There are few things more exciting in Dungeons and Dragons than designing a new character.
One thing that has made DnD so popular over the years is the freedom to create just about any kind of character you want. Do you want to play as a loincloth-clad barbarian with a heart of gold? Go for it! Would you prefer to play a foppish elf bard with delusions of grandeur? Break out your lute or other musical instrument.
I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons regularly for over a year now, and while I have designed many characters, I’ve only played two: Kaldor the Brazen and Ekez “Blade” Senshi.
Kaldor was my half-orc monk from my first campaign who fought purely with his fists, who I designed in under an hour during my first session. There wasn’t much forethought, I just kind of threw together a few fun ideas and created a blank slate.
By nature of my own inexperience with the game at the time, Kaldor was good-natured, naive and a tad impulsive. There were many times I would race into danger that a more experienced player and character would have run from. This energy suited the campaign, which was a mix of wacky action, rampant dimension hopping and comedic character interactions.
Designing my current character, Ekez, has been a more involved and thoughtful process. Rather than just make his character up as I went, I wrote a detailed backstory for him. I chose motivations that drive him and inform his role in our current campaign.
I chose to make Ekez a samurai Tiefling — a horned humanoid with colourful skin — who wields a demonic blade as he seeks justice for his lost comrades. He’s a more sober and restrained man who tries to carry himself with quiet dignity. Where Kaldor could throw a flurry of punches at an enemy, Ekez can usually only swing with his sword once so every blow counts.
It brings a completely different flavour to the role-play side of the game. With the rest of my group also playing new characters, there is a chance to form new dynamics and relationships.
Most exciting for this new campaign is the recent acquisition of hundreds of miniatures for our game. Ekez and his comrades can now encounter dozens of dwarfish mercenaries, towering dragons and all other manner of monsters.
Meeting these fresh challenges with Ekez will require careful planning, solid character development and just a little bit of metagaming to create an unstoppable swordmaster. I can’t wait for next Monday night!
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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