50 Character Builder Questions for your Tabletop Character 

Here's a printable list of questions from the video! docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTvrd1K4s8nwkxbT6eNQmje4_tDVoufweRmxMRecCT9F5PhNjyFOy43ydu-DJ--UGp8Z2Y6oMlvh0TB/pub

“Do you think you’re attractive?” Me a transmutation wizard: not yet

Ginny: "Are you a Cat person, or a Dog person?" Tabaxi Werewolf: "...Yes"

"Do you want to be like your parents when you grow up?" Rogues: visible sweating

"Do you think you are attractive?" Changelings: *Reality can be whatever I want.*

Ginny: "What's the first thing you notice about a person?" My Deep Gnome Wizard: Their knees.

"As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?" My goblin monk who grew up homeless in Waterdeep: "Alive"

Ginny: "Did you have to grow up fast?" My Character: "Not really, considering how short I am." Ginny: "Who do you look up to?" My Character: "Very funny..."

Ginny: "Are you a good cook?" Kirsti, my dwarf bard with a decent survival skill who can never roll higher than a 12 even with advantage from a magic cookbook: "In theory"

Ginny staring into my eyes as she dead pan says "Do you think you're attractive? What's your worst habit? When was the last time your cried?" put me in shock

“Are you more likely to use your words or your fists in an argument?” Bard-barians: “Yes.”

"when was the last time you cried?" My sorcerer: "What, I never cry. I'm a warrior" "are you a god liar" My sorcerer: "Well yes, I lied just now and none of y'all noticed. You never notice anything about me" *cries

“Do you see Swiper? Is he in range for Fireball?” **Lore Wizard** : “They’re the same question”

"Are you more likely to use your fists or your words in an argument?" My Wizard: ... Do Verbal components count?

Tell me about your first kiss. (My flirty ranger): It's hard when you're making me think about my next one.

I've got a few more. "What's your favourite colour?" "What is your quest?" "What is the captial of Assyria?" "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

“When was the last time you cried?” “Do you want to have kids someday?” “Did you have to grow up fast?” “How do you deal with being sick?” “Do you want to grow up to be like your parents?” My Warforged PC: 🤖???

"Are you more likely to use your words, or your fists in an argument?" My mute mystic with 9 strength : *long stare*

“Do you see Swiper? Is he in range for Fireball?” ded

"What's your worst habit?" Me, a cleric: The red one. Much too garish. Promotes vanity.

"Did you have to grow up fast?" My Ratfolk who reaches maturity at the age of 5: I don't understand the question

"What do you think happens after you die?" My necromancer half-ghostly wizard: "Do... you want a short answer or an essay?"

Me: *Writes their own document full of the questions* Ginny at the end of the video: And I will link a document below with all the questions Me: I am...a fool

“Do you see Swiper? Is he in range for Fireball?” This hit me right as I was rolling my eyes at the first question, and it took me minutes to stop laughing.

I come back to this questionnaire regularly; even if I never end up sharing the results for a particular character, filling it out for myself is just _fun_ Thanks two years later for the consistently useful resource, GInny.

"what happens when you die" winged, eyeless, blood soaked, drow path of the beast Barbarian: "Hell gets new management"

- What's something you are naturally good at? "Swimming." - What’s something you had to work hard to be good at? "Everything else."

Are you a cat person or a dog person? My Kenku: neither, I'm a bird person.

"What's your worst habit?" Undying Warlock: Well sometimes I forget to blink...

"When was the last time you cried?" Me looking at my crybaby druid: Like... probably 3 minutes ag- oh, nope. nevermind. he's crying now.

“You see a huge spider in your room, what do you do?” Me: burn my house down My character, a circle of the moon wood elf Druid: Say hello, offer to help with scouting a web location, discuss the benefits of hanging upside down, typical roommate stuff.

Ginny: "Are you a cat person or a dog person?" My Tabaxi character: "Quite literally a CAT PERSON"

"You see a huge spider in your room, what do you do?" My thief: Aw, poor thing's trying to feed it's family, I leave him be. My wizard: Is it within fireball range? my trickster warlock: get up on the table and screech like a frightened housewife in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. my cleric: Stomp it to oblivion while loudly and with the most vulgar language I can muster blame Vekna for this.

Ginny: "the goal isn't for these questions to be big charackter defining questions" also Ginny:" if you could change one descision in the past what would you change?"

ahaha, something I always ask my players when they create their character is “if you’re character lived in our world, what would they think of the film: ‘mamma mia’?”

“Do you give people second chances?” Penter, fifthist cleric: “I will give them exactly five chances, on the failure after the fifth I will spend five hours slaughtering them” I have never played a single session of dnd. But I still have this character I want to play. But oh boy, how do you play a character whose alignment is the number five?

"when you go to a tavern what do you order?" *Playing a wealthy, noble college of eloquence bard:* a round of drinks for everyone in the place!

“Are you a dog person or a cat person?” “Dog. They usually have more meat on them.”

I've been playing d&d for about 5 years and it amazes me that the community can still be so helpful. These questions gave me so much inspiration! Now I have 3 more character ideas haha

I was writing my answers for these, and I almost skipped the first kiss question, but my initial idea spiraled into a fleshed out story that perfectly painted who my character was as a teen. A great exercise for sure

Ginny: What's the last nightmare you remember having? My Warlock: .....

it was through this I discovered just how depressing my character is

As a DM I think I can answer these for all the NPCs in my world as Yes.

Great content, but when you say "huge spider" do you mean "colloquially huge" or "D&D size category huge"?

"Do you love or hate being alone?" My Treesinger Druid: "Alone is great... Alone includes Gwinye right?" (Gwinye is his emotional support vine i.e. plant companion)

"Have you ever had your heart broken?" My character with the Haunted One background:👁👄👁

Me, currently not playing and with no reason to really flesh out a character rn: Oh man, maybe I should sit down and answer all these about myself. See what unexpected answers come up for my own life. PS: It also just felt really nice to feel like someone is genuinely asking me all these questions :)

"Do you find yourself attractive?" I have a changeling bard that mostly takes the form of a Tabaxi. So I imegine them flicking their ears before answering "when I want to I guess". These questions are so fun because I could see my character answering them and how they would react.

"Are you a good liar?" My gunslinger who is a (terrible) and compulsive liar - "....yes"

Ginny: "Do you believe in destiny?" Me: start crying remembering RWBY.

“Do you have a strong sense of style?” Yes, for I wear no shirt.

"Are you the kind of person who remembers people's birthdays and pet's names and stuff" *Laughs in Keen Mind*

I know these were for D&D characters, but I felt like these were really good real life introspective questions. Taking time to go over everything I’ve been through in my life and where I want to head next. Thank you 😊

just in time, I'm having trouble developing a character that's very different from me. I have a hard time just figuring out random traits, but anwering questions was much more fun and easy! thanks

Ginny: 31 "If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?" My character: "Cast Clone on myself"

"Do you see swiper?" My Barbarian, "Dammit Rogue, not again!"

"We all know that dice are happiness polyhedrals." I'm stealing this...along with just about everything from this vid. I like the idea of doing a question for these at the beginning a lot. I think this will really bring some nice life to my players. Thanks a bunches!

Im a fan of the seasonal goth aesthetic 😁 Do you ever have table questions like: what does your character respect most about [other character at the table] Or like 'character X and Character Y, whats one thing you both vibe on?'

“You see a huge spider in your room, what do you do?” Ignilo, my fire genasi rouge: “I would probably scream. And jump out the window. And if it accidentally caught on fire, what can I say?” Moonstone, my eladrin druid: I would run away. Quickly. Then I’d feel bad and bring it a mosquito. But then I’d feel bad for the mosquito! Can I have an easier question, please? Everest, my human druid: I’d do my best not to stab it, cause I’d feel bad. I guess I’d set my cat on it so I can just call it the circle of life. I know I’m the animal guy and shit but like spiders are a hard pass from me-” Garlic Bread, my half-orc druid: Spider friend. I will give it headpat.

i'm playing as a Warforged so a lot of my answer were "i'm a robot"

"Tell me about your first kiss" Me aro-ace ass and my lineup of aro-ace characters: uhhhhh

"tell me about your first kiss." My very closeted bisexual disaster wizard: "aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Do you think you're attractive?" Feels like "You can't sit with us!", only more vicious

More of those "out-of-character" questions would be awesome and much appreciated!!!

These really helped me with a character that is the complete opposite of me! I found it very hard to develop her completely 😅. Thanks!

"When was your first kiss?" My anxious teen ace druid is internally screaming

questions like these rly make me realize how hard making a consistent character is

Ginny: Tell me about your first kiss. My Tiefling Warlock with Venus as a patron: My first kiss was with a goddess. I think it was pretty fucking great.

After hearing question 7, Corra, having taken the question too literally, stares back at them puzzled at the idea that they would even ask whether a Tabaxi was a cat person or a dog person, simply replies, what exactly do I look like to you?

How big is this 'huge spider'? Three inches, or six feet?

Number 21: "What do you think happens when you die?" In a setting where there is literally a million and one afterlives, ranging from being tortured for eternity by demons, to become a demon, to feasting forever, to being cement in the Wall of the Faithless, to reincarnation, and every one of them can be explained in detail to you by any given cleric, or well-educated mage? Very difficult question there. Before anyone responds, yes I realize that you can have games in settings other than Abeir-Toril, but Forgotten Realms is the default setting and it was what my mind went to.

Dammit the second she mentioned dice and kickstarter I immediately pledged and bought three ;-; my obsession only grows from here..

Ginny "Are you a cat person or a dog person?" My druid: "I'm more of a 'all-animals' sort of person."

I stumbled upon this precious channel some weeks ago and just had to give those questions a try for my small group of new players. In the beginning, they were rather shy to explore their roleplaying potential and flesh their characters out, but I've now made it a habit to start each session with three random questions from this list. They love it!

I’ve watched this video every time I needed help fleshing out a character! Now my arrogant jock teenaged Dragonborn Barbarian has actual depth beneath those anger issues and is actually a believable and sympathetic character. Love it.

I could literally HEAR my characters in my head, responding to these! Guess I need to play more DnD, so they can get it out in words that OTHER people can hear, besides me 😭

This is how I like to flesh out characters, too! Here's a few questions from my list: Do you have any addictions? What would you grab if your house was on fire? Do you have a good sense of direction? What are your taboo topics (if any)? What is your ideal birthday celebration? What would you do if you had to use a nasty public restroom? What would you do if you discovered you were a ghost? Thanks for sharing some of your questions! 😊

"Do you want to grow up to be like your parents?" My character: nonexistent?

I like using "Who's your favorite person in the entire world?" It gives DMs a backstory character to play with, or a reason to build teamwork if they answer "myself, of course!"

I nearly spit out my water at the Swiper bit. hilarious.

I really want to be a player in one of her games. And I look forward to the more spooky wardrobe

About halfway through I stopped thinking in character and sort of stumbled into an existential crisis. Who am I? Do I even know?

Hey, I get anxious about the DnD sessions I have in one campaign and this helped me realise it was because I didn't know the guy! Thank you, I've done all of them now and hopefully I'll be happier with my the session tomorrow.

I'm not sure I can answer all of these honestly about _myself_ let alone my characters, but definitely interesting things to think about.

Ok, I'm making up my first DnD character ever now so I'm gonna try and write all of these out: 1. "I can do both." 2. "How fast they can reach for a weapon" 3. "Kill it!" (Is what he would say, he'd actually just silently appreciate it before letting it outside) 4. "...I'd be stronger, I'd fight be better at fighting" 5. "K-kissing's stupid! I'd be totally fine not kissing anyone in my life!" (If you couldn't tell from that one, he's in his early to mid-teens) 6. "Only if I think they deserve it" 7. "Don't have time to think about what I'd want as a pet. Unless it's some kind of war animal or something." (He likes both, anything that's nice to pet) 8. "No" 9. "I guess I bite my nails sometimes?" (He also likes to loudly sharpen his weapons and practice with them) 10. "Pfft! Like I ever cry!" (actually cries quite frequently) 11. "I guess I can lie pretty well." 12. "People talking down to me" 13. "Not romantically" 14. "Fists! Fists all the way!" 15. "I guess the one benefit to being so scrawny is that I'm pretty flexible. Some consolation" 16. "Sword fighting" 17. "Yeah, and if they are I'll knock their teeth out!" 18. "I don't know...maybe?" 19. "I guess. But I think it's something that you can, at least a little bit." 20. "I can cook. Taste doesn't really matter as long as you can eat it, right?" 21. "I'm not really sure. All I do know is that you need to leave your mark on the world before you do." 22. "Yes." 23. "Was that about how tall I am?!?!" 24. "Something big!" 25. "My resilience!" 26. "How scrawny and weak I still am." 27. "I-I don't know! What kind of question even is that?" 28. "I guess you could say spontaneous." 29. "Yeah." 30. "If i've done something worthy of attention, then yeah." 31. "...I dunno." 32. "Ugh. No, armor is so much more comfortable." 33. "On my own, I guess." 34. "I can live with it." 35. "....I don't wanna talk about it." 36. "No." 37. "Yeah." 38. "I'd be stoic as hell! You wouldn't even know I was sick!" (He'd try to act all cool but eventually he'd start complaining a bit) 39. "To be the exact opposite of what I turned out to be. At least that's the case with my father." 40. "If armor is a style then I guess." 41. "Outdoors." 42. "I don't think so. I guess bone marrow? Everyone I've ever heard raves about it, but it's just... goop." 43. "Minimalist." 44. "I am a little bit. I take all the luck I can get!" 45. "Why would I care about that?" (would probably secretly memorize the birthdays of all his party members) 46. "Usually I just hit trees or other stuff like that when I'm sad. Sometimes it helps, other-times it doesn't" 47. "Yes." 48. "No!" (He totally is) 49. "Why would I stop adventuring? I guess if I had to I would teach other people how to fight. Or maybe be a leader of some kind" 50. "Well, I wanted to be a Prince. I guess I sort of am." That was actually really fun and interesting!

"What do you do to feel better when you're sad?" Get angry. My monk might have some anger issues

This is useful for any kind of character writing, not only d&d. If you're a writer these questions are mega helpful to make your characters feel alive

Hmmm - where do I feel safe? Should I worry that my character immediately said 'In my morgue'?

Ginny Di: "Are you a cat person or a dog person?" Tabaxi: "Ummm... that's racist."

This was super helpful for me! I've tried imagining an interview with a character to flesh them out, but I was always thrown off by switching from my mentality to ask and theirs to answer. Having questions spoken/directed like this and answering them out loud helped me stay in character for better answers. I hope you do another video or two with more questions like this, I loved it so much!

I absolutely loved this, Ginny! This has been one of my favorite activities with my character by far, and I can't wait to drees up and record this in interview like you did, maybe with the rest of my party . Thank you so much!

This is by far my favorite one of these character building exercises! It's so easy to get trapped in thinking about huge defining parts of your character rather then the small stuff. Great video!

"What’s something you’re naturally good at?" The Rogue: l y i n g

You see a huge spider in your room, what do you do? My ranger: Talk. Spiders make good conversation

I need to use these when my Pirates of Dark Water themed campaign is ready to go. That will give me all sorts of fun tools to torment my players with. Also, getting a spooky Sailor Moon vibe here, probably because the big bow on the chest. I dig it, its a good vibe.

Ohh I could use these for my monsterheart characters! “Have you ever been kissed before?” My ghost Alistor: *crys in a corner*

Okay, time to put on the internet a little bit about the character I've been playing in a (not D&D) campaing for a year. The character's name is Noriko. She speaks mostly in an emotionless tone, since she is able to control her own facial expressions and tone uncanningly well, as she believes that the less she shows them, the more significant the moments she does becomes. Tho, sometimes, she slips. 1 - Are you a morning person, or more of a night owl? Noriko: I... don't need sleep. Soo... I guess whenever my love goes to sleep, I guess. 2 - Whats the first thing you notice about a person when you meet them? Noriko: Probably how small they look now. (She is able to change her appearence, and decided to be taller now, for a change) 3 - You see a huge spider in your room. What do you do? Noriko: Huge in... Like, in comparisosn to normal spiders, or huge in comparison to us? Anyways, I would burn both. 4 - If you could go back and change one decision you made in the past, what would you change? Noriko: Probably not kidnap a city's hero to learn the weaknesses of their family, and then go after them without regard for morality... 5 - Tell me about your first kiss. Noriko: It was nice. Never thought I would find someone so soon. We are still together and I plan to propose engagement in some months from now. 6 - Do you give people second chances? Noriko: Yes. Perhaps a little bit tooo much, but things still didn't go wrong because of it, so I guess it's ok... 7 - Are you a cat person, or a dog person? Noriko: Yes. 8 - Do you think you're attractive? Noriko: But of course, what question is that. 9 - What is your worst habit? Noriko: Refusing to communicate about certain things. Things would probably be a lot better If I didn't do this... 10 - When was the last time you cried? Noriko: If you count crying in pain for having a serrated sword impaling your stomach, then yesterday (She thought she was in a dream and impaled herself to try and wake up). If not... Then it's been about 9 months ago. 11 - Are you a good liar? Noriko: Yes. 12 - What's your biggest pet peeve? Noriko: Not exactly a pet peeve, but whenever someone is unable chopsticks, I just... ... These people are just fucking inferior. 13 - Have you ever had your heart broken? Noriko: ... ... ... *PTSD Flashbacks* Yeah... It's not fun to discover your biggest friend and last family member by blood (Brother) decided to side with a genocidal psycopath that destroyed and tortured your people, to solve a problem, instead of asking for your or our friends help. 14 - Are you more likely to use your fists or your words in an argument? Noriko: Depending on who I'm speaking with, a combination of both seems most efficient. 15 - What is something you're naturally good at? Noriko: Taking care of people, especially children. 16 - What's something you had to work hard to be good at? Noriko: Meta-magic. (It's VERY specific to the campaing's magic system) 17 - Can you tell when someone is flirting with you? Noriko: I don't know... ... And I think that answers the question... 18 - Do you think money can buy happiness? Noriko: No. But It can definitly buy a beautiful ring, and that's cool for me. (See 5) 19 - Do you believe in des- Noriko: No. 20 - Are you a good cook? Noriko: If, after cooking for 7 years everyday, since I was 11 years old, for everyone I lived with, I'm still not a good cook, you can throw me off a fucking cliff. 21 - What do you think happens after you die? Noriko: Your soul and experiences get absorbed back into the universe. That is the purpose for which the gods created life. Entertainment for themselves. (Very setting and Magic System specific as well.) 22 - Did you have to grow up fast? Noriko: I wish I could give a "no" as an answer... Appreciate your childhood, people. (See 13 and 15) 23 - Who do you look up to? Noriko: My friend, Serenity. He has something I wish I had: A fucking good sense of morality. I promise I'm trying to get better... 24 - When you go to a tavern, what do you order? Noriko: Anything that looks tasty. 25 - What do you like most about yourself? Noriko: How well I look after people. I think it atleast compensate some things... 26 - What do you like least about yourself? Noriko: Question 23. 27 - Do you want kids someday? Noriko: ... ... hmmm... yes... 28 - Are you a planner, or more spontaneous? Noriko: If I were not a planner, I would probably be dead by this point. 29 - Can you keep a secret? Noriko: All the time. C'mon, tell me some now... 30 - Do you like being the center of attention? Noriko: F-fuck, no. 31 - If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Noriko: Spend my time with my friends and my love... ... And probably cry a lot. 32 - Do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion? Noriko: Yes, a lot. I just wish there were more "Special occasions"... 33 - Where do you feel safe? Noriko: Nowhere, really... But I do feel safe whenever I'm with my group. I think that counts? 34 - Do you love or hate being alone? Noriko: I don't tend to be on extremes, so It depends. 35 - What's the last nightmare you remember having? Noriko: After encountering an extradimensional being with almost god-like powers, and fleeing for it... I relieved that moment a few more times than I would like... (He was basically The Batter from OFF. He became The Bad Batter if you were his enemy. It was pretty terrifying) 36 - Do you admit to mistakes when you make them? Noriko: Of course, learning from them is vital. ... When I mean vital, I mean literally. I could die. 37 - Do you want to grow up to be like your parents? Noriko: Nah, I'm good being myself. 38 - How do you deal with being sick? Are you stoic or whinny? Noriko: I... ... Can't really get sick anymore, most times... But when I could... I just took some time off. And stoic. 39 - What did your parents expect of you when you were born? Noriko: To be happy, I guess. 40 - Do you have a strong sense of style? Noriko: I. AM. Style. 41 - Would you rather camp outdoors, or stay the night in an Inn? Noriko: I did not take druidism classes from 6 to 11 years old for nothing. (Setting specific) 42 - Is there a food that most people like, that you absolutely hate? Noriko: Not really. I'm no picky eater. Question 41. 43 - Are you more of a hoarder, or a minimalist? Noriko: I kinda have a backpack with an entire house inside, sooo... 44 - Are you supersticious? Noriko: Can't really be supersticious in this world. It probably wouldn't be superstition for long. (Magic System specific) 45 - Are you the kind of person who remembers people's birthdays and pet names and stuff? Noriko: Yes, I like pleasing people. 46 - What do you do to feel better when you're sad? Noriko: I cry. That's the best medicine. 47 - Is it hard for you to trust someone? Noriko: No. I still think this is going to come back to bite me in the ass someday. 48 - Are you susceptible to peer pressure? Noriko: I probably should, a bit more atleast... (See 23) 49 - If you decided to stop adventuring and settle down, what kind of job would you take? Noriko: I would probably start and run an orphanage. Seems like the right thing for me to do. (See 15) 50 - As a kid, what did you wanna be when you grow up? Noriko: I didn't want to be anything, really. What I really wanted, was the least chaotic life possible. ... Yes... This is totally not compatible with adventuring, but... You know... People change a fucking lot. Aaaand... Finally, I'm done. That was really fun, actually! Got to see a lot about my own character. Also, for questions that don't really tackle the core of the character, I got to tell quite a bit of her story in here.

I often give this channel crap, but it is one of the best when it comes to character depth.

"If you could change one thing in your characters past, what would it be?" *Me, remembering when my human thief raised by halflings had to leave my Dad behind because he told me to after I slipped and raised the alarm* : 😭😭😭

Anyone: What the first thing you notice about a person? Cassandra: that depends are they naked? Everyone: …?