OPTIONAL READ
General advice for building fleshed-out
characters
Once you do have a class, species and assigned ability scores, it’s time to
start giving your Personal Character (PC) some unique flair. After all, it is
easy to create a character when selecting options from drop down menus.
It’s still not got that 'personal' touch that will truly make a character
yours.
Following are some suggestions (you can choose to come up with your
own)
1. Appearance and age- What do you look like? How tall are you? How
heavy are you? What is the colour of your hair? Do you have any striking
features that help you to stand out? Are you battle-scarred? What is your
character's age?
Remember that each species has differences in how old they can get,
when they reach adulthood etc. If the character builder doesn’t have
details when selecting species, I’d advise voicing this out or googling it. A
20-year-old human might be an adult, but a 20-year-old firbolg is still got
double that before he reaches adulthood, and a 20-year-old Aaracokra is
technically an old person
It pays to make someone memorable; it will help NPC’s remember you.
2. Alignment- Is your character a lawful person? Or is she chaotic?
Select an alignment that defines your PC. By default, most adventurers
are chaotic neutral in playstyle. The alignment can matter quite a bit to
the game. You are expected to behave according to the alignment you
select.
Playing evil characters is possible but not recommended.
3. Lastly and most importantly- Your backstory!!- Players are
encouraged to come up with their own story for their characters. Don’t be
shy to write detailed stories.
The reference image of the world map and the lore document are
available to players for them to come up with inspiration.
Ask yourself questions like- Where was your PC born? What was their
childhood like? Were her parents noteworthy people? Does he have
acquaintances who may be important?
Consider tying it to the background you selected for the character. Did he
have a life before the start of the campaign? Was she a soldier in an army
or a hermit shying away from civilization? Was he a secret agent for a
criminal organization or a gladiator in an arena?
Remember it pays off to be realistic. If you have a 19-year-old character,
don't try to claim he's already a general in some army.
You are creating a person. Nobody is perfect. Give yourself flaws. Give
yourself insecurities. What is your PC’s greatest fear? What is something
in life that he regrets? What is her relationship with the other players?
Finally give your PC motivations- What is the reason she is adventuring?
Why did they join the party? Does he have some personal quest that
motivates him? Try to make the quest a complex/ difficult to reach goal so
it would take a while to complete.
Some character concepts that are open for you to try if you’re not feeling
up to (or running into writers block) creating backstories/ custom plot
hooks.
● Despairing Adventurer: Any class. Backgrounds like Haunted,
Ruined, Feylost. Hooks like Hometown destroyed by monsters,
Cursed, Missing kin
● Golden Company Veteran: Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian from
Foreversoone with background options like Legionnaire, Knight,
Soldier. Hooks- missing companions, ending the war.
● Creed associate: Rogue, Warlock from anywhere. Background
options such as Creed member, Faction agent, Secret identity).
Hooks- Redemption for past, Hunting rival criminal, Framed
● Justiciar Defender: Paladin, Cleric, druid, Blood hunter, Fighter,
from one of the orders of justice. Background options like Folk hero,
Monster hunter, City Watch. Hooks- Grand Mission (Closing down the
Rupture (Dragonguard); Curing the Blight (Blightwatch); Reclaiming
Solacea (Night’s Watch))
● Khandaari Pirate: Rogue, Artificer, Bard, Fighter from Khandaar.
Background options like Sailor, Marine, Charlatan. Hooks- Fame and
fortune, Vying for Kingship
● University Academic: Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus, Warlock from city
Universities/Anvil Isle Academy, with background options like
Acolyte, Scientist, Sage. Hooks such as finding powerful
artifact/magic tomes
● Clan Mission: Barbarian, Druid, Monk from anywhere. Backgrounds
like Hermit, Gladiator, Pit Fighter. Hooks- Personal growth, retrieval
of heirlooms/artifacts
● Adventurous Noble: Bard, Artificer, Ranger from elite family of
important cities. Backgrounds such as Noble, Courtier, Inheritor.
Hooks- Wanderlust(Visiting different planes of existence), Glory
(Fighting very dangerous creatures)
● Ledinovian Shattering Scholar: Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus, Blood
Hunter from Ledinovia. Backgrounds like- Archaeologist,
Anthropologist, Investigator. Hooks- uncovering the truth behind the
Shattering of Balance
● Preserver of Faith: Cleric, Paladin, Druid from anywhere.
Backgrounds like- Acolyte, Hermit, Inquisitor. Hooks- Restoring the
church of Fortuna, Inquisition on Cyric worshippers.
LINKS TO DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING
AURORA (A FREE CHARACTER BUILDER FOR
5e)-
Building a character is tough, since there's so much to keep in mind.
Furthermore a lot of dnd content is paid, and is therefore
inaccessible to many people who cannot afford it.
(now, we do not condone piracy, but some of us are poor)
The following link is a free dnd character builder that you can
download on your computer(it unfortunately does not support
android). Its got all 2014 content, including the allowed homebrew
classes magus and blood hunter but not 2024 content.
https://aurorabuilder.com/
Once you have downloaded it watch the video here to learn how to
download and enable all the extended content
https://aurorabuilder.com/content/
This is the github link to some extended content for Aurora
https://github.com/aurorabuilder/elements?tab=readme-ov-file
And finally- an updated list for all 2014 5e content
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AuroraLegacy/elements/refs/
heads/master/supplements.index
this can take about 10-30 minutes to fully download/install.
