How do you make characters? Tell us about your favorite!

[Merellin]

So.. I dont know if this is the right place for this but I dont know where else to put it...

I realy struggle with making good characters and making characters I can bring myself to care about what hapens to... In my time with Pathfinder, I'v played a total of 9 characters (Plus a few in D&D) And out of them, I only cared about two. Those two I loved, All others I dident care what hapend to them, I just couldent bring myself to care for them and I dont know why I struggle so much with making characters I care about...

So I wanted to ask.. How do you all make characters that you care about? Where do you start? How much do you plan and think of before you start playing? Tell us about your favorites!

My favorites where Lee and Mog.. Lee was the third child of a minor noble family who lived in the shadow of his older siblings and turned to alchemy to try and come out of their shadow and prove he was atleast as good as them both. His father disaproved and told him to stop with such foul things, So he ran away from home to improve his craft and come back and show he had done soemthing with himself.

During his travels he got close to a drow noblewoman and they studied alchemy together, She taught him a lot, But his experimentation caused a new voice to appear in his mind, Guiding him further intot he path of the Master Chymist, This is how Raven became her own person and would ocasionaly take over Lees body. They where super fun to play, Though they died to a Polar Ray after scoring a epic crit to an ice oni...

Mog on the other hand.. Mog was a crazy swamp goblin, Who found a dead alchemist and looted him of his stuff, And ate his formula book and then started experimenting with the strange stuff he found on the alchemist, And learned to make bombs! And later even more! Eventualy, After spending a few months marveling his tribe with explosions he accidently blew up the chiefs hut, With the chief inside it.. This caused him to get banished and he set out to travel the world, and ended up becomming a hero, Making friends, And saving the dragon empire! He was super fun to play.

[LordKailas]

I've always made characters for fun. I've probably only played 5% of the characters I've put together and I can only think of a few that I stopped playing because I became disinterested in playing them.

When I make a character for fun I build them around a particular concept that sounds interesting to me. It could be something very general like "a necromancer" or it could be highly specific "a character that maximizes jumping". Usually at this stage I'm just making the character to see if the final result is something I would want to actually play or not. I would then have a binder that character would get put into that I could reference.

Then, when I get involved in a campaign I try to find out what class/niche/role etc. the group needs (based on what other players are making). Using this information I'm able to go over the characters I've made that could fill that role and pick out something that sounds like fun to me in that moment.

Once I've made the character I will look at all of the details related to that character and see what I can glean about their personality. What are their high stats? what are their low stats? what gender are they?(almost every character I make is intentionally the opposite gender of the last character I made) what is their alignment? what do their feats/traits/abilities say about what the character cares about?

In this way even though I have played many necromancers no two of them have had the same personality.

I do find that building a character "blind" and trying to play them doesn't always work out. Since, sometimes they just don't come together in a way that's satisfying. For this reason I recreated the binder I used to have into a digital document I can easily reference. My character concepts document organizes builds and boils them down to the basics so I can more easily make satisfying characters when a new campaign starts.

As for my favorites?

I had fun with Draethlyn, he was a LE necromancer of Zon Kuthon. Whose goal was create a new race of creatures powered by negative energy. All of the undead and constructs he made thoughout the course of the campaign were just part of his "research" into this goal. He was incredibly charismatic and was mainly evil because he was willing to use whatever dark magic was necessary to achieve his goals. He had no desire to screw over his allies because well, they're his allies. As a result he was known in other kingdoms as the "good necromancer". He made sure to do the more questionable things in private (no need to tell the party I've recruited a hag to run my orphanages for example).

I also fondly remember playing Wildflower. She was a NG Druid(with chaotic tendencies) that had a large black wolf named midnight. She had a very high wisdom and charisma but a below average intelligence. So, while she wasn't particularly bright she was friendly and listened to people who seemed to know better. Early on in the campaign my druid got the group lost in the woods because she picked a random direction and said "lets go this way". Thanks to her charisma the group was perfectly happy to follow. There was a ranger in the group who made his check and knew we were going the wrong way but assumed that since my character was a druid she knew something he didn't.

[Neriathale]

Start with a concept of the sort of character I want to play, often inspired by a couple of characters from other media tossed together.
Mull over ideas in odd moments over the next few weeks.
Come up with a build
Discard that and come up with a different build that maybe works better.
Play a level or two to get a flavour for the character
Fill in their backstory.

To give an example, one of my groups is playing Hell’s Rebels. I knew from the start that I wanted to play a cleric of Milani, and I liked the Evangelist archetype as I had the concept of being the inspired orator on the barricades.

That idea sat around for a bit, and I decided this character ought to be a ratfolk (because they’re one of my favourite races, and fit with the idea of an urban campaign). I had a look at the campaign background, and decided it would be fun to play the elderly ratfolk cleaner from the opera house.

I did two or three builds in HeroLab and realised that actually Evangelist cleric didn’t really work in a 3 man party because it was short of skill points and we needed more combat capability. But my other half had had a lot of fun in PFS with a sacred slayer Inquisitor, so I took that and the ratfolk/cleaner/Milani idea, put them together and produced... Zathrus, the rat who has to overthrow the government so he can get his old job back.

I’ve played a fair few PFS characters who got to maybe 3rd level before I realised they weren’t that fun, and dropped them at that point. Sometimes what looks like a good idea, even a mechanically strong one, just has no life to it and the character doesn’t gel. Other characters who start off as jokes one shots somehow develop depth and longevity. It’s why I tend not to flesh out the background for a level or two, when I have a feel for the character.

[VoodistMonk]

Not unlike LordKailas, I start with a concept that intrigues me or sounds fun and build it. Then I judge the personality based on the feats and abilities that make up the build.

For example, I wanted to dabble in Panache, so I built a master of Panache... a level of Inspired Blade Swashbuckler, four levels of Kata Master/MoMS Monk, a level of Hooded Champion Ranger, and six levels of Kensai Magus... he ended up with a Panache Pool that he could use with his rapier, his bow, and his unarmed strikes. He also ended up with an Arcana Pool, and a Ki Pool that could be used as a backup to supplement both his Panache Pool and his Arcana.

Variel is an Elf who spent his childhood in Minata. As he grew into a teenager, he got in with the wrong crowd and before he knew it, he was a pirate. After a run-in with the authorities, his family sent him to a monastery in Kyonin. He eventually joined the Kyonin Rangers, and started studying the ways of the Magus, something that has always fascinated him since he was a child. He ended up volunteering to escort a messenger from the River Kingdoms back to the Greenbelt, and was asked to stay and fight for a fledgling kingdom being formed...

I played Variel from level 8 to 12, where I retired him on some personal quest of his own. He was fun, versatile, nearly untouchable when fighting defensively, and absolutely personified the concept that I originally had in mind.

Variel isn't even my favorite character, and I don't even like Panache. Lol. But I had to play with it to learn that I didn't like it.

My favorite character is a gestalt Cleric/UnMonk Kobold named Hbob. He was raised by Halflings that owned a brothel... he was given to them as payment for "services" while still an unhatched egg.

Being adopted and obviously different, he made it a point to be helpful in order to not draw any negative attention to himself. As he grew older, he wanted to be a better dragon. He started traveling and studying, but he always made sure he was helpful wherever he was.

Hbob was very charismatic... the party loved him, and even put a pretty pink ribbon in the spikes running down his spine. He has the Halfling Helpful trait via Adopted, and spent most of his time using Aid Another/Bodyguard. When $#!+ went sideways, he would detonate some Dazing Varient Channel.

I absolutely loved playing this character... played him from level one to level 8. He was married to a Kobold queen to form an alliance for the kingdom, thus retiring the character to NPC status.

[EldonGuyre]

A few years ago, I came up with a character that was a blast to play, though I didn't get to play him long. I was inspired by Marilyn Manson, and created a dhamphir dirge bard using that inspiration. The idea was not to recreate Manson himself, but to mimic the creepy vibe he gives off, the random, carefree attitude, and the twisted sensibilities of the character he portrays.

He was very, very old for human society, and utterly jaded. He was CN, just looking for new experiences, and had lived around undead on and off, all through his life.

[MrCharisma]

Dot

(Going out all day, I'll try to post when I get back)

[Cole Deschain]

My basic rules in a prior thread.

Although I generally start with rule #3 before worrying about the others...

Two examples based on prompts, neither of which I have played, but both of which I would like to:

Antar of the Silver Ravens

As-yet-unnamed Single Mother and Magus in Riddleport

[Slyme]

Im right there with several others...I start with a concept, then find the rules that work for making the character. Sometimes things just don't come together...either there aren't rules to handle what came into my mind, or it ends up so underwhelming that I never end up playing it, etc. But usually, I can make a viable character out of just about any semi-reasonable concept.

One thing with me that I have noticed, is since I have been playing in the 3.0/3.5/Pathfinder framework so long, I tend to make characters on the higher end of the power spectrum, so I often go out of my way to build characters who sound like they shouldn't work, or intentionally pick sub-optimal archetypes, races, or race/class combos that are not intuitive.

Some of my favorites have been:

Strength based Gnome Tetori Monk who could fairly easily grapple even the largest and most powerful creatures in the game, and was still pretty strong when it came to just punching and kicking things too.

An Arcane Trickster who was built off of the Warlock Vigilante archetype instead of the traditional Wizard. I built a character who took the underwhelming Mystic Bolts class ability and made it into something to actually fear.

A Half-Gnome (Human with the Racial Heritage: Gnome feat) Sorceress with the Undead bloodline who could only cast illusion spells and masqueraded as a necromancer. I ended up retiring her super early because the GM I had for her had no idea how illusion magic worked or how to deal with an illusionist character.

Occasionally I will come up with characters that are more traditional builds, but their personality is what sets them apart. Such as:

I have a Nagaji Bloodrager(Steel Blood archetype)/Dragon Disciple (Gold Dragon bloodline) who hates all things Naga and swears he was born of dragons, and not those filthy serpents, and considers himself to be a Paladin of Apsu. Mechanically he is a straightforward self buffing, 2 handed warrior, but his personality make him stand out for the norm, and he is a blast to play.

Or my Half-Orc earth kineticist...mechanically nothing special, but he is fun to RP...he has a modified familiar via Elemental Whispers, which is basically a mote of earth that manifests in the shape of a hedgehog made of crystal who is his best friend. He also spent so much time working with pure elemental earth forces, and adventuring on the plane of earth that he was transformed into something closer to an Oread causing his skin to become crystalline, which gives him a rather unique appearance, and gets him a lot of strange looks.

[Yqatuba]

Very carefully.

[magnuskn]

I start with "What class would I like to play for this campaign"?

From there I go "What would be a cool character concept for playing this class?"

And from there it's building a character background, planning out the entire class leveling process until the probable end level of the campaign and then having fun when the campaign begins. Great fun!

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

It depends on how much setting material is available. If I know the setting and the cultures I will create a concept from that and find mechanics that fit the idea.
If setting material is lacking I'll find whatever mechanics seem fun and run with that.

The more information I have on the setting, the easier it is to make a character. The most boring and difficult character creation is when I know nothing of the game world and the GM says 'make whatever'. Give me something to work with, dammit! If I have a wealth of setting information, like L5R, I will have a ton of ideas.

I'm rarely attached to characters at creation, it's only when they've been in play, developed personalities and done stuff that they become interesting. Again, the more background I have to work with, the more interesting they become from the get go.

For instance, in one pseudo-L5R/D&D campaign we've been playing off and on for 15 years, we have 4 generations of characters and family with a ton of backstory and worldbuilding behind them. Any new character is a descendant of my first PC and we therefore know exactly the sort of family life and characters that influence them as they grow up.

One recent character is the son of a clan chief. Trained as a priest, he was very privileged and did well all his life during training. My original PC, still alive after all these years, got hold of a DoMT, and offers all his family to draw from it when they reach adulthood. The boring ones pick the good cards, the interesting ones pick the bad cards. This kid picked 5 black ones. So he's betrayed by his teacher, cast out of his clan for something that was not his fault, cursed, stripped of all wealth and privilege he had, and haunted by a demon.
Now that is an excellent start for a character!

[Cornebre]

Like others:
Look at the party, fill the gap with a fun/cool build.
Start with a concept.
See what it can do each level.
Scrap some of it during the campaign because something happens that made my character go into a slightly other direction XD

I got to play two character in PF. I'm proud of both.
The first was a Cavalier/Bard/URogue/Ranger/Brawler... the objective was to stack buffs for my allies and protect them from harm. Got every skills at least opened
Was he effective? Yes. Optimized? Not really.

My other favourite is a Vigilante Kitsune that use and abuse polymoph effects. Specialised in natural attacks (Oozemorphic weapons FTW).

P.S:
Remember a thing. Character are people. They can plan to do something, but life can throw a wrench in it!
My vigilante just took "companion to the lonely", because s/he (literally gender-fluid) keep failing will saves, and got in couple with an other PC. S/He will get Leadership too, to gain access to someone that will grant him/er extracts and mutagen, to try compensate her/is weakness (flatfooted AC...) that made him/er nearly died already... twice...
My cavalier was not supposed to multiclass that much... but it "imposed" itself ;p

P.P.S.: Derklord answer to this topic could be interesting

[Meirril]

I think there are two components to a character. There are mechanics, and then there is personality. Mechanics is the easy, but time consuming part.

Mechanically, I like to wait and see what others are playing. Figure out what the group can (probably) do, and try to improve what I think the party is going to be. If all of the basics are covered, its fine to duplicate a role, or even just follow a concept that is kind of useless but interesting.

And mechanically, I hate playing something I've done before. There are tons of classes, and a wide amount of variation within classes even. Exploring different mechanics keeps the game fresh.

Character wise, I look for inspiration. First and foremost, from the campaign information available before we get started. I generally want to make a character that 'fits'. Campaign traits are great for that, because you can often base your background on a campaign trait. Like when we did Iron Gods I took the Skysmith campaign trait and my character background instantly became "grew up in a Skysmithing family. Character isn't the heir or particularly skilled. Father has passed on, older brother has taken over the business. His sister-in-law wants him to move out. His mother wants him to get married and possibly move to another town." aka lots of encouragement from the family to go adventuring. Background wise the character started with Glaucite armor because Glaucite is considered cheap junk metal in Torch.

Beyond looking at the campaign, I think its important to find some concept for the character that drives them to adventure. Find a character from some other source and use that character's image to inspire this character. Pick something from popular media, books, even people you know. You aren't trying to make this character into a carbon copy, just a guideline for what your character would do.

And make sure your character isn't toxic to the campaign. No matter how good you think your RP is, if you know its going to cause your games to derail frequently it is going to cause other players to not enjoy the game. That isn't what your group has gathered for, is it? Be considerate of your fellow players + GM.

One of my favorite Pathfinder characters was from the Kingmaker AP. Kingmaker has your characters joining an underfunded expedition to tame the wildlands and raise a kingdom. So...just what drives a man to do such a thing?

Character is a Wizard with a 20 int. Takes a trait that says he was a child prodigy. Another player has decided to become this character's sister. A little tragedy to make sure the character doesn't have any ties to this city... and then a reason the character wishes to join an expedition into the wilderness never to return.

Charles was born into the Hawthorn family. His parents were peddlers that traveled around Brevoy. In Charles early childhood he learned Prestidigitation from a traveling entertainer. His parents were able to get young Charles into the Restov Wizards Academy on a scholarship at the age of 8. Four years later his parents were killed by bandits. Fortunately his younger sister Fiona survived the attack. The experience awakened her as a Oracle of Desna which was rather strange since the family as a whole worshiped Erastil. Fiona went to live at a temple in Restov.

At the age of 11 Charles met the Headmaster's daughter Rose. Rose was the same age and the two of them grew romantically attached to each other over the years. Charles graduated first, at the age of 14 and became a junior instructor at the academy. His life was shaping up to marry Rose and become the future Headmaster of the Academy.

Four years later Rose graduated. After graduation Rose returned to Charles her engagement ring (which became Charles' bonded item). She then announced her engagement to the wizard Renwald, the 70 year old Vice Headmaster of the Academy.

Heartbroken over the sudden betrayal Charles...fell apart. He went on a full drinking binge, ignored his classes, and made a mess of himself. About that time three women he knew reached out to comfort him. One was the half-elven cleaning lady at his lodgings. Another was a barmaid at his favorite bar. The third was an alchemy apprentice who was ostracized because she was a half-orc.

After regaining some of his self-confidence he happened to run into his sister and one of her friends was forming an expedition to found a new city. Charles boasted that he knew everything they would need to know to do so.

Charles had a new goal. Revenge! And there would be no better revenge than showing up that fool Renwald and his former lover Rose. He would make a better academy. He would be more wealthy, powerful, respected and loved! He might not be able to have Rose but he could find ... a more beautiful... no. Rose was the most beautiful. So Charles would overcompensate by trying to marry every women he ever got close to. (He got rejected by every single female PC, and half of the NPCs. The half that accepted is probably the unusual part)

Oh, and Charles is too common of a name for someone that aspires to be great. So he insisted that people call him Zam when he is doing 'wizard stuff'. For informal occasions it was find to call him Charles. Fiona always called him Charles, and so did half of the party. Especially when angered.

[ErichAD]

I like to find some cool or unique ability, then think of how having that ability would change a person. Or, if the ability is far off in the character's development, what would cause someone to seek that sort of ability.

Some abilities really fill in the character's personality, a vigilante going after volatile arrows x2, for cytellish volatile arrows, is going to make for an interesting style of assassin. Who would train them for mind wiping assassinations, what sorts of jobs would they do, do they wipe memories to prevent speak with dead questioning, or do they leave their memory stripped target alive?

[Neriathale]

Two methods for building characters I’ve also seen:

1. Start with a mini, or piece of srtwork and build the character from ther. It’s easier than spending hours looking for the right figure to fit your internal image of the character.

2. Pick three fictional characters and create a character who has some aspects of all of them. It won’t be a carbon copy of one character, but it gives you a range of aspects you can mix and match (For example one of my current characters is Aramis/Mal Reynolds/Stephen Maturin, which gives me an immediate set of ideas on how he might act in a new situation.)
For an added challenge, write a random generator program, feed it with lists of names from various sources, then try and create a character who is Mary Poppins/Hamlet/The Hulk or Captain Kirk/Hermione Granger/Beowulf...

[Scott Wilhelm]

I have 2 approaches. I either start with a Roleplaying concept then build the character, or I come upon some wicked combination of Feats, Class Abilities, and/or Spells that makes my face split open in an evil grin, and I figure out how to roleplay it later.

Sometimes, I have RP concepts without mechanical builds and mechanical builds without RP concepts that I match together. Sometimes, I need to get to know my characters through playing them.

I read about discrimination against women in Asia suffer who are born in Fire Horse years, and I resolved to build a character whose backstory included ostracization from her village partly because of that. I matched this backstory with a build that uses a Split Blade Sword and Shield with Panther and Ascetic styles to get extra attacks and eventually Tripping. "I am Yuki Hinoeuma. My dowry is my sword, and I bring misery to all men." No one knows her last name. "Hinouema" means "Fire Horse.

I built a character that used Thunder and Fang, Shield Slam, Greater Bull Rush, and Paired Opportunist, dipping in Fighter and Inquisitor. To bypass DR, I went ahead and make the Earthbreaker Alchemal Silver. His name just has to be Maxwell "Bang! Bang! Maxwell's Silver Hammer came down on her head! Bang! Bang! Maxwell's Silver Hammer came down: now she's dead!" He has levels in Inquisitor, so his last name must be MacKenzie. Father Maxwell MacKenzie. "Father McKenzie, Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear No one comes near... All the lonely people, where do they all come from?"

Goblin characters seem to just build themselves as for roleplaying. I have a Goblin Monk named Bonzai!! (Yes, the 2 exclamation points ARE part of the spelling.) I have a Goblin Grenadier Gunslinger named Godfrey Gloop.

My first 3.5 character was a handy little Gnome tinker (Rogue, actually) named Allen Wrench who was a refugee from Halfling Nazis. Lately, I've been playing a Hafling Fighter/Rogue named Karl Wolfgang von Grignrsbane...

[Heather 540]

I've only been playing a couple of years and I don't like switching out characters unless they die. And since my first character died at level 2 and my second character lasted until level 18 when the campaign ended, I've played very few of my characters. But I LOVE making characters.

At first I was just picking out a race and class and then making a build for it. That's how I made my Hunter Irlana and she was a blast to play. I didn't have a backstory for her for a while and the one I did come up with wasn't very much, but she was really fun to play. It was just hilarious to imagine this tiny little woman not even 3 feet tall turning a big old dragon into mincemeat from the constantly whirling AoOs.

Later on, I started building characters off of concepts. For example, the tomboy princess forced to take music lessons and sneaks off to adventure, wearing a disguise to learn magic and swordsmanship. That got me one level of Swashbuckler, one level of Bard, and the rest Vigilante.

I've also built characters based off of comic characters that I like. I've successfully built the Hulk and Captain Cold. I've also tried to build the Flash and Spider-Man but was unsuccessful. For building them, I was looking for feats and classes that could mimic their abilities while also having the right flavor.

For Hulk, it was a pretty straight-forward Alchemist, Barbarian, Master Chymist. For Captain, I went with Gun Chemist using the Frost Bullet (Bomb) Discovery to mimic his cold gun, as well as Musketeer Cavalier, Trench Fighter, and Phantom Thief. While the Phantom Thief levels don't really offer anything mechanical to the build, they fit the flavor perfectly.

[Minigiant]

Well I would say 1 in 5 character concepts go any further than just an idea. I have lots of "cool ideas" on paper that just do not translate to the game in question.

If I cannot tick the three boxes; Mechanically sound, Has a semblance of a backstory, I can visualize their appearance; then I will not be able to bond to them.

I mainly play prewritten adventures so I will always tie in their backstory to the game with the help of my two very patient DMs. Mechanically sound is on me, I don't like playing a character that just doesn't work in the game, and finally appearance. Appearance is the hardest one, if I can visualize them I can begin to internalise their personality.

Over the years I have really only had 2/3 characters that mean the world to me.

The first was an Undine Ocean Echo Lunar Oracle who died after the 1st encounter from a string of Crits. So I never really played them but, their backstory was so fleshed out that they have kind of never gone away, and Sandpoint where they were raised in the orphanage (not an orphan themselves) paid their last respects, which was nice.

The second was my Undines replacement character, a Sorcerer based Arcane Trickster who grew up in the upper echelons of society in Magnimar.

And finally and arguably my most enjoyable character, Tholamin Chartree, an Illusion Pact Wizard with a Ranger esq backstory. Tholamin was unaware that he was a Kypton Tiefling so imagine his surprise when he met his great great great great.....grandfather in one of the books.

I have a few other character concepts that I can see myself enjoying, particularly for the Hell's Vengeance/Rebels AP; if I ever get a chance, and I have a sweet concept for a Mummy's Mask character that I pray to play soon

[Joynt Jezebel]

My characters starts out with game mechanics which probably makes you think I am a total power gamer but that is not true. I am a partial power gamer.

I normally have a bunch of ideas for possible characters floating around in my head. Then I look at the party composition so far, what the campaign is like and find a good fit.

Because I always have more ideas for characters than I ever get to play I often abandon what may have been my 1st choice so another player can play something similar. It normally does not bother me.

Then I look to build an effective character of the class/es selected, with an eye to what the party lacks regarding skills and the like.

Then I start playing and the character starts to take on a, well character, over the first few hours of play. Then I come up with a back story and tweak the character a bit to suit.

If the GM wants a back story I will come up with one. Sometimes I come up with a good and engaging back story that colours and fills out the character. Other times I can't come up with much.

Making a good detailed character is made a lot easier with a detailed setting I know about. Otherwise I am working in a vacuum.

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

Joynt Jezebel wrote:

My characters starts out with game mechanics which probably makes you think I am a total power gamer but that is not true. I am a partial power gamer.

I normally have a bunch of ideas for possible characters floating around in my head. Then I look at the party composition so far, what the campaign is like and find a good fit.

Because I always have more ideas for characters than I ever get to play I often abandon what may have been my 1st choice so another player can play something similar. It normally does not bother me.

Then I look to build an effective character of the class/es selected, with an eye to what the party lacks regarding skills and the like.

Then I start playing and the character starts to take on a, well character, over the first few hours of play. Then I come up with a back story and tweak the character a bit to suit.

If the GM wants a back story I will come up with one. Sometimes I come up with a good and engaging back story that colours and fills out the character. Other times I can't come up with much.

Making a good detailed character is made a lot easier with a detailed setting I know about. Otherwise I am working in a vacuum.

Pretty much exactly this for me as well.

[Ryze Kuja]

I've created characters from books, comics, or movies, but I've also created characters that are like extensions of myself, and those characters are the ones I most enjoy because I'm emotionally invested in them.

I've also created characters for 1 shots or short campaigns, and I usually power-game the crap out of them. I will spend more time building a power-gamed character that goes in there swinging for the bleachers, but be far less attached to the character than any others.

[Joynt Jezebel]

Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:

Pretty much exactly this for me as well.

Nice to see there is a kindred spirit out there.

And judging from the name Darigaaz one who shares my appreciation of Magic TG.

[Quixote]

In a work of fiction, two-dimensional characters are boring and unbelievable. The simple traits they posess might be interesting ones, but the lack of depth or interplay with other aspects of their self means any interest the reader has won't last long.

A tabletop rpg is just another form of fiction. If a character is flat, they'll be boring. You need to make a character more than a character. You need to make them a person.
Give them flaws, goals, something to lose.

I've had two players who couldn't manage this. I tried to help, but was met with enough stubborn resistance that I had to give up. When a player becomes bored with their character's main mechanical function, there's not a lot I can do. When a player comes to me and tells me they don't actually like their character, as if it's due to my storytelling...it's probably time for them to find a new table to roll at.

I think the best sign that you've succeeded in creating an interesting character is when other players get excited about your character. The player is an inherently self-absorbed animal, so you know you've got something good when you've managed to pull their attention away from their own character sheet for a moment.

[CopperWyrm]

Honestly, the most important part of building a good character is time.

There are so many options in this system, so you need to go through them carefully and consider all possible options. Eventually something will click, and you'll fall in love with the character before you even print the character sheet.

At the very least, do yourself a favor, and read every single archetype of a class if you think you are going to play that class.

Go through certain scenes and situations in your head and try to imagine what you will do at the table, both mechanically and in terms of flavor.

More specifically, one thing you need to address when making martial characters is "how do I keep the flavor and mechanics of their fighting interesting?"

You don't want every turn described as "you hit the creature with a big stick." You need ways to keep things interesting for you and others.

Lastly, try not to start playing with something you haven't already fallen in love with. Keep tinkering.

[Tim Emrick]

I don't have a single method for creating characters. This blog give examples of some of the different approaches that I've tried.

[Oli Ironbar]

I start with a shtick that would be interesting to show the table in about five seconds:

A doctor / front liner who warns his opponents that he can set bones but knows how to break them as well.

A Tengu detective who is socially awkward around non-avian humanoids.

A self promoting Skald with a scripted commercial spot and a Captain Kirk inspired cadence.

From there I imagine how the character would respond to different situations. A lot of it is improvised, so I learn about the character as I play.

[Quixote]

Since the second half of the thread is "tell us about your favorite":

My most successful character in any table-top rpg was from White Wolf's "Changeling: the Lost". Our homebrewed setting featured a few dozen regular characters, and it got to a point where I didn't even need to verbally announce which character they were interacting with; my tone, word choice, posture and gestures were enough to cue the players in.
But none were quite so strangely compelling a mix of inspiring and pitiable as Marrow, an illicit street fighter-turned wendigo. She was quiet, hesitant and desperate for warmth and acceptance, but at the same was brimming with a terrible passion worse than rage. She felt real. Not the kind of person I'd actually want to spend time with, but one that was part of moving, tragic and wonderful stories.

[Greylurker]

I generally like to start with an image or concept and then see just how many different ways I can make that character concept. Usually I end up with 2 to 5 versions that I like, some of which are wildly different.

EX: In Mummy's Mask my character was Honest Wahir. A Black market smuggler looking to make money quick by serving as the Party Guide into the ruins. I had versions of him as a Slayer, a Rogue, a Summoner and in the end the version I used was an Alchemist.
Once I picked the version I'll be playing I fine tune the background. Wahir has been working in the underworld making Drugs, but he wants to go honest and have a family. He wants to get rich quick, buy his way out of the Thieves guild, find a few nice wives and settle down selling legal medicines and potions.

Alas we TPKed during the last parts of the first book of the path.