Character Development: Where Do You Start?

This one is more along the lines of fiction writing, or short-short story composition. I bring this topic up because this weekend, my friends and I will be jumping into what you’d call a “one-shot DnD campaign” in the spirit of the “Dread” campaign style. In other words, it isn’t your classic Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG that we typically play, but it holds true to the nature of adventure seeking and role-playing. It can be quite fun and amusing, but it definitely isn’t for everyone! Dread features a wooden block tower with pieces to pull instead of dice to roll, and favors the brave and the dextrous. Now onto the topic!

A lot of authors, fantasy fiction writer R.A. Salvatore included, use this type of exercise to their advantage. 

So character development— where do we start?…

A fun way to get the creative juices going is simple:

-Jot down some basic thoughts and ideas about the character you have in mind. You might not have one in mind at all, and that’s also fine! Just jot down some ideas that pop into your head. “Rogue Assassin,” “Ninja Warrior,” “Princess who would rather seek adventure…”

-What goals does your character have? 

I.e., to be the best mage in the world, to conquer all evil, to make the perfect cake... it can be anything, really.

-What quirk does your character have? Do they have a ritual they must do everyday? 

I.e., do they adore running, and hate walking slowly? 

Then delve a little bit into what makes them tick. 

-What is their personality flaw? What obstacle do they commonly have to face throughout their journey?

-Do they have any secrets, and if so, does anyone else know what those secrets are?

-What does your character really live and strive for?

-Does your character have an arch-nemesis?!

Artemis Entreri, Servant of The Shard I

Your answers to these questions don’t really need to be intricate at this point. Your goal isn’t to completely flesh out the intricacies of your character, but to give yourself an outline before you write their story. It might be hard to believe, but the best characters actually have their own stories— the ones that come to life before you write the book you had in mind!

“Artemis Entreri: Do not underestimate Jarlaxle. Many have; they all are dead.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Servant of the Shard Found via Goodreads

In the included material for one of Salvatore’s novels, he mentioned how he delved deeply into the story of his two “arch villains” in order to truly understand them better. In fact, the more he wrote, the more he realized they each deserved to have their own stories told. So thus, the Sellswords series was born. It followed “antagonists” Jarlaxle the mercenary, and Artemis Entreri the rogue assassin with their tales of many dangers and humorous exploits. 

After you jot a few things down and once you feel you have enough of this and that, you might feel a bit of a spark happen in the back of your mind— just enough for the wind to pick it up. If that’s the case, then certainly get going! However, if you’re still feeling a little uncertain, here’s an example of something I wrote for my husband’s DnD character backstory. 

The context of this short-short, is we have an Eldritch Warlock (a magic wielder) who was actually born completely mundane! His parents were both magic users, and very talented at that. He was also born half human, and half elf, so he had a difficult time fitting in with the people he often chose to be around. In the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll see that sort of thing often: orcs, elves, humans, dragon born, etc. Not all of the races in this game play nice with one another, so it helps keep the world a raucous and interesting place. To wrap up the context of the warlock, he finds a magic book that allows him to wield extraordinary powers… but all powers come with a price.

The Void Touched Master by Chris & Tara Appling

One day, the void called to me. It was in a voice bereft in the misgivings of the legacy not left to me by my parents— it was in a quiet, maddening whisper, that reached down like a fine web and cut into the palms of my hands. “I can give you what you want,” it croaked, the sound foretelling something both empty and unabashedly sinister, the sound like gravel and scraping dust.

Mother, Father… The genetic inheritance you dealt me was absolutely everything one could consider to be mundane. An ordinary half-elf child, a  a child with no ounce of magic, at that. You bore me into the role of an outcast from the start, and the status I was born with into this world has haunted me from the very day I was born. 

“I can give you what you want,” it whispered, its strange lulling voice promising me so much more than this… 

I agreed. A little chaos here, and little dissent there. 

“Do my bidding, child,” it said. 

I shuddered and rejoiced with my amazement at the new noteworthy things I could do. But what I felt too, was the cold fingers of something I could not fully understand, wrapping around the sanity in me that I had left, until the cord became terribly, uncontrollably taut. 

So I ran, the only thing a child born into this world as something utterly un-miraculous could do, so despite my newfound powers, I ran. The truly odd thing about it, is nothing has changed. I can still do things I used to find impossible, and it hasn’t caught up with me quite yet. 

Will I find that I’m truly the crazy one, or have we been running together in the same direction this whole time? Every day goes by and I find I lose more and more of myself to the horrors I’ve grown into. I grow tired too, and weak, and surely one day, I won’t have anywhere left to run; from this, or perhaps, myself. 

———

The end, for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and feel free to share some your own character exploits with us!