desert so often Saltz began to grow more confident and less wary. Whether due to a run-in with a sandworm or rust monster, or an accident involving the many stockpiles of razor-sharp scrap metals of the area, Saltzpyre's hand was bitten hard by the desert, lost in the shifting sea of dust and sand. Perhaps a wealthy, well-meaning patron within the city would be willing to ease Saltzpyre's misfortune, or maybe the city of smog will simply salt the wound.

[@TheEventide]

Tl;Dr the way I build characters is very spontaneous and chaotic. The only step I take in the order paizo suggests is the first one: "come up with a fun concept". I then just bounce around from there to find the right theme and flavor as I build.

[@aebonstudio7193]

What about for 1st edition?

[@TriptuneRadio]

I've actually used your naming method before. It gave me the name Lowca from Łowca which is polish for hunter

[@tommyglisten6501]

I’m with you for the spells. I played a necromancer wizard and My party was asking my why I didn’t have fireball because I was a wizard and I was like, uh why would I burn all the bodies that I want to animate as my dead minions??? That makes no sense!

[@SquirrelGamez]

Dude we have the same naming technique! For the rest of it I try to balance build and roleplay but I couldn't tell you how exactly.

[@SheenaTigerspielt]

I see I am not the only one doing some of the choices like I do... Background based on... Background... spells based on character... both stick out the most ^^

[@Quarataia]

What if I'm making for Pathfinder Society?

[@danproctor7678]

Two thumbs up. I like your name creation system. You should create a job aide for that (old guy check in), I mean you should create an app for that ( or an AI).

[@blaydsong]

@Nonat1s You and I have some very similar processes and thoughts about character creation.

[@GoddessCynthia]

Pathbuilder is superior, it's fast, it supports custom ancestries, it's all so good.

[@JacksonOwex]

Wanderer's Guide is almost ALWAYS up to date, and ALSO does ALL of those things!!! It also helps that Wanderer's Guide fits MY style of building better than Pathbuilder!

[@TheEventide]

I love pathbuilder because it makes building characters so easy and quick. However, Wanderer's Guide has lots of cool features that make playing from the site easier than Pathbuilder does. Such as letting you type in the font of certain languages (useful for notes between players) and allowing you to view rules and abilities without going to a separate site like AoN.

[@GoddessCynthia]

@@JacksonOwex The second part is a fair point, but Pathbuilder gets updated same day as book releases, nearly at the exact same time.

[@GoddessCynthia]

@@TheEventide Wanderer's Guide is just too slow for me.

[@SwingRipper]

I would love a link to that character sheet! Been looking for a nice black and white printable

[@NafenX]

One of my character's surnames was Caenum, after the latin for dirt/mud :d

[@PowerOfDoi]

I'm curious... i've recently started GMing ALOT (4 games / week) following some BB sessions for multiple groups and i've seen what you're describing happen since people tend to come over from flufier systems like 5E or Fate and people are making a lot of flavour choices and my typical response is "You do you, but math is fairly tight in 2E, i'm worried over this [insert 1-20 campaign book], you won't die, but worse, get bored with the character if you can't hit / affect / get crit easily and spend alot of time on the floor etc." How high level have you played 2E, specifically whats the highest level you've raised a character to, from lvl 1? (no high level one shots, that's cheating, because unlike *cough* other systems, the combat wagon doesn't loose all its wheels and fall off a cliff past level 5, so high level one shots are extremely fun)

[@otherjester3988]

A Dnd 5e player's steps to character creation 1) do research on beavers 2) realize you can make a beaver PC 3) think about and decide on a class(artificer) 4) backstory 5) think about all the different ways to flavor the character 6) realize that this is your 56th backlog character and your not going to be able to unleash his greatness for awhile 7) name (Bev, the beaver) 8)think what stuff a beaver would have) 9) done

[@xarris37]

No matter what paizo says, i have to pick class first. In pathfinder 2e, classes come with so much built in flavor that in order to make the character concept i want i need to pick the class first, then ancestry, then background.

[@Blizz3112]

I use Roll20 to put the info of my character there, so I can write it off that on new character sheets if need be (usually they have a shorter life span then what is saved online). It is also very useful for when not access to the sheet, but you want to already implement the changes of a level up, then easily make said changes via the saved character... :-P

[@JacksonOwex]

I've ALSO done this, with Roll20! It has the added benefit of NOT disappearing if you lose your computer/storage device!

[@blargforlyfe]

I think links are removed 🤔 but my partner has a nice pf2 sheet so if anyone wants to look at it don't hesitate to contact me :) I also like to make a character before the mechanics!

[@therookery9911]

I'm so using your name system

[@KaybeCA]

How I make a character: 1) Be advised by GM that they are planning on starting a Pathfinder game in two months. 2) Spend a few hours making an initial character concept, followed by time spent researching and building this character in Pathbuilder. 3) Spend days browsing nice character portraits online, save thirty of them, pick one. 4) Talk to the other players and realize that while we're not playing the same class, there's too much overlap in our skills or combat roles. 5) Redo character concept, sometimes from scratch. Spend several more hours doing even more research and building in Pathbuilder. 6) Think hmmm, maybe I could play a different gender or race. 7) Spend more days browsing new character portraits to match new race/gender. Save thirty, pick one. 8) Realize I'm too much of a perfectionist and then do several additional minor tweaks and changes here and there to character build and backstory over the next few weeks until session 0.

[@josemite90]

If I have to come up with a name on the spot, I normally look around me and pick a couple objects, then twist their names. For example, once I saw my Nintendo Wii and a Murloc figurine from WoW, so I came up with the Name "Windmurck" :)

[@ryuku2]

If I try to come up with a name on the spot I just default to Guy Manson. Which is suspicious when they're a lizard folk girl.

[@20catsRPG]

Have you thought about running a 2e game and uploading it on YT?

[@chillinon3263]

My fighter had a 7 word title for a name and literally during this past weekend’s session a fae creature stole it from me. Genuinely not sure if they’ve done me a favour by sparing me breath whenever I introduce [REDACTED] to new people 😭

[@mrredoak1008]

I unfortunately have a curse on my characters that if I think and try and make a cool name for them they'll die one or two sessions different systems different GMS never fails. So I usually just give them a random little name go with it and figure out the rest later

[@Cykotr0n]

Jeebus! Those are some bad ass anime lookin' K9's you've got lol. I'm kinda jelly!

[@Skaxarrat]

I normally have a concept, then I add layers of depth, one by one. For example, I'm toying with the idea of a half-ork monk using Stumbling Stance (yes, Drunken Kung fu). As a free archetype, as I have at least 14 CHA and 18 DEX, I'm going to pick Swashbuckler (Feint style). Now I'm a half-ork monk pretending to be a cocky drunk that "misses" punches as flavour for the Feint. Then... why not having Cayden Cailean as god? Now, I am a half-ork monk pretending to be a cocky drunk that works for a Cayden Cailean-affiliated organization to help people. High CHA? High deception? Cool. Add Spy, and now my "modus operandi" is pretending to be drunk so no one takes me seriously and I can gather information. If I'm caught, I can Lie due having high deception, and Overlooked Mastermind (+2 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Lie when specifically claiming ignorance). Now, from just your average monk, I'm a charismatic monk that works for an underground organization as spy that can fight well, gather information, gtfo easily, and more.

[@Zalgardis]

Me realizing I accidentally created D as a Dhampir precision Ranger focused on monster hunting...

[@TheGreatSeraphim]

I used to have fangs like that till they keep chipping from miss bites.

[@SigurdBraathen]

I am chaos. Nah. I prefer to not step on others toes, so I'll see what they make and make something complimentary. I've played only two characters so far: Level 2 Maestro (bard) and level 3 scoundrel (rogue), and I've finally learned that I should not play charismatic classes! :(

[@undrhil]

Please post a video of you actually creating a character and being interrupted while making your character and telling whoever is interrupting you that you are working on your 10 steps. :)

[@Damion.Turner]

It's simple.. I play a human wizard that's an antihero loner type but he has a special interest in aeromancey and storms. but I won't tell you his name (that's trademarked)

[@Nidrog]

Honestly thinking about how I make characters... I realise that I just shitpost with friends into a concept and fall for it XD Like my Cursed, Songbird Strix Nymph Sorcrerer was just me humming music during character creation for the campaign from a Vtuber and I took a lot of inspiration from her (She's a bird) and then talked with my GM as for why she'd be humming a lot. The other is my Kobold Barbarian. Who I picked for Kobold because I was going to play him for beginer box day and I wanted to expose some people to what my GM does with his Kobold PC's in their naming scheme. And so over a bit of shit posting and talking with him, I made him an academy drop out because him being angry and raving over having been left behind on a field trip turning him to a barbarian made us both laugh a bunch.

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

Ahhh. I use to use Opera all the time. Now i basically stay on KZbin , Facebook or games.

[@saschaspringenberg4698]

Surprised, that you don't use Pathbuilder for the actual creation, instead of sheets.

[@ryuku2]

Just calling out Guy Manson as my favourite human fighter name

[@draggo69]

Nice!

[@drabheart9426]

that add was pretty good. lol inspector gadget is edgy? Also Bartender wizard is secret meta for sorcerer dangerous sorcery early diiiiip! XD

[@ChivalrousyWalrusy]

Put a word through Google translate is always a solid option tbh.

[@jakubczeczot8500]

You have my comment for the algorithm.

[@LadyKjell]

For me, how the process starts varies; sometimes I'm just looking at fantasy art and a pretty picture gives me an idea, or I'm watching a show and a moment/character inspires me, sometimes it's song lyrics! Or I'm told a campaign premise someone is running and I start drawing on half-formed ideas in my head, or I go looking for imagery/songs that get me in that premise's mood. But generally, I try to come up with a concept/backstory idea/class all together, as they're somewhat entwined for me; sometimes the backstory leads me to a class, or the class gives me an idea for a backstory. Generally, it's all guided by the personality, occupation, or other campaign context I have in mind. I basically mess around with this stuff, talk to GM/players about classes/niches filled and what to expect from the campaign, and I'll fine tune the ideas after a while. Sometimes I have a concept I'd love to try sometime, but it takes a while to find the right campaign/opportunity.

[@DokuroHeartvore]

Didn't know i was doing this without realizing maybe its just natural for me. Who was like this?

[@misterbplays]

I'm sitting here watching.. and then I notice you got Fangs.. o.0 lol

[@3_14pie]

You need to really screw up to character creation to not raise your main ability score to 18 at lvl1 using free boosts only

[@markadkins1842]

I steal so many character names from Latin & Greek that I'm surprised my players don't figure out who all of my villains are on introduction...

[@Nonat1s]

*Gasp* The villain was Mal-Vir all along!?!

[@014matt]

Human. Fighters. Are. Cool. And. Fun! I will not tolerate this slander of Jo Blow from Cocomo! Also, as a fellow bad-at-coming-up-with-names-person, I really like this process!

[@devbob]

You should glue googly eyes on your mic.

[@kevinice7306]

Nonat as a bartender. This does not surprise me.😂

[@Nonat1s]

I was for about a year and a half! It was half-bar and half-escape room!

[@mattbelanger8993]

Dude. The snowflake thing. My group has always thought I was a weirdo. But that entire section was me.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

My first character an his whole race is a cheat their whole lore is just built to be shoved into anything lol

[@sky0kast0]

Know gnats

[@SlemTurnThePowerOn]

Good bot

[@kurtisdeakin]

.... this guy is totally copying me lol