What Makes Character

The NPC With a Thousand Faces builds characters 'from idea to full concept'. With each step your character will take on more detail, contrast, and gain history and stakes in the world they live in. This is deliberate as some characters you might want a full work-up for - and others you may just want to throw together something fast and loose.

For your first character: work through all Six steps. This should take anywhere from 15-45 minutes, depending on how complex your character is, how quickly you read through the sections for your first time, and how detailed you want them.

What you'll need

All the tables in this book use a percentage-based approach (notated as a 'd100' which standards for 'The Result of a One-hundred Sided Die's Roll).

To use these tables it's recommended you either use an online dice roller or two ten-sided die (one die standing in for the tens value and the other standing in for the ones value, e.g. [9] and [1] would be '91', assuming 9 was the die rolled first). Tables are semi-weighted so that more common results are 'toward the center' and less common results are 'towards the edges'. By dice statistics, that makes 2d10 closer to the intent of the tables than a d100 which treats all 100 results as 'equally likely'.

The following URLs link to some useful dice rollers in that respect:

• https://anydice.com/ - "AnyDice" (complex, shows statistical likelihoods)
• Search "Online Dice Roller" in Google Search (click on D10 twice to roll a d100; '0' takes the place of '10'. '10, 10' is 100)
• https://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm - "Wizards of the Coast's Online Dice Roller" (simple, uncomplicated, loads fast)

Author's Note

Please be aware that you are in full control of your character's creation. If you feel they don't need a Prop, don't give them one! Don't think their Flaw suits them? Roll again or pick another! If you'd rather use this book as a reference and inspiration source rather than a tool, that's fine too! Thanks and Happy Character Creating!

- James, Curator of the Forgotten Workshop

Step One: Flaws

All great characters are flawed: perfection is boring.

A Flaw is a rooted imperfection that runs so deep that it is the Source of most characters' Struggles. Even if a character doesn't like their Flaw, it nonetheless defines them. In the rare occassion a character triumphs over their Flaw, typically it's either a false victory or the time they gained a new Flaw.

For example, let's consider a Superhero whose parents were gunned down in an alleyway. The trauma of that event changes their youthful Flaw of Innocence to becoming Easily Angered. They could spend the rest of their life stuck in that moment as they build mental walls and a rigid Code of Ethics to keep their anger in check and bury it so deep you'd question it was ever there to begin with. Yet the Flaw never went away, it just became more complex. You should think in this way in respect to characters; not everybody wears their Flaw on their sleeve but everyone (at least all interesting characters) has Flaws.

Some Flaws are controversial for the community the character lives in and others may be embraced. If this Flaw is embraced then this character (and those who share their Flaws) may be held as a 'Pillar of the Community': a standard by which others are measured.

Good Characters can still have Bad Flaws. A character doesn't have to accept how they were raised or accept a part of themselves they're ashamed of. Some of the best heroes have flaws they constantly are Struggling against - and are made richer and more interesting from those Struggles.

Table of Flaws

d100	Flaw
01-03	extremist
04-07	conspiracy theorist
08-11	traumatized
12-15	forgetful
16-19	extremely stubborn
20-23	bigoted
24-27	irrationally fearful
28-31	exceptionally religious
32-35	depressed
36-39	lustful
40-43	greed-driven
44-47	excessively proud
48-51	vain
52-55	altruistic
56-59	sacrificial
60-63	honor-bound
64-67	innocent/pure
68-71	easily angered
72-75	classist
76-79	rebellious
80-83	guilt-ridden
84-87	miserly
88-91	single-minded
92-95	gluttonous
96-97	quixotic
98	serial liar
99	exceedingly inattentive
100	strange moral/ethics

Step Two: Struggles

Struggles are like Quests for Flaws.

Ever wonder how a character's Flaw evolves over time? It's through Struggles! Struggles are how characters find new and interesting angles for their Flaws. Let's see how one might play out for a Conspiracy Theorist.

• The Conspiracy Theorist is saddled with setting up a pie eating competition for the Mayor and becomes Restless.
• While setting the competition up, which prevents them from continuing to research the Conspiracy Theory they've been trying to unravel for the last few months, they stumble upon a late-night discovery: the pies are being filled with rotten apples!
• Do they seize on the opportunity and indulge their Restlessness or do they press their Struggle down and continue their work?
• Regardless of their internal conflict, was the conspiracy real and, if so, does that make them regret their decision in regards to their Struggle? Do they no longer feel Restless as a result?

As you can see, Struggles are ways for characters and your audience to 'get to know your character and their Flaw better'. The best stories are ones that make characters work through many Struggles to better understand and be able to embrace or reject their own Flaw -- as well as playing the Flaws of multiple characters against each other.

Internal Struggles

Mundane Struggles

External Struggles

Step Three: Props

"Props" doesn't just refer to the iconic gear the character wears, it's also eye-catching conditions, maladies, and simple 'auras'. Props are things other characters would pick up on and identify the character with, even if they say nothing and pass by in a flash.

Props are often openly displayed or used rather than hidden unless the character wants to be anonymous. If someone only catches a glimpse of this character they would likely take note, first, of the Character's Props.

As an example your character might be a miserable Misanthrope who is both Paranoid and has a life-long Struggle with obtaining more and more Knowledge -- but a random passerby will notice the necklace of fingers around your neck rather than your Struggles or your Flaw first and - if they know of you - might make the deduction that 'that's that miserable Misanthrope passing by' due to the ring of digits you're carrying about.

The Props are not necessarily who your character is but it is what people will identify your character with if they're unfamiliar with you personally; that said, a character could readily identify themselves by incorporating their identity into their Props as well. A passerby might direct others to you by saying 'look for the man who's always walking around town looking like he wants to punch the snot out of everyone he sees' if you've got a 'Severe expression' for your Prop.

Characters are often keenly aware of their Prop if they didn't deliberately acquire it. Some Props are given, found, or earned rather than made or bought; a small detail for the character's background to fill in at your leisure. For example:

"Sure, you're a miserable Misanthrope -- but why in the world are you wearing a necklace of fingers?"

"Well, my wife told me once she'd cut the fingers off any woman who dared lay hands on me. It was poor fortune that, in fact, my family suffers from a curse where gifts given to a suitor aren't easily returned and that curse just so happens to believe that even touching my skin is 'a gift'. It turns out she did cut their fingers off and, though it's terrible and my wife has since left the world by the rope, I'm still trying to find the maidens to whom these fingers belong so that I may return them. Also, people tend to leave the man traveling with a necklace of fingers alone and I prefer the company of beers to people."

Step Four: Connection to the Larger World

Few characters exist in isolation or without some iconic past event that's forged them and, perhaps, may have even given rise to their current Flaw or Struggles. Even if well-hidden, there is a connection that exists between this character and some larger or larger-than-life aspect of the world. Their connection defines a lot of who they are (or were) and can provide an easy path for you, their creator, to add some depth beyond personality and prop to this character.

This connection is almost always noteworthy and known to at least those who were around when it happened and can even be immortalized in song or poetry; those who conceal their connections generally have a hard time doing so.

If you haven't been struck with a good idea for a Source for the character's Struggles or Flaws, make this a key part of how those came to be. If this Connection is connected to a Flaw then it is a Flaw that's a product, inspiration, or development of their past and, accordingly, can only really be dealt with or permanently changed by dealing with the Source of the Flaw. Usually, that means dealing with whatever has caused this Connection to occur in the first place.

If you're developing a character in a system that provides Backgrounds, you may want to consider this connection to be 'supplementary' or a 'prelude' to the character's present circumstances. An Heir to an Old Estate might have rebuked their Family and hit the road to find themselves later as a Thief. A character raised by magical or strange creatures might have lived an otherwise mundane life until recently when their powers awakened and they became an alchemist-in-training.

You do not have to make this Connection the only interesting part of your character's life -- just bear in mind it has had the most impact. Sure, you may have been a Heroic Adventurer for some 12 years before you retired for a quieter life but these days it seems all anyone wants to talk to you about or associate you with is how you were rescued by the Prince's Royal Retainer.

Step Five: Attributes

Particularly noteworthy characters may have physical and mental attributes that range outside the norm. These traits may be physical, mental, or even both.

Please note that no particular modifier or statistic is given here - nor are system-specific terms used: this is to allow you, the Creator, to choose what appropriate malus/bonus works for the system, setting, and character.

Attributes are all about appearance as well, not only defining what attributes (if any) are particularly high or low but what sort of effect that attribute has on the character's personality, appearance, health, or knowledge.

Step Six: Hooks

Hooks are the things that allow other characters to more easily attach to your character's history and actions. They sit somewhere between a Struggle and a Connection in this system as you're looking for a solution to a problem you're having but the problem you're having is far from normal or even 'heroically mundane'.

As with most heroic tales, a 'Hero's Quest' begins with a disruption (a 'hook') to their normal, everyday, life that puts them on the path of a Journey. This disruption does not need to have happened recently, either; just because you're host to a deadly and terrible sickness doesn't mean you'll find a cure or solution to your problem in a week. However, unlike a 'Hero's Quest', a Hook isn't for the character, it's for the characters that encounter them. They're not the Hero of their own story.

Why these Hooks are happening, who or what is responsible, and how they might be resolved: none of that is defined here. That doesn't mean I can't pass along useful advice on how to come up with answers to that though!

Detail Tables

You may notice various calls to tables throughout the book; those Tables may be found here in alphabetical order.

Table: Potion Bottles

Table: Strange Growth

Table: Tattooes

Table: Tomes

Table: Villain Plans (Master)

Superfast npcs

Need to build NPCs even faster than the by-the-book method? Want to give that innkeep a foundation you can build on to later? Need an emergency cohort for your lich, corrupt CEO, or knight-captain? Look no further!

Fantasy NPCs

Sci-Fi NPCs

Western NPCs

Eastern NPCs

Horror NPCs