101 Questions to Help Create Character Backgrounds and Personalities

A character needs to be more than just a few scores and abilities and possessions.  There are so many ways to make your character more memorable and most of them don’t take much time.  Below is a list of 101 thin[...]
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Those Meddling Kids, Part 2

So I have some links to share!Allyson Brooks the author of MK sent me some character sheets to share with you all!Character SheetWild Card SheetReader Bruce Hill sent me a link that includes both the Character sheet and [...]
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Those Meddling Kids!

I wanted to talk some about super heroes this week.  Really I did.But I got sidetracked by the boxed set of D&D4. And what is it about an RPG in a box? When box sets were in vogue all I wanted were hard cover bo[...]
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Conscience of the Eight – Remorseless Killer and Hunter of Sen’tek

Conscience of the Eight, Remorseless Killer and Hunter of Sen’tek Quote: Some would feel regret on leaving you to lie in a pool of your own blood, I may, but only because I have stood too close and bloodied my boots. T[...]
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Cortex: The Hex Girls

Given yesterday's post, this seemed like the logical choice really.So I am working out some ideas for a Third Season of the Hex Girls.  No ideas yet, but I thought I would try them out in Cortex after already statin[...]
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New Hex Girls

Ok.  I am such a geek.  But you all know that by now.Well there is a new Scooby Doo cartoon out now, Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated.  I am not completely sold on it yet, but my boys like it, so really th[...]
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Cortex, Part 5 – Cortex ++

So I am continuing to spend some quality time with Cortex and Cortex Plus.    One thing though has become very apparent; the only proper way to build a character in Cortex Plus is in a group.  You nee[...]
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Cortex, Part 4 – Building your Cast

The Smallville version of Cortex Plus has an excellently detailed character creation method.  If you , like me, love to develop characters  for a game then this a very cool thing.  The trouble is though yo[...]
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You Are Not the Star

As we begin this post, I'd like to forewarn you of something: this is not suited for all styles of play, and that's okay. I by no means think that this post describes elements that you definitively need in order to enjoy[...]
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Cortex, Part 3 – Cortex Plus

So everything I have told you is wrong. Or rather, everything I have told so far about Cortex is fine, but it does not cover what is going on in the newest Cortex game, Smallville.Now a few things to get out of the way [...]
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Harsk: A dwarf armiger [Character]

Harsk is my first playtest character of OtherWorld Creations’ Genius Guide to the Armiger.  You can read my review here.  Harsk debuted in the finale of my summer Pathfinder game with great success.  He was a cr[...]
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Kitsu Aika – Priestess, Healer, Grandmother

Kitsu Aika, Priestess, Healer, Grandmother Quote: The Ancestors will guide us to victory. Come and listen children to the tales of our fathers and mothers. Description: Kitsu Aika is elderly by still healthy and stalwart[...]
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Words from the Empress

“The only things that matter are power and the truth, one can compel the other.” “When you have chosen a destination, you must chose what you are willing to do to arrive there.” “Some things[...]
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The Many Legends of Drizzt

"So, your new character...""He's a drow, because I think they're a really awesome race--""Now, hold on, wait...is this a drow ranger?""Um, yeah? But that's--""Lemme guess. Sci[...]
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Twisted Characters: Greenbird

The GladeLike I've explained before, the Twisted Characters articles will take a familiar character, only to place them in a unique setting, with potentially a vastly different result. So, time for number 2!~~~GreenbirdI[...]
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I Feel a Song Coming On…

Well, ladies and gents, looks like I finally found time to get around to this post...and it's a somewhat unusual take on character development. I've noticed that one thing that some people do is to find a theme song for [...]
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Willow & Tara: Savage Worlds

So the conversions of Unisystem to Savage Worlds and back went so well it seems a shame not to include a posting about my witches.Willow & Tara in a Savage WorldGiven the pulpy feel of Savage Worlds and the general p[...]
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Ultima IV: Quest for the Avatar

Like many adolescent geeks, I fell in love with my first computer game back when I had lots of time and very little money.  I mowed lawns for many weeks (probably around 12) to save up for Ultima IV: Quest for the Avata[...]
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Willow & Tara: FUDGE

FUDGEFudge is a “Universal” RPG, designed to emulate any world, any genre and put the focus back onto characters and story rather than rules or rolls of the dice.To me Fudge, and it’s younger sibling Fate, were jus[...]
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The Hex Girls Season 2 for Cartoon Action Hour Season 2

It is very surprising to me, but one of my most visited pages around here is my page for the Hex Girls. I am not sure why that is, but it is above beyond the most popular page I have here save for my one on Xena and Gabr[...]
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How to Win Your Boss Fight

Yep, I finally saw How to Train Your Dragon. Beyond the shout-out to the little geek who was listing off Dragon Manual statistics for the beasties (anyone? anyone?), there's a lot that can be learned from that movie, in [...]
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Twisted Characters: The Glade

Okay, sorry that this post is up a day late. I was feeling a little short on inspiration. But an interesting thought struck, so it's something that will be making an irregular appearance here and there. It's called "[...]
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Character: Doctor Goosegog

Character: Doctor Goosegog: Doctor Goosegog is a fruit market trader and part-time judo instructor. But for the fortnight surrounding the summer solstice…[...]
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The Inner Lives of Player Characters

Trollsmyth has a really excellent piece up today about personality inventories, or "stress-testing the character concept." This is something that I've seen a lot of in his games; the solo game in particular almost entire[...]
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HEX

A quick one while I work on new material.  Plus it helps set up some things I want post in the future.HEX is a supernatural chiller from the UK taht aired for two seasons on SkyOne back in 2004-2005.  &nbs[...]
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Would you like an “A” or 100 XP?

So rarely do my roles as father, educator and gamer collide as well as they have this night.I have been working with my sons all summer long on doing extra reading, math and writing.  Yes this is what it is like whe[...]
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The Greatest American Hero

in honor of SyFy’s upcoming marathon July 4th, here is my take on Captain Crash* himself, Ralph Hinkley. Ralph Hinkley A poor excuse for a super hero, but a caring man who wants to do right, Ralph tries to help the be[...]
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Revised Plan; Generational Mega Plots, Part 2

So.  I started to put my plan into action for the first major campaign arc I have planed out from square 1 and ran since the Dragon and Phoenix. My boys are excited, my wife will buy me adventures (how cool is that?[...]
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The Story in the Session

Our last session ended after our heroes (the player characters) defended Westfall from a group of Shadar-kai raiders.  I first went around the table and asked each player say a few things about how their characters spen[...]
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PC-Tweeting…What?

Okay, so here goes nothing. There came into this mind a really bizarre thought. I'm trying to trace down exactly how it came about, but nothing's really popping into mind. Suffice it to say, it involves a very different [...]
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Willow & Tara: Chill

Willow and Tara in ChillThe world the girls live in is not exactly the same as the world described in Chill. A lot of what is “Unknown” in Chill is common knowledge to our girls. Let’s be honest even Tara has seen [...]
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Chill: Adventures into the Unknown

Chill: Adventures into the Unknown To many role-players around my age their first introduction to Horror roleplaying was the venerable “Call of Cthulhu”, but not me. Mine was Chill. I had the Pacesetter version [...]
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Willow & Tara: The Dragon and the Phoenix

Note: Work still keeping me busy.  Here is one I have been meaning to post for a while. Enjoy!A lot of what I put up here is based on my playtest of Buffy and Ghosts of Albion.  Those playtests were part of a l[...]
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Character Life-Span Development

So I am working on getting my Life-Span Development course up and running for the next term and it got me thinking about the life-span development of characters in games.I know sometimes people just want the collection o[...]
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Willow & Tara: Kult

Going to the vaults today!It's the start of a new term here so I am crazy busy. I had some other posts ready, but this one was all good to go.  Plus I have been talking about Anime and Supers for so long I missed my[...]
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My Favorite RPG Quote

Character background is what happens between levels one and six.                          [...]
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Willow & Tara: OVA

To wrap-up OVA I present my two witches.Now at this point you might ask what is that OVA brings to the table that I didn't cover in BESM 2, 3.0 or d20?And the truth is, not a lot, but that is fine.  It presents the [...]
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My Favorite Role: Matthew, What Is Best In Life?

Last night, my character died. Loq, a shapeshifting spellcaster enlisted in the service of the military of The Mullier Empire, was discorporated in the process of trying to disarm an arcane shielding device. He shoved hi[...]
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Any Witch Way You Can: Ghosts of Albion / Unisystem

So to follow up on my OVA post on Rachel and Ivy I thought I would post Rachel and Ivy in my favorite system, Cinematic Unisystem.  since Eden has gone back online and Ghosts is due out soon, this is a great choice![...]
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Play Ivy For Me: OVA

So according to the official OVA RPG blog there will be a 2nd edition of the OVA RPG. I have liked what I have seen so far of OVA, so the second edition should be fun.  July 17 is the release date.Until then though [...]
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OVA Witch Hunter Robin

I spent some quality time with OVA this weekend.  I generated a few characters and it was one of the fastest character creation system I have played with in a long time.  Character creation was a snap.To start [...]
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What the Heck is Wrong With Me?!?

Yeah, more tektek silliness. This time, my buddy Daniel’s Mage-dudes. Ashton, dual-trad Akashic/Virtual Adept Devon, Ashton’s adoptive son and a Virtual Adept.[...]
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Linda Lee, Revisited

The below is an in-universe bit of background explanation as might be given by one Linda Lee, Black Spiral Dancer Kinfolk and eventual Fomor. Linda was the character that I brought in to New Bremen on the first day of th[...]
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Golden Scrolls – Becoming a Better Player

by Ben McFarland First, let me thank Expy for his kindness and consideration, permitting me to indulge in my series of exercises over the last five months. This time, though, I don’t want to talk about what to do in a [...]
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Anime RPGs: OVA

Open Versatile AnimeThis is a new one to me, but not a new game.  I just got it and I like what I see so far. The system is very different that BESM, but it has some good character creation guidelines that I think w[...]
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Torturing Player Characters

Staring up from the table, strapped down and glaring with furious eyes, was Gannick. Lord Immelir’s lieutenant struggled against the gag, and we chuckled at our good fortune. Who would have known that a gang war would [...]
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Amatha Lilly-of-the-Stars, Skyship Pilot and Explorer

Sorry this is late, I seem to have been suffering from a dearth of inspiration this week. Amatha Lilly-of-the-Stars, Skyship Pilot and Explorer Quote: There is no finer way to travel then in the sky. Here we go! Descript[...]
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Anime RPGs: BESM recap

Ok, so I have worked through three different versions of BESM.  Each one had something to offer my regular Unisystem games and each one gave me a alternate game when I felt the need to recharge my batteries.Yes, Uni[...]
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Negative XP

The commentary at end of this panel from Darths & Droids web comic Before slaughtering intermixed hordes of NPCs, some of whom are evil and worth experience points, and some of whom are innocent and count as a pena[...]
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Willow & Tara: Big Eyes, Small Mouth 3.0

Willow and Tara in BESM 3.0 Yes I know, I did these both for BESM 2nd Ed. But I went with a slightly different version here. The 2nd Ed versions were based on a idea of mine to do a Animated series to feature the [...]
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