How to plan your Characters Future

We take a look at how you can plan your characters future and growth, why its important, and what aspects you should consider when putting it together.
#PlayerCharacterTips #CharacterGrowth
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[@trogdor8764]

"I'm a Jedi but I want to wear red because red expresses PASSION." Your character instantly went to the dark side right there.

[@SHAWN94ITA]

Anakin Skywalker in the Attack of the Clone killed a whole tribe of Tusken Raiders, but he didn't go to the Dark Side of the Force until the second half of Revenge of the Sith.

[@corymccarty8603]

Not so. But it's a slippery slope that will almost inevitably leap you to The DarkSide. Falling to The DarkSide is not like flipping off a light switch. It generally happens a little bit at a time. It's a gradual process. Unless you strait up embrace The DarkSide like Sideous. Unless you consciously decide to be on the DarkSide and accept it then then it's a gradual seduction and even if you do choose it, it can take a while for you to grow in it's power.

[@noahfessenden6478]

Still, passion can be controlled. Succumbing to passion is when the roots of the dark side are set.

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

The great hypocracy of the Jedi and Sith is that: The sith promote indulging in passions, but those that got high up (The Emperor for example) control their passions a lot. And those that fully embraced their passions, tended to end up dead quite quickly. The Jedi say, there is no passion, but that is clearly a lie, as they spend a lot of time trying to keep their passions in check, and some of the greatest Jedi have been unorthodox Jedi, that seem to almost enjoy combat, but don't fall to the dark side (Qui-Jon Jinn as an example, he was clearly a very good Jedi, offered a seat on the council, but he was really unorthodox, using the influence thing all the time and generally just not being the completely calm that jedi are supposed to be)

[@feartheghus]

Dario Traverso the whole point is he was moving to the dark and had fallen in certain ways long before he officially went full sith.

[@mbrsart]

Every time you talked about passion, it reminded me of something.... Peace is a lie; there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free. That's the Code of the Sith. You're trying to turn me to the Dark Side, you sly devil. Though, considering the fact that I have the Code of the Sith memorized but not the Jedi Code...well....

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force. These are just straight up lies. "Only sith deal in absolutes". Yeah, Jedi, Whatever you say.

[@codypatton2859]

@@kharnthebetrayer8251 they also like to ignore that they committed genocide against the Sith species

[@penn6173]

Reading this sparked memories of Darth Bane! Love that series

[@benwil6048]

When you said ‘lose 5 pounds’ I was thinking money xD

[@elgatochurro]

"don't think of this as taking the spotlight" "everyone should be doing this" I really needed that

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

I've got a character that i'm starting playing next week. Rogue/Warlock. Essentially his story is: He was a regular thief, took jobs for people, got a job promising a fuck ton of gold, got the artefact, some creature was in it, and hopped into him, so now he has a Demon-thing inside him that's trying to merge with him (symbiosis style). OOC the Demon does indeed want to join with him, become one and make both of them more powerful, but in character he doesn't fully trust it right now. Idea for the future being, i'll be only taking more Warlock levels when he starts to listen to the demon. He'll be keeping it hidden for a while, until they innevitably eventually disocver it, which will be an interesting moment.

[@funsiesfinest8137]

To any players that are nervous about bring up growth ideas to your DM. As a DM I would love it if my players would come to me with this kind of ideas. It shows how much you want to be a part of your DM's game and I could use whatever backstory you give me to affect the world. It will only help to make it feel like everyone's choices make a difference!

[@dard1515]

At the beginning of this video I realized I don't have a plan for my character's future that I am playing right now. But when you started talking about seeds I realized I have already planted one. It was so subtle even I didn't notice it was a seed but it was the center of conversation between me and half the party so I know it is there and I can grow it now that I am aware of it. It was sheer luck really but I have a plan for my mid and end-game now thanks to you.

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

Well come on man, what is it, hows it going!?

[@AlniyatSC]

THANK YOU! I'm sick of "I am playing a selfish loner that will become a nice caring person after bonding with the team" I started watching the video with the idea that you'd just go down the "bad" to "nice" path again. Glad I was wrong. I wouldn't mind more suggestions, in maybe another video. Also IMPORTANT don't have a character arc involving other players unless they want to. You said that but it can't be stressed enough. "I am an elf bigot and will eventually realize I'm wrong and be nice to elves. Till then I will continuously insult the elven warrior in the party till I change". If the player says they don't want to be part of that LAY OFF! I almost quit a game because some other players "character development" meant I felt like I was walking into a hostile environment every single session. Even after telling the player "I do not enjoy this conflict" I just got "this is what my character will do". I am really salty about this... it shows :(

[@EasterTurkey]

You didn't talk to your DM about it?

[@c99kfm]

I'm with Fin on this, also, was your character perhaps named Legolas and was the other player's character a dwarf named Gimli? I'm sure you'd have covered each others' back in battle and wound up good friends, with the old, formerly antagonistic, jargon mainly used as an in-joke, and a fond reminder of your shared journey.

[@oz_jones]

At some point, I would just have punched the character, with a steel chair. Repeatedly. Because that is what MY character would do after continuous abuse.

[@CharlesUrban]

This is good advice for if one of the campaigns I attend ever lasts for more than eight sessions before three people decide to stop showing up and the whole thing fizzles. Maybe it's me.

[@kurtmayer2041]

8 sessions is still more than I ever managed

[@BoojumFed]

Have you considered investigating your deodorant choices? ;^)

[@larsdahl5528]

Well, it is quite common. Role players are not good at organising things, and often they forget what they are doing. So... If it was not you who forgot to show up, then it wasn't you. Did you try to get in contact with those who did not show up, to get to know why they did not show up?

[@CharlesUrban]

@@larsdahl5528 Yeah, we did. Initially, they make up excuses for why they couldn't attend, but then they stop responding to our communications entirely. Our GM critiques me for joking about starting "abandonment pools" to guess when a new recruit will bail out. The weirdest part is that we're not really a toxic group. We don't yell at each other or do things deliberately to make people uncomfortable.

[@larsdahl5528]

Yeah, I know it... I have seen it many times. "Uhm... Sorry I could not show up, I had to walk my goldfish, it needed some fresh air!". Those excuses do not make us any wiser about what the real problem was.

[@adakahless]

I planned my Pathfinder halfling bard after every session. She would only learn new skills if she actually did them in the previous session. If she found a book with a language she didn't quite understand fully she would study it and a new skill rank would go into linguistics. If she did something that would require a feat to pull off properly, she'd get it when she could get a feat. It was fun and required me to be very alert during the game sessions to be able to accomodate the party. She was an archaeologist archetype, so it worked for the scholar she was meant to be. Her backstory was basically Evie (Rachel Weiss) from the Mummy movies with a little bit of Indiana Jones "THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM" in the field.The setting was a fantastical version of West Africa, around Morocco.

[@XanderCottrell]

There is no Darkside, nor a Lightside There is only the Force I will do what i must to keep balance The balance is what keeps me together There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish There is passion, Yet emotion Serenity, Yet peace Chaos, Yet order I am the wielder of flame, The protector of balance I am the holder of the torch, Lighting the way I am the keeper of the flame, Soldier of balance I am the guardian of balance I am a grey Jedi :P

[@AkeelaTheGhost]

An under-appreciated creed! I actually love grey Jedi. So much of star wars is stark black and white when it comes to the Force, its nice to see some added ambiguity in there. Especially considering how the rest of the galaxy is also awash in moral ambiguity. It never made sense to me that it didn't also tempt many Jedi - beyond Qui-Gon Jinn, anyway, who basically gave the middle finger to the Council to follow the will of the Force constantly- to be darker than the Jedi Council, but lighter than Sith.

[@zbtmaniac4130]

I'm always puzzled by this. Shouldn't it be "there is passion, yet serenity. There is emotion, yet peace. There is chaos, yet order." In order to demonstrate that each is present along with the opposite?

[@Omega0850]

There is no light, only Disney!

[@noahfessenden6478]

@@Omega0850 There is no Disney, there is the Fans.

[@Omega0850]

Noah Fessenden I have no fans, for the disappointment of the fans is the little death that kills me over and over. I will face my fans. I will permit their disappointment to pass over and through me. And when my fans are gone, only i will remain. Without fans, i die but once. (admittedly, its not Star Wars, but it was easier to make it fit)

[@HLR4th]

Excellent! Character growth is so much more than leveling. You’ve spoken about planning out for change/destiny before. Thanks for continuing to develop it (and with contingencies for going off the rails!) I first experienced character development spontaneously with a long-term character, that may give players another way into the headspace, if planning isn’t their thing: During medical school, I made an offhand comment after a small group, (learning how to roleplay (evil) insurance executives for an “Introduction to the Patient”, exercise) that “this was like D&D” when Steve’s (the eventual DM) eyes’ bulged out and he began manically talking about his World as one would secretly confide a cocaine addiction. 3 hours later, my ears hurting, in need of a drink, I had rolled up a character. In total, 7 of us played D&D from 1988 to graduation in 1991. The campaign was epic on Guy’s scale of epic. Character wise we all, without talking about it, left our characters open to changing and evolving in response to each other. My mage’s trajectory at the start appeared to be one of “search for infinite power, probably be corrupted and become the big bad”. The cleric of the Goddess of Healing had an in-game “kinder-gentler, get more obedience with honey than fear” effect on my character. Power was still on the to-do list, but now in service of the world, rather than just for me. The Cleric who had mellowed me, I strengthen; I helped her character wield her power more effectively, and opened her eyes to become a leader, rather than just a servant of her church. Our Druid and my mage had lots of conflicts, often working at cross-purposes. By the end, we found we needed each other; the conflicts were from buying into other’s agenda’s and old history. Had we not had each other, neither would had achieved our goals, or saved the world from the epic big bad. None of our characters were the same as when we started, or as we would have envisioned. We responded to each other and to the events in the world. Our characters lived their lives and were changed. This was the most exciting discovery of the campaign, totally unexpected, but made the best story. Epilogue: Graduation comes. Most of the group moves away. Internship. Barley time to sleep, let alone play. The Druid’s player marries the DM. The Cleric’s player and I marry. (She says she was attracted to my mages’ cutting one liners!) Residency leads to other moves. Fellowship. Work. Kids. Life. Suddenly I’m . . . .50!?! And for my 50th, my wife had been plotting with the DM a reunion adventure, via video conferencing! The DM wrote an update: 12 years later, after the close of our campaign, a new crisis emerges. We had fun. We reconnected. We wanted more. We started playing again, every few months. However, we were not the same. 22 years had passed. We were all more mature, with more nuanced outlooks. We had had kids, lost parents, got older. Things were no longer black and white. We were much more prone to negotiate. The Druid and I were on the same page, as were I and the Cleric. However, EVERYONE assumed my mage would leap at the chance to reclaim power, seize control; my adversary was shocked when I showed up at her Tower for tea. I asked for assurances she and her followers would not go all “wizards first”. I warned her I had learned ultimate power comes with the price of loss of agency (DM runs your character). She offered me a compromise: “support me, and you can be my Sage. You can advise me and keep my followers in line”. The DM “knew” I was just playing her, and “knew” I’d prove it by refusing. The shock on his face when I accepted was priceless. I had diffused the entire situation by being reasonable, honest, and looking out for everyone’s best interest. So, no, one does not need 22 years for character development! Plotting out an epic arc or having a sense of destiny is great. However, paying close attention to one’s friends, to the party and to the challenges the world throws at the characters can be just as catalyzing. How does our character respond to events, to people? This may be a more organic, a more collaborative route to discover how our character will change, evolve and grow. This might be an easier way in for those who think their characters are “just fine” (guilty). Exposing our characters to life in game (and us to life in the real world) can work remarkable changes, if we are open to them. And perhaps someone will be attracted to our witty banter! Technical: Didn't notice a change, excellent as usual. If it was better for you, fantastic!

[@larsdahl5528]

Yes, it is one of the points where role playing become fun and interesting: The interaction between the characters in the group, discussions about what is smart to do and what is not. It have many benefits, the characters get to know each other better. The players behind the characters have to think the way their character think, that is a good step towards becoming "in character". It give a better understanding of the characters background, how did they become what they are now? And it opens up for further character development in that they respond to each other and slowly changes, over time, to become better at working together. It do require the GM give the players the space they need to role play! It seems you have been lucky here, as it is quite common that something else (story / world / setting / antagonists / rules / dice / whatever) is more important than the PCs, in the GMs mind, and thus the GM leaves little or no room for the players. Or the nasty GM type that listens to the characters conversation to find the best way of defeating them. -> Teaches the players to keep quiet.

[@HLR4th]

Unsurprisingly, over all those years, our GM grew/changed as well. Always creative and a wonderful world builder. However, leadership/writing for a LARP skewed the GM style. "If you give the players enough rope, they will hang themselves" is a frequent saying. Less collaborative, frequent "No" answers. Our (my) player responses were not always helpful. This channel has been invaluable in finding ways forward for the players, even starting a new campaign with much more of a collaborative vibe, both to give our DM a break (burnout), and to model a new way to DM and play. So far so good; I have engaged players who are having fun and roleplaying as never before. Starting slowly, adding players gradually. Half of the players from the previous campaign (including it's DM) still have to made their characters. Fingers crossed!

[@Necrapocalypse]

This is surprisingly relevant to my group. Over the past couple days I discovered I might be in the minority for never really having doubts and depression over what I'm doing with a character and thinking about retiring them. Just last night it all came to a head for one player, in fact. That was quickly resolved as far as I can tell but this is still likely to really help I think.

[@emmanuelgonzalez3313]

Love your channel, it helps me Soo much in my rollplay development, great job man!

[@humanmale02]

GREAT VIDEO. This is my favorite one of yours so far.

[@Darket_angel1]

Elegant video, I hadn't noticed this that change at all. But it looks good. I really enjoy each and every video that you put out because they're very knowledgeable very well thought out.

[@jackpoll8782]

I read this in his voice

[@alexaprater413]

Such a small thing, but at about 3:12 you describe the game master as "she". As a woman in DnD who's currently thinking about DM'ing, I have to say this might be the first time I've ever heard someone refer to the game master as a woman and it brought me much joy. Made me feel like I would be accepted as GM even though female GM's are far from the norm. Love your channel, thanks for all the wonderfully helpful tips and advice.

[@jokecookie1089]

This video was absolutely fantastic. Period.

[@robinyodathelilacbunny7419]

Excellent advice. I like this setup as everything is easy to follow

[@Gunstonization]

Dig it. Absolutely dig it. Nicely articulated.

[@frasergibson3395]

Looking good here, love the new changes!

[@tessbolick6605]

I was kinda hoping that you'd go into more detail on how to adapt and salvage a character arc. Maybe in a follow-up video?

[@adakahless]

I kinda did that as a gm. The PC had an idea that giant spiders killed his parents. I used that tidbit to throw him an arc where his cousin wanted to kill all humans and the half elves. It was really the only bit of background I had to work with but it ended up making the campaign. Sadly we had to stop because half the party had either work two jobs or go to college. :/

[@TAGDevilish]

Yes, this would be very helpful.

[@MinimalSymphony]

This video comes really helpful right now. I'm working on a game where i want the character developtment to be the focus of narratives. Guy could you do the gm take on this same topic pls!?

[@chron874]

As someone who is running a west marches campaign with about 20 players, i second what Milo Il Giovanne said. I too would like to bring longterm plans to their attention and it would be neat to see a similar video for gamemasters.

[@larsdahl5528]

Yes, could be interesting to know where and how the GM should include character focused development: In the master plot with no wriggle room for the characters. With the wonderful antagonists where the characters can only be spectators. In the railroading where the characters get steamrollered if they derive the slightest from the track.

[@adakahless]

As a gm I love it when I can get some backstory so I can set up a story arch where the character can learn some new things and develop their personality. It makes then start to care about what they intend on doing even when they have no clue where they are going. The main plot will help carry then to an end goal physically but they may discover some path they never expected. Every character in my campaign will have a reason to be in the party, a reason to be there in that moment. The reasons may be different between each person but the end goal will hopefully draw out the best and worst of them.

[@nathanielrose8622]

Found this page is my quest to learn more about D&D. How about a video on how to navigate the Nine Hells from a GM perspective. These videos have been excellent and extremely helpful.

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

My character's secret was discovered, and dm cut the night there. Now I have to explain myself. Party found out I'm basically a golem.

[@DAEDRICDUKE1]

Golems are not welcome in my neighborhood

[@patrickmeis1236]

NGL, the Jedi story had me really invested :)

[@DMXXCorps]

I like the changes. I usually listen to your videos while I'm on my way to work so I had to watch an older video to notice the difference.

[@Walthanar]

Guy, you are the beacon of hope for role-focused roleplayers and masters. As a master/player for 27 years, rpgs are something I really can't see gone from my life, they are part of me as my parents played D&D 1st edition since I was 1 year old, and I have evolved and discovered something about myself thanks to them. I left D&D after many years and explored many other systems, I have built innumerable worlds and systems of my own, now I play casual and D&D5th with a group of friends, master my own system with another group of friends and I couldn't be more satisfied about my rp experience. I truly, deeply love your point of view and your tips, they are the daily food for my fantasy creative mind. Just felt I needed to tell you :)

[@Umbra352]

These videos have been very helpful as I’ve been trying to develop a character

[@graysuede3863]

This video came at a great time for me. I just started a new campaign with some friends and this is the first time I've ever put any real effort into a backstory for my character. I have a vague idea of what I want my character to become and I like the idea of slowly 'seeding' pieces into the sessions. I dunno if anyone will even notice but it'll be fun for me anyway!

[@Lisan2711]

Some in depth information about character growth comes in handy right now. Thank you! I was afraid to lose interest, since I did not know how to continue with my character (my first character since I started some months ago playing).

[@stevevicari5523]

I was just sitting down re-watching the Great GM Magic Item episode and taking notes, then I saw this posted. :)

[@wim-thys]

I like the section titles in the background. However, the way you use them is could be improved upon: - It's hard to see where one section title ends and the next title begins, especially when the title overflows to the next line. -> try adding some other separation hints (bullets, horizontal rules between items) - It's hard to see the difference between the section title and the subsection titles. -> try using a narrower font for the subsection titles. For inspiration, have a look at the How To Adult series does this (last series, with Hank Green). It is very clear what they are currently talking about and what the other topics are. If that is too involved, there's also the minimal version they use on SciShow news update videos where they usually only have two or three topics.

[@saeravi]

The new setup is awesome, just as you are :)

[@AlluMan96]

Quite a fitting time for this video, as this is quite topical in my mind. This March, me and my core group of players began Curse of Strahd and it was in this game that I first attempted this concept of developing an arc for a character to go by and that game is currently coming close to it's end. With that, I've been thinking about and evaluating how I've written the character and how satisfied I was with his pathos. Of course, a hitch came in that plan with the fact that the DM wanted to start closing Strahd a bit prematurely and as a result, the end of my arc has seen a bit of a hasty step. The idea was a human Sorcerer, a young noble from Waterdeep named Nivus Crode. He was a respectable Scholar before his sorcerous powers (That being Shadow Magic mechanically) awakened, rapidly destroying his body and turning him into a potential liability to those around him. In these desperate hours, he also began seeing visions of Barovia in his endless nightmares, Strahd beckoning him onward. So he set out on his journey to find someone that could help him rid of his terrible powers, unknowingly walking right into Barovia, the place he wanted to end up in the least. The first step of his character was him clinging to but the last few strands of his sanity. Incredibly jumpy and not at all in-control of his powers, he ended up nearly driven mad in the death-house. Other than that, he was very stubborn, spoiled and a bit clueless of how the world worked. After meeting a witch named Veran Icth, whom helped them along their journey and assisted in restraining his powers, he grew an attachment to her, as she reminded him of his younger sister, whom he had taken to caretaking due to her narcolepsy and weak immune-system leading her to be bedridden alot. This would also begin his spiral of self-loathing, as he now feels he had abandoned her and his responsibilities to the Crode family, questioning whether he is fit to be their heir as the monster his sorcerous powers had turned him into. This would come to a boiling point, when the group met Strahd for the first time and after being paralyzed in fear of his presence, ran away and abandoned his friends. This would leave him with a shock great enough to realize he couldn't keep going like this and vowed to never bail on them again. The middle-ground of his story was further frustrations with another character in the group, whom came to the possession of a bloodthirsty sword haunted by the spirit of a Lich queen, as he had no confidence that he could handle it by himself and didn't like him throwing his life away by going along with the sword. The next big development happened, when we fucked up royally and nearly caused the end of the world, where Veran had to step in and sacrifice herself, becoming trapped in The Abyss to stop it from spreading to the material world. This is when Nivus became alot more angry, both with the people in his party (Particularly the person responsible for things ending up that way) and himself for being unable to protect her, submitting to his darker side, embracing the vampiric nature of his sorcerous power. This is also the part where I had to start speeding his development up, because the campaign is being cut a bit short. So ultimately, the idea of his arc's closure is the acceptance that his sorcerous powers are not something he can escape. That they are a burden that is a part of who he is, needing to carry that responsibility wherever he goes, fighting the urges to turn to the dark side. Where I can expect him to be at the end of the road is traversing the planes, searching the abyss and beyond for Veran, as he simply cannot abandon a friend like her like he did his former family, whom he is too driven by guilt to show his face to anymore.

[@Talkshowhorse_Echna]

That helps a lot, since I am at a point where my character completes her first change, while having a quest about her getting over her past, to be ready to move into a new direction. So now I have to talk to my GM again.

[@SnapquesterMage]

Titles and structure are great!

[@tyleremery7088]

KOTOR comes to mind with the seeding tips.

[@yanderenejoyer]

So, my artificer doesn't care much about anything that isn't related to research. I want him to evolve and be able to perceive how the world is so much more than cogs and wrenches... Learn the emotional value of friendship, and how you can go so much further with the help of others! For now, he's still on that "perfect my craft at all costs" mode, but very soon I want an event that changes his perspective. By the end, he'll learn how his inventions can help others, that in return help even more people, and maybe one of those is going to help him someday, so everything and everybody deserves attention and respect. It's gonna be so good.

[@DawnOfElaris]

I have a player who is a wizard and may crosstrain into artificer who is nearly the polar opposite of you. He likes working with machines and robots atm, but is slowly trying to learn how to incorporate biological components into it, realizing how people can help his inventions instead of the other way around.

[@Theplayerofx]

as a dm i always tell my players to have an idea where they want to be by level 5. level 5 can be months worth of playing and who know what can happen, they could die, stop laying etc. so having a idea of this is my short term goal is the best bet. and if the player is not happy with the character short term long term its a drag for them.

[@HeartLockHex]

Very enjoyable! I tend to have players make sure they plan up to the point of level seven, and if we go beyond that I tell them to plan for level 20, as usually by that point we're in for the long haul. Gave a few good pointers to help me in my own videos and stories as well, appreciate the insight as always, Guy!

[@HeartLockHex]

As well, the new layout seems much cleaner and more professional. Well done.

[@larsdahl5528]

Be careful here... I am not so keen on long term planning in level based RPGs, as the character progression is limited and fixed, it give that to be able to be something specific at a high level then it dictate certain choices to be made at low levels first, despite they often are poor choices and/or make no sense at those low levels. Result is that the players come up with builds that first shine at high level, that can make the players impatient to get there, and that ruins the first part of the campaign for them. And if the campaign end (prematurely) before it get in to the second part... Then... All wasted... At least it is my view: I prefer to have a good time at the current level, rather than a plan that first make sense much later.

[@HeartLockHex]

You're misunderstanding hehe. I roleplay the characters, I wasn't referencing this as a meaning of planning the levels and systematics (I couldn't care less about that stuff, it does have its purposes though I admin). I was referencing to what the video was about, character planning, development, story, etc. I use levels as an example because, generally, if your characters make it to level 7 in third edition homebrew, that was several months of campaigns often enough. So I'm saying I tell my players to plan out for several months usually to "around level 7", and go from there, as levels are generally a good basis for what kind of campaign and enemies you'll have them running into, etc.

[@UltimusNovus]

This is definitely something I always think about my characters. Say currently I have this character who started out a purely mercenary, going after the money, but right now after some adventures he has seen the satisfaction that comes from helping people. He is trained as a battlefield medic, and now he is interested in doing more to help people with medicine, sure he's still going to charge you, he is still very much interested in getting paid as much as possible. Eventually this character would be retiring from the battlefield to do something that brings him real satisfaction, practicing medicine.

[@julyol119]

This is really helpful :) I'll try to work with that approach. I'm pretty new to ttrpgs, as is everyone in our group aside of the GM. But he's new to being a GM. And as of now he told me he has so many ideas for everyone in the campaign, just not for me. First I saw this as a bad thing. Like, is this character that I made after you rejected my first one, really this boring? But in reality it gives me a lot of freedom to surprise him and the party xD The approach of personal growth is really a great one. I'll start from the start-middle-result thing and see where it takes us all xD

[@fhuber7507]

I plan what I want my character to become (preferably by level 9, which was "name level" in 2nd edition)... in a manner that will fit almost any campaign.

[@eveescastle5866]

This is kind of interesting and while i didn't realise this I've been doing this to some degree. Granted i like to leave most it up to chance but I like my characters to have aspirations and goals they want to accomplish. It gives both a sense of purpose and a sense of direction. I have a character who at the start of the campaign was brought back to live by some unknown force after get caught in the crossfire between the criminal underground and her father. She was very bitter and wanted to make sure no one died as she felt robbed of death, but as the campaign progressed she became a bit more compassionate and caring and felt the need to seek out her sister to see if she maybe was still alive. I didn't intend on this happening but it did and I feel like while we can play growth for our character it is more satisfying when it happens naturally.

[@larsdahl5528]

Yes, though long term goals can be nice to have, they should not be so ridgid that they can not be changed. That is some of the charm: To see where the character is going, the compromise between personal goals and how the current situation influences and changes those goals.

[@NerfThisBoardGames]

I like the quick bullet points

[@DamienMorphetMetalheadChef]

I like to plan my PCs futures during play. My current Sorcerer in my current campaign has like 4 concurrent plans for what he would like to do, from starting an adventuring company [i.e. AI], becoming a lich, and a couple more nefarious goals... All planned out during play.

[@PyroX792]

One thing you might want to try to improve the visual look of the channel is to grab a soft box and look into white balancing your camera

[@codypatton2859]

More Star Wars analogies please!!! I wanna play the Official Star Wars Roleplaying Game so bad (not Edge of the Empire, that's different). I've only ever run it once and once is NOT nearly enough.

[@toddvogel8887]

In a campaign im involved in, the story of my character is kinda becoming a focal point of the campaign, not because im super important or anything, but because everyone is interested in what will happen between me and another character. Even the player who has been left out of a lot of the actual events wants to visit my character's home world, and the few times where everything that is going on is basically just me and that one other character interacting for like 10 minutes straight with nothing else going on, the GM and the other players are sitting there listening intently to what is happening, i've even gotten an audible reaction to one of the reveals about my past that no one knew about, not even the GM, so the GM and the other player, at the same time, did a sharp inhale and said "Oh my god"

[@MastertheGamerpg]

I love to plan some character progression for my characters. If they never evolve I grow bored with them after a few months.

[@CreedofDarkness]

So I, as a DM, have a question. I am currently running a game for my wife and her two friends, both of whom are extremely new to DnD5e, or in the case of one, just completely new to TTRPGs in general. I have been trying for months to get her to develop a bit of a backstory for her character, and it's been going very slowly. she finally has started thinking as her character during RP interactions with NPCs, but she has a completely barebones backstory "I was a town guard, but I'm a ranger so I chased criminals all over the desert (she's from a desert region), but then I started working as a caravan guard." Great, that was great because it made it super easy to introduce her character... fast forward about 4 months, and my wife's PC get ganked by a Necromancer, her character barely survives and now we may be heading back to her hometown for Chapter 2 of the campaign, which is supposed to focus a bit more on the character's interactions with the world. BUT SHE HAS NO BACKSTORY! I've been trying to work with her but all I get is "um yeah, I don't know..." or "Mkay… maybe? I dunno." Does anyone have any idea how I could get her to open up a bit more character wise? I don't want to take control away from her and just start building things around her character that she doesn't want but we're almost to the point of no return.

[@craigchitty2314]

So flesh out the family, what do parents do, brothers sisters, did she grow up rich or poor. How did she end up as town guard, why did she join up to being a caravan guard, outgrew small town?, running away from arranged marriage?, following a love who barely notices she exists? Killed someone and running away before found out? Endless possibilities as to how and why she left, even had a vision from a deity to take that path

[@mickaeldelatre3320]

For some "special" campaigns (ie one-week binge gaming starting 11 AM ending 9 PM with 3 GMs), in order to get a good character growth and interesting interactions with the big constrain that the campaign *has* to stop the 7th day, we decided to go to extreme lengths and let the GMs define the PC characters and, to some extent, their growth. There is of course interaction with players regarding the type of PC they want (a political one, someone trying to revive his lineage, or a talking dog able to get through dimensions trying to overtop the humanity for a canine and better society *) , but the GMs in this case write for a large part the backstory and the possible evolutions during the game. It works very well, with these conditions : - the GMs have to "know" the player's habits, to avoid casting errors - the players have to admit this is a "one shot campaign" - the campaign must have a definite ending at a fixed date, and the end must be dramatic. Not the usual campaign, as you see. But it is an interesting take, for the GMs (who can plan a bit more what will happen and ensure a lot of action for everyone) and for the players. * and of course it utterly failed, because when a PC can be bought by throwing a literal bone at him his plans are easily derailed ...

[@Makgath]

Do you have videos of you playing a character??? I'd like to see how you go about playing a charater.

[@codypatton2859]

You should check out Save or Dice, he DMs and plays depending on the campaign.

[@ShadowAxon]

I have a problem in my game. So I knew for a long time the first Character focused story arch was going to be for our rogue we built it up for some time and last session the rogue wasn't there but the party agreed to go on the quest. Now this arch might take 3 or 4 games to finish. Two Minimum. However our Rogue missed the intro part, and he just told me he will miss the first real part of the quest. And at this rate I do no know if he will even be present for the Story Arch all together but the party is already setting out on the quest and all the NPCs have been created and leveled..

[@liondovegm]

At x2 speed, you can still follow with him, and at parts sounds normal.

[@gasparperalta3725]

In my current campaing I'm playing a Dragonborn sorcerer that started good but is tugged at by Tiamat influence who wants to convert him into a full fledged Dragon to server her and free her and the party had to decide if they should kill him but ultimately chose to try and purge Tiamat but they now have to find a metallic dragon willing to help them this was possible due to planning and working with my DM

[@ultimato8885]

This is really good advice, but I’m struggling to apply it to my character.

[@oz_jones]

Same. I know what he wants to do, and it really is an end goal, but hell if I know how to do the inbetween.

[@serahdeadsong3106]

Do you have a video on how to handle how players meet up with each other after character creation? I am working on an open world esk story where the players choose their own path and can go anywhere and pick up various quests and follow any story line they wish, all while the world continues on around them, but I am having trouble with finding an immersive way for their characters to meet. I thought about pulling a page from Bethesda’s book and imprisoning them and having them shipped to the world I have set up, but I have concerns that my players might hate that, especially if they make a noble or something.

[@larsdahl5528]

Perhaps "6 Tips On How To Start Your Roleplaying Campaign": kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4q4q4KafbmZjKs Maybe you can use this idea: Start out by placing the characters aboard a ship. Give them a simple reason for why they are aboard the ship, one is on holiday, another is employed as ship mechanic aboard, and so on. Then start out by the ship getting hijacked! The hijackers manage to get everyone, except a few (the players!) locked up so they can not do anything. This way you get something slightly like imprisoning them, yet the players are (somewhat) free to something about it. Then it is up to the players to work together to thwart the hijackers plan. (Should be simple, remember the purpose is to get the players to join together.) After the players have successfully dealt with the hijackers, it get realised that the ship got seriously damaged and have it towed to the nearest port (the world you have set up!) and it will take long repair time before the ship can sail again. (Thus they have plenty of time available for to explore the harbour and surroundings -> You have the players started!)

[@1918Camel]

I want to pose a question. Do you allow characters of various levels in one campaign? If so how big is the range? I've been GM,ING for around fourty years. Just wondering how people feel about this.

[@feartheghus]

What if you have no planned character growth, is that acceptable? I see multiple videos from this and other channels focusing on purposefully making your character flawed to explore a certain thing or so they can grow, or even making truly useless characters to subvert the idea of the pc’s being powerful, or subverting a class when making a character. I don’t normally think of it that way, I don’t normally plan things that I see as similar to that of making dramas in that I don’t plan characters to subvert a literary trope. Am I doing it wrong or something?

[@jedbex7070]

What is the newest or best starwars RPG out on the market?

[@cheyannebridges]

I was working on a big Epic arch in my campaign for a couple months that began to unfold during our most recent session. The players have level 9 adventurer characters, but also created many of the ruling-class NPCs during a previous adventure (Kingmaker) which this campaign is a free-form offshoot of that adventure. I have a problem with a player struggling with Character Growth. Her character started off with the Paranoid Drawback, but takes it from her character over-worrying to being a pure coward. One of her old characters died while defending their kingdom from an enemy siege, which is meant to worry the PCs, but mainly to lead them into defending their home, protecting their friends, and overcoming a villain that is currently too strong to kill, and once they chase her out of the kingdom, they will have to track her down while leveling up in order to defeat her as a main villain. However, my player got mad at me as soon as her old characters death was revealed, saying that her character is paranoid so would be wanting to run rather than fight (she doesn't even consider the facts that her has lived in and loved this city for about 4 years, has a fiance in this city, has had friends and fun in this city. Plus her character grew up in a caravan and loves this stability.) She isn't listening when I try and help her look at this history as being more important than her Paranoia, which was never expressed to me as a big part of her character before this session. I'm starting to want to tell her that if she really believes her character would want to run and hide from the siege rather than fight, then have that happen. Make a new character? Idk

[@larsdahl5528]

I have seen quite some characters with paranoia over the years. And I have figured out a reason for why it is so popular: It happens when the GM make everyone and everything the characters encounter in game causing trouble for them, then they select paranoia for to be in tune with what the GM run for the game! I have seen a campaign that started out by all the players (independent of each other) started out with paranoid characters, no doubt that it was the GM who was the cause. Normally it is only one of the players who make a paranoid character. But it is the same: Almost always a reaction to the GM being the opponent to the characters. In those cases generating new characters do not change anything, as the new characters get paranoia as well, it usually escalate instead, as the other players next characters will have paranoia too. (Ending up with what I have seen: Everyone have paranoia.) I see two ways to deal with paranoia, depending at the answer to the question: "Is it a problem?": If it is "No, everyone is fine with it.", then go run a paranoia campaign, perhaps even switch to "Paranoia the role playing game" as it tailor made for it! Else it is "Yes, one or more do not like it.", then change to another GM. (If the current GM change GMing style then that will do too, but usually this is hard to get through, as the current GM may be unwilling to change, and/or it can take long time before the players really trust that the GM have improved.)

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Rayena Rae, This hits a couple points... SO, we're just going to have to go after one at a time... First... The Player "got mad at me" regarding another Character's death. I'm thinking there's a resentment building over you killing that other character, and potentially taking it as a "personal attack"... This Player needs reminded that "this IS only an RPG, and you can't get an omelet without breaking eggs." SO tread gently (I don't know that I'd use that exact terminology) but explain that in the work of storycraft, you have to create tension from things. You can't very well expect her PC's to get nervous or concerned out of thin air. Emotions don't work that way. It's supposed to suck a little bit that a known Character is now dead, and it should make us all a little trepidatious about waltzing into battle, but it should ALSO engage a certain sense of vindication. Paranoid or not, shouldn't she care that someone killed the other Character? There's a big difference between someone being unquestionably Paranoid and a sow-bellied coward with no spine at all... You don't get courage without fear, either. Second, this is the direction of the Campaign Arc... Sorry, but if she's the ONLY ONE out of sorts with the direction of the Party, then it's time for a PC to "ride off into the sunset" figuratively, and that means either quitting or making a new character. One GM has his/her hands full running a single Campaign at a time. While it might be unfair to expect Players to compromise too much on their Characters' ideals, core identity, or whatever... It's completely unfair to split the GM between the One PC off wandering the deserts of Ishtara some thousands of miles past where Jesus lost his sandals, and the "rest of the Party" who are engaged in the Adventure Arc and interested in Role Play instead of temper tantrums and abandonment issues... Sorry to say, but that's just how the game (table) works. Again, it's territory to be meandered gently. Some Players too easily get wrapped up in the "Role Play Aspect" of their Characters and let that get carried away. Some have trouble "letting sh*t go"... AND occasionally, we all have a propensity to require a not-so-figurative boot in the ass to get our team-spirit jump started... Maybe with the re-evaluation... AND don't forget to mention that she hadn't insisted on the Paranoid Aspect being so great a deal with the PC's identity before this... BUT with the re-evaluation of game play and table dynamic, you can offer and work out a compromise to get this Character back into the spirit... It takes investing trust to grow trust (for better or worse)... ;o)

[@DeanRendar]

when thinking about my next contribution I make sure to ask myself "Would that outcome come off as tropey?" And if it does, I don't do that thing.

[@calebharendt6924]

Hey Guy I would like your thoughts on the grey jedi personally I think they are the true good guys

[@larsdahl5528]

Well, the Jedi are defined to be the good guys, but... As I see it then both sides are equally bad. I mean... What is it the Jedi order is doing? Kid napping (Literally!) force sensitive children, and then brainwash them (robbing them of their childhood), in an elitist system where those who fail the tests underway get reduced to servants with no say in anything. I see the scene where Anakin Skywalker get presented for the Jedi council the following way: Yoda is afraid of this kid! - Despite Yoda himself say that fear is the path to the dark side! What I think he is afraid of is the consequences if the prophecy is true: Not only will it mean the end to the Sith (Which Yoda, at that time, believe to be extinct) but the end to the Jedi as well (And thereby the prophesied kid is a threat to Yoda!).

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

@@larsdahl5528 Both the Jedi and the Sith are deeply flawed. The Jedi code is just lies. There is no Ignorance there is knowledge. They've clearly never looked at the internet before, there's a lot of ignorance out there. There is no emotion, there is peace. That is a lie and they know it and fear it cuz that's where Sith come from. Oh, and by the way "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" look at your damn code man! But the sith says that passion is the source of all strength. But those that embrace that tend to die quite quickly, and those that do well keep their emotions vastly in check. I think the Grey Jedi just have the only code that could actually work. No big hypocrisies i know of. I don't know a lot about the Grey Jedi's way of doing things, but they seem to be the only ones that don't have huge flaws

[@codypatton2859]

You should look up the Potentium. "No power is inherently good or evil, it's how you use it" is their primary lesson.

[@birdmonster4586]

I'm not sure if i noticed a huge change. Save for the lighting, that seems to be reflecting less of your glasses.

[@thatonenecromancer4044]

I find the dark side far more interesting then either the movies or the extended universe shows it as. The dark side is about emotions, not just anger and sadness but happiness and joy (or at the very bloody least should be instead of it being just Evil Magic.) This is a lot more interesting then blind stoicism the light side promotes

[@lostbutfreesoul]

At the very least you need to know what is motivating your character, what they are driving themselves towards!

[@matt2641]

Just a technical note. Your video got out of focus right at the end. No idea why. Good set up though, wish I could get my game group to watch your videos.

[@jamiel6169]

I think these are good tips for a tabletop game where all the players and the GM know one another and communicate well together. But if you've ever played a larger scale online game, or a game where the GM isn't a great communicator this sort of planning will only lead to frustration and disappointment. As the story progresses it is hard to plan future actions of your character if the story pushes them in a different direction - and it often does. You can adapt, but this can be disheartening if you became invested in your pre-planned development. I would suggest a alternative for character development that is more flexible: Choose or make a problem in the character's past and have the character resolve to fix it. This allows great flexibility than planning to do or become something in the future because the character can adjust the goals of how to fix something as the story progresses.

[@BubblingBrooke]

I feel like if you have stuff for your character you wanna do, its perfectly reasonable to be worked in, and the DM refuses to do anything with your character's growth then that's on the DM. I've been severely neglected in a game once to the point i had to leave. They were interested and gave all the attention to two other players. You shouldn't have to make your character appeal to the DM, making the growth reasonable to be worked in, yes I agree with, but if the DM's only reason for not working anything in for your character is because they have little to no interest in the character, we have a problem.

[@larsdahl5528]

Sound like the GM type I call "The CEO GM": GMing like the CEO of a company, friends and family get all the attention and benefits, all other employees are there only for to be stepped on and abused.

[@ugan2]

I always like character growth as I think it's boring to play DnD with a character that starts and ends the same. I mean it doesn't have to be for good or for evil. Maybe your character becomes more pragmatic or idealistic. Maybe he starts to question his original goals and priorities or maybe he becomes fanatical with them. Your character is a person interacting with people and events that would have most of us mentally scarred so why should they be the same? One such case of possible character growth would be in a 5e campaign I'm playing in. My character is a half-drow paladin of vengence who follows a strict god of law and order. His faith only competes with his need to find his mother and kill her (a goal that was possibly pushed onto him by his human uncle). He's even got a sword of vengence. The cleric in our group or the player behind it makes it clear he won't dispel the curse on the blade unless it's something my character asks for and says it would be interesting to see if my character would give up something that's so much apart of him. So far no as my paladin believes he can control the blade (he only failed the wisdom save once and it only showed in him overkilling a water elemental) and sees no reason to dispel the curse. If anything, he considers giving it to a halfling child he rescued if he were to fall in a fight.

[@AssasinZorro]

I couldn't tell the difference between the old studio and the new one.

[@momqabt]

Goals need to be opposite of current status. There are certain races in RPGs where it's just not viable. An aasimar paladin is highly, Highly unlikely to become a hellfire warlock by the end, or the leader or an order of assassins. Likewise a lawful evil drow wizard is not going to be a champion of torm.

[@VicEntity]

Sure that is simply not possible. But he renouncing his god is quite possible. Also I don't know why the second example is impossible. People can get better. The Drow might have a change of heart and decide that using the system to screw people over is plain wrong.

[@Ashley-of6ro]

I have the bad habit of making my character plans be that the character eventually turns evil, does something fun, then becomes an npc...

[@Ashley-of6ro]

Luckily I don't really plan to fulfill on most of them unless it really is an open option in the story. But one of my most recent characters I just made was based off a character in a show, and he ended up becoming evil for really good reasons so I hope to do a similar thing with this character over time.

[@VicEntity]

When the we defeat the BBEG I am seriously considering betraying my party. For context my character is an humble Barbarian Warforged that was sent by an anonymous artificer to help the party stop an evil overlord reset the universe for the second time. But as time went on the Warforged has seen the party do the most inhuman acts to fulfill their plans. So when we defeat the BBEG and the campaing is almost wrapped up I'll strike them as an act of revenge.

[@fhuber7507]

the DM has to cooperate with your plan or your plan will go absolutely nowhere.

[@TheMetalHeadbangger]

First!

[@nickwilliams8302]

"There's nothing better than planning out a character arc ..." They don't have sex and drugs in South Africa then?

[@codypatton2859]

You havent planned character growth while on drugs or having sex. Makes it better, and in some cases easier.

[@CrazyKungfuGirl]

Junkie ex Jedi: a star wars story

[@Xollob2]

Going forward. Will you please use gender neutral pronouns rather than gendered ones such as she/her. It's more inclusive that way. Thanks