Completed Worksheet

An example of a character building worksheet used to figure out a background and what your character is seeking.

Character Description

Name: Example Evil Guy
Race: Human
Class & Subclass: Wizard, School of Evocation
Background: Haunted One (RP Relevant: Yes)
Character Description: A tall middle-aged lizardfolk of athletic build. He frequently sports a sneer in public and presents an aloof bearing. Mottled grey in coloration and scales without a natural sheen provide evidence of his upbringing amongst the desert clans.

Worksheet 1: Character Traits

Exercise 1 & 2

• Trait #1:

  a fear of death
  In his young adulthood he watched several of his friends die from disease and war. Around the same time a necromancer of past ignominy resurfaced and sought students. He answered the call.

• Trait #2:

  a cruel and uncaring view of others
  Growing up as the child of an orphanage owner he never bonded with other children. There were too many tasks for his mother to complete and his early conscription led him to being a worker instead of engaging in childhood activities. When he tried to engage them he was rejected due to having a mother. As an adult he chose the path of power, using his natural ease with magic to threaten and control.

• Trait #3:

  a fierce desire to protect the few he cares about
  Having few friends in his early youth he lacked the inability to not cling to those that accepted him later on. When they got in trouble he brutally attacked others in their defense.

Exercise 3

• Trait #1:

  a fear of death
  • Positive: He thinks through situations of great impact and danger, being careful and cautious but unafraid of what he must do.
  • Negative: In moments of mortal danger he reacts with untempered violence, commonly going far beyond what is necessary.
  • Neutral: He seeks additional ways to extend his life.

• Trait #2:

  a cruel and uncaring view of others
  • Positive: He more easily accepts transactional relationships - you give him something and he gives you something in return
  • Negative: Unbound by sympathy he carelessly mistreats all but those he considers friends and flaunts the law.
  • Neutral: When dealing with others he is driven to seek more power and expand his opportunities.

• Trait #3:

  a fierce desire to protect the few he cares about
  • Positive: Having earned his trust he is a true friend and supports them until the end.
  • Negative: If that loyalty is broken he responds with murderous fury that spills onto bystanders.
  • Neutral: Is unlikely to be swayed by strangers, instead relying on his own internal moral compass.

Worksheet 2: Character Flaws

Exercise 1 & 2

• Flaw 1:

  His desire for power and cruel uncaring view of others does not instill trust in people he works with. Others may still feel wary towards him; however, he may have placed his full trust in them.
  • Complication Past: After completing his training at the magical college he approached his mentor and started asking about how to learn about sorcery. Promptly he found himself banned from the college and sat before a magistrate.
  • Complication Future: Having found himself as one of the main conspirators in a EVIL group he implicitly trusts a few of his associates. They steal the objective and set him up to take all of the blame.
  • Complication Choice: Past. Upon obtaining an old spellbook on forgotten necromancy he tried to learn its contents before passing it along to his master. He showed the book to another student whom he had come to practice and spend his time with. She opted to tell their master and to gain position and discredit him.

• Flaw 2:

  Unbound by sympathy he makes practical decisions which authority respects, endearing him to them.
  • Complication Past: During last winter he lodged in a small mountain village in order to study ogre anatomy and develop techniques involving their flesh. When the town was cut off by snows and their food stocks destroyed he took the side of the mayor - to send the elderly out to scavenge while he led the youth to hunt. As the elderly died and the young protested he stood by the mayor’s side. This brewed hatred amongst many of the villagers and one confronted him at home where they discovered his study. He was forced to burn down his cabin and flee, losing his research and nearly his life in the snow.
  • Complication Future: During the war it’s easy to find the corpse of a dead soldier to harvest for parts. You fight alongside the militia, they are after all trying to destroy your home too, but not with them. As men die and fear weakens the survivors you use both claw and threat to motivate. The captain takes notice and gives you a rank of squad leader… there goes your opportunity for fresh meat.
  • Complication Choice:

• Flaw 3:

  Though treated poorly by children in his youth, he strongly believes they should be well taken care of.
  • Complication Past: You took care of children in your youth to the detriment of your own youth. This likely contributed to your hardened outlook on life.
  • Complication Future: Seeing the tears on the child’s face after you slew his mother confuses you. For the first time in years your heart feels heavy.
  • Complication Choice: Future: His desire to protect children forces him to make a decision between his colleagues' plan where they’re disposed of or trying to save them which could threaten the secrecy of the group.

Worksheet 3: Character Progression

Factor #1:

Having been burned once again by someone he trusts he realizes that he allows his friends many small instances of taking advantage of his kindness. He begins reviewing his life and realizes that many of his problems dealing with people is how he treats them.

Factor #2:

Having made better friends with his fellow necromancers he begins properly sharing knowledge and they share in return. His ability grows with this new knowledge and powerful forces begin to test him. Some of these tests demonstrate that he could become a monster with his uncaring attitude.

Factor #3:

Within his grasp is all the power and the release from death he has sought, but can he really be trusted?