5 DND personality traps that will ruin your character

0:00 Intro
1:53 Trap 1
3:10 Trap 2
4:46 Trap 3
5:54 Trap 4
7:00 Trap 5
8:07 Bonus Trap

Music
♪ Lukrembo - Bake a pie
♪ Lukrembo - Sunset
♪ Lukrembo - Imagine
LAKEY INSPIRED - The Process
Track Name: "Dreams" | Music by Dj Quads

#dnd #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons

[Delmworks]

On the topic of bad-asses with flaws: have a fear that drives them into combat rather than fleeing from it . The archetypical example is the paladin who’s terrified of their friends getting hurt, but it could also be, ex. A Barbarian who’s afraid of being seen as weak, or the wizard who’s afraid to be seen as a burden by not helping

[IsaacAndrews]

I always try to tie one of the personality traits to the flaw, making the flaw a negative reflection of the personality trait.

Your character likes to be dressed in the best fashion? Their flaw might be that they look down on people who have little to no taste.

Your character enjoys helping people? Their flaw might be that they place the others' needs ahead of their own to their detriment.

[hawluchag]

FINALLY SOMEONE ON DND YOUTUBE SAID IT!!! "This is a creative game, so dont trap yourself in a creative box. If yoy have an idea and you think it'll work, go for it!" That is quite literally my core axiom when it comes to D&D (and creativity in general), and I'm SO glad to see a video of this type not be about "things you should ABSOLUTELY NEVER DO IN DND". TYSM, this is amazing advice. i think every dm and player should live by

[UnvisibleINK]

Give your character personal issues and don't blab them to everyone straight off the bat. Secret past trauma is always a good one to play around with. Tell the DM/GM and nobody else and then wait for them to give you an in world reason to wrestle with those demons. Surprises make getting to know each other's characters more engaging, sometimes even more enriching.

The pitfall that addresses is being an open book. Unless of course that is an actionable character trait.

[madeleine]

My first ever character was an elf who had lived completely alone in the woods for over a hundred years and was weary of other people. I thought it would make for decent roleplay moments as they learn to warm up to other people, and it could if I was the only player. What ended up ACTUALLY happening is because my character was hesitant to interact with others, every other player at the table would just talk first. I was in that campaign for close to a year and *never once* had a full conversation as my character (or contributed more than a single sentence to each scene).

Never ever have your first character be a recluse when you're in a group, because you will just find that you're never even interacting until you're forced to during your combat turn.

[mentalrebllion]

One big thing I find is check in with everyone and make sure you build a parallel theme into your character that everyone has. This helps with making a more cohesive group.

My example is for a group where the question of “home” is tackled. You have a few who genuinely had good parents/siblings and home life. Then you have someone who grew up in an orphanage and doesn’t know what that means. You have another who is a refugee. And you have someone who lost their fiancé and also has a complicated and toxic relationship with their blood family. In this way, everyone has a way of discussing home and what it means to them during rp moments and to teach each other what it means to them. In fact, this theme ended up part of the party name too, which was neat. But basically, pick a theme that will come up.

Another theme I have had a party tackle is loyalty. Vague right? Lol well in this case there are a few who are beholden to some shady entities. There is another who’s honor keeps them beholden to another player, their original employer (is bodyguard basically), another who is dedicated to their philosophy, another who is dedicated to honoring their lost loved ones (yes, revenge story), and then there is my own who is dedicated to the person they are trying to find, their childhood friend and love. The concept of loyalty comes up a lot as well as the reasons behind it and we often have rp moments around it. In all honesty this party has the most complexity for “good” and “evil.” Basically a shady bunch lol, with only some of us having a more “heroic” personality. We also have all formed connections with different factions of that world. It’s an interesting counterbalance to how well we actually all work together and are slowly reforming a lot of our loyalties towards each other. Like you said, adapt. I’m a big believer in making sure you leave room for your character to adapt. Personally I prefer to have characters that are made to go through character arcs, learn new things, and decide if they will stay the same or change, usually choosing change.

[squali]

I think all this greatly benefits from a character having a strong belief. Maybe the character who leaves things better than he finds them is that way because he believes kindness solves everything. Then put him in situations where he is pushed not to be kind and see if he truly sticks to that way of life or not. That makes for very interesting roleplay.

[lued]

About passive traits: "No, but..." can work really well in improv. If you want to refuse one idea, put another one into play. Maybe start a conflict between the two ideas.

[nathanwilkins]

I think another important thing to consider is group dynamics. If you’re playing a group of strangers, then traits like the Lone Wolf and the Homebody don’t make a ton of sense… but if you and another member give your characters a pre-existing bond you can strengthen both characters. For example, a really outgoing gungho adventurer and a hapless, reserved best friend who’s along for the ride but brings finds he brings his own brand of expertise to the group and slowly opens up to the whole adventure and the rest of the party.

Basically, make sure there’s a reason the party doesn’t just say “you don’t want to be here. We don’t know you. Why would we take you along?”

[Keiji]

It's like the homebrew system I am working in. The first part is that my character actually has a nice, happy family, and another player has a bit more of a rough story to him. The reason why the group prefers my character, despite both characters being much more masculine, energetic, go-getters, is because my character's support cast actually reacts differently, and I accept the plot hooks, whereas the other player just seems to not bite the plot hooks, and goes a bit too sandbox, and he doesn't bond with the NPCs as much. The background I created at the beginning of the campaign also worked in his favour. (Like the military family background, and the love of the Zorro movies) Because of events, he grew to distrust the military, and he started spending more time with his father and sister. (He is currently not pleased his sister is dating, and constantly sasses her about it.)

But we don't know anything about his character, so the party prefers my character.

[paevepailbrack]

When it comes to being passive may I make a suggestion: a character can be passive and not want to adventure UP TO THE POINT where it hinders the party, but it should never cross that line. So maybe they don't want to go on an adventure but begrudgingly do for some reason (maybe they like the rest of the party more than they'd like to admit and don't want to see them hurt, maybe they're canny enough to realize it's safer to run with a party so they follow even though they're scared, etc)

[Lunacorva]

One thing I did when making my character if they were ill-defined, was in the first sessions I just acted as I naturally would, but then after the session I would examine the choices, take note of them and ask: "Why was this their first choice?"

For example, in the first session if someone needed to be the sacrificial lamb, he was the first to volunteer to be the guy in peril. So I looked at that and came up with an idea of him being from a very "For the greater good!" type of society and thus felt like it was his duty to lay down his life for others.

Also, I had a lot of bad roles compared to the other players, but my character was meant to be a hero of his people, so I ran with that too and fused it with the above point. He was the "Main Character" in his home country and he's getting used to being around people just as competent as he is. He was a big fish in a small pond and it's created a bit of an existential crisis.

[Litchert]

Great list! The passive one in particular has gotten me a couple of times. I would also suggest a note against playing a character that would actively hinder the party. Like the rogue who steals from their allies. May be active but damn is it annoying

[monkeibusiness]

One of the best comments I have ever seen on this topic. Especially #2 with the passive personality is something a lot of new players do not understand. You come from movies and books where this works? Sure, but it is completely different at a table.

[Ethanwatsbeefin]

This video was extremely helpful in making my character flourish so thanks for the help

[trevorconeal]

You always have the exact video I need at that moment haha

[Axios-tb]

Really appreciate the advice! I have been trying to find the right personality for my dnd character(s)! This has been a HUGE help!

[bratziano]

another great video. i've recommend these "how to create your character"-videos to my players (mostly inexperienced) and it helped them a lot to have more fun at the table and roleplaying in general. thank you!

[chrisvickers]

I have a character from the Hordelands, essentially a Mongol. His class is eldritch knight. One of his personality traits is that he views his horse as part of his anatomy. He fights from horseback whenever possible including as an archer and sword and shield. When we arrive at a town and are staying at an inn he sees to his horse before looking after himself. He once turned his horse invisible before going off to fight on foot. (OK, that may have been a bit extreme.)

[jonmacbuff]

This is great! I’ve got some burgeoning players that I can tell are looking for ways to enhance their play, so I’m going to send them this video!