How to make your D&D* character feel like a protagonist
instead of just a guy who happens to be there when stuff happens
*this works for any TTRPG where the GM prepares the setting & aspects of the story ahead of time
Characters who matter
Many TTRPGs are designed so that the player characters (PCs) can be anyone – but that doesn’t mean all characters are equally compelling. To avoid feeling sidelined, you want to create a character that matters to this story in particular.
We’re going to make your PC matter by tying them to:
- world
- player characters
- story theme
Ties
Not all ties are created equal. We want BIG feelings to guide our character. You can come up with your own ties, or refer to this table when making ties in the following sections. Why not roll for it? Live a little!
| # | Ties | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trauma | They hurt you. It still hurts. |
| 2 | Debt | You owe them. It weighs on you. |
| 3 | Loathing | You hate them with a quiet seething anger. |
| 4 | Adoration | You love them abstractly, as an idea. |
| 5 | Kinship | Your values align very strongly; you are biased in their favour. |
| 6 | Love | You love them personally. |
| 7 | Shame | You have acted against your own values; they (might) know. |
| 8 | Disdain | They represent something you dislike; your anger spills over onto them. |
Tie to world
Talk to your DM/GM about the world and setting for this story and anchor your character in this corner of the universe. Some games have big, elaborate worlds and lore, but right now we’re only interested in the parts that this story interacts with.
Select a relevant institution, location, and 2-3 people important to the overarching story. For each of these, create a tie with your character.
Example:
| Type | Name | Tie |
|---|---|---|
| Institution | Church of Agog | DEBT they helped you escape Adine |
| Location | Elven city Adine | TRAUMA former home that exiled you |
| Person 1 | Corky, the blacksmith | SHAME he knows your true identity and why you were exiled |
| Person 2 | Celina, mayor of Adine | LOVE your first love |
Example institutions
- Governing body
- Noble house
- Religious group
- Banks
- Guild
- Travelling carnival
Example locations:
- Hometown
- Major city
- Enchanted forest
- Plane of existence
- Magical crossroads
Example people:
- Quest giver
- Family member
- Royal
- Villain
- Guild leader
- Person to rescue
Tie to other PCs
Have an above-table conversation with all the players and the GM and discuss how each PC is tied to each other.
There can be a direct tie , or via an institution, location, or another person.
Example:
| Gareth | Bao | Toblin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gareth | Gareth LOATHES Bao’s tie to the Church of Agog, but likes her personally | Gareth is worried Toblin knows his LOVE for Celina | |
| Bao | Boa ADORES Gareth, seeing him as a mythical hero, and has a DEBT as he once saved her life | Bao feels KINSHIP with Toblin, as they are both from humble pasts, seeking glory. | |
| Toblin | Toblin shares TRAUMA with Gareth, as they both lost a loved one in the same battle | Toblin feels SHAME, as he lied to Bao about his humble origins |
Tie to theme
A theme is a central topic within a story, and can usually be summarized in a word or short phrase: death and mortality, greed, corrupting influence of power, etc. It’s the idea the story is exploring. Consider:
- the genre
- the main social issues in this setting
- the event or institution the story centers on
If you’re running a pre-written module, you can usually glean this from the summary. If it’s a custom story, talk to your GM. For each theme, create a tie and supporting evidence from their backstory. Ideally, PCs will have different ties. Whatever you choose, make a big swing! No indifference allowed!
Example:
| Theme | Tie | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hierarchy | LOATHING, extreme anti-authoritarian | Grew up in a town destroyed by a corrupt lord |
| alternatively | ||
| Hierarchy | KINSHIP, respects hierarchy | Raised in a Church with strong hierarchy, noble leaders |
Using your ties
As you go through the story, your PC will interact with the world, the other PCs and core themes over & over again. Use your ties to guide their behaviour until it stops feeling honest. This means your ties have evolved. Is that… a dynamic character? Is that a CHARACTER ARC??
Why does this work?
The thing is, characters aren’t real people. Real people are much messier, more nuanced, more malleable, and they’re really bad at moving plot. We want characters because we aren’t doing an account of the real world, we’re trying to tell a story. And characters are great at story.
So we’re making these characters, but we’re improvising and we often have long periods of time between when we’re improvising. But what’s on the sheet in front of us? It varies by game, but most the time, it’s stats. It’s nothing about who this person is, or how they relate to the world around them. So when it comes time to make character decisions, we feel lost, or that we’re just doing whatever. And if you just do whatever, the result doesn’t feel like a story. They need values, and the more dramatic those values are, the easier they are to action (hence the ties).
If you set up your character to be deeply enmeshed in the story before it even starts, you won’t have to plan out an arc, or panic when faced with a moral dilemma. You’ve lined up the dominos: now it’s just time to watch them topple. Hence why we tie them to people, place and theme. All the building blocks of story!
Summary
Ties are strong emotional connections.
Tie your PC to the world by connecting them to:
- a institution
- a location
- 2-3 people important to the story
Tie your PC to every other PC. If you do this for every PC, the party will be thoroughly enmeshed.
Tie your PC to any themes you identify, and provide supporting evidence from their backstory.