No two people are exactly alike. Inside and out we are infinitely unique. Flex your creative muscle with poignant description using these menus.
Character Description Considerations
There are many ways to describe a character. This menu lists a whole bunch of paradigms or directions you can take.
- physical description, height, weight, hairiness,
- abilities, skills, training, schooling,
- personality, emotional states, depth, warmth,
- intellect, smarts, thinking, knowledge, brains,
- wisdom, choices, considerations, thoughtfulness,
- social aptitude, friendliness, approachability,
- philosophy, beliefs, values, spirituality, creeds,
- quirks, habits, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies,
- dialect, voice, slang, sayings, platitudes, proverbs, quips,
- reactions, demeanor, disposition, hotheadedness, coolness,
- mutations, aberrations, deformations, distortions,
- age, maturity, youth, milestones, senility
- health, vigor, illnesses, injuries, disease, wounds,
- lifestyle, caste, status, social class,
- activities, involvement,
- job, career, occupation, role, assignment, mandate, jurisdiction, responsibility,
- reputation, others’ regards, notoriety, esteem, obscurity,
- relationships, estrangement, belonging,
- honor, duty, reliability, trustworthiness, honesty, pride, devotion, fealty,
- sanity, madness, grasp, lucidity, psychosis, neurosis, panic,
- strengths, gifts, talents, innate ability,
- weaknesses, struggles, disabilities,
- stuff, things, clothes, objects, trinkets, collections
- trust, belief in others,
- home, their bedroom, kitchen pantry,
- schedule, work pace, drive, to do lists,
- social circle, contacts, comrades, pals, entourage, courtiers,
- preferences: music, food, wine, men, women, golf club brand,
- fears, worries, anxieties,
- history, upbringing, backstory, family, influences, childhood memories, ancestors
- magical acumen, sixth sense, fey ability, psychic power,
- superpower, special gift, great talent, mutant ability,
Character Traits may come from…
- heredity, family, ancestors, bloodline, background,
- training, rehearsal, practice,
- indoctrination, brainwashing, torture, drilling,
- belief, religion, spiritual practice, visions,
- trauma, emotional scars,
- nurturing, rearing, how one was raised, family, young life,
- influence of celebrities, media, heroes, role models,
- influence of friends, circles,
- coaches, mentors, guild leaders, teachers, instructors,
- groups, affiliations, gangs, guilds, organizations,
- culture, tradition,
- drugs, alcohol, hypnotics, narcotics, hallucinogens, amphetamines,
- magic, spells, curses, blessings, aura,
- omen, prophecy, destiny,
- divine intervention, the touch of a god, holy power,
- demonic possession, trances, alien invasion,
- infection, disease, illness, fever, fever dream, injury, wounds,
- deep and not-very-soothing alien probing,
Character Aspects may be…
- obvious, outright, clear,
- hidden, secret,
- latent, not-yet-realized, waiting, hibernating, resting,
- protected, guarded, locked deep inside,
- righteous, honorable, true, good, true-hearted,
- strong, bold, forthright, hard,
- weak, meek, humble, soft,
- maddening, annoying, overbearing,
- wild, crazy, over-the-top,
- insipid, incessant, gnawing, festering,
- growing, rising, waxing, increasing
- diminishing, waning, shrinking, receding,
- honoured, cherished, loved, beloved, charming,
- vile, repulsive, hated,
- corrupt, twisted, malevolent, demonic, evil,
- earned, practiced, rehearsed,
- controlled, measured,
- practical, useful, reliable,
- impractical, willy-nilly, haphazard, careless, wonton, flippant,
Specific Menus
These links open in new tabs so you can go back and forth for quicker reference.
- Emotional Traits – how does your character compose their self?
- Intellectual Traits – how witty or clever is your character?
- Social Traits – how does your character interact with others?
- Physical Traits – how is your character built and how do they look?
Notes and Ideas
- Effective characters often have conflicting pieces within them. For example, a character may have a love for flowers but a mad allergy to pollen. This allows for great fictional exploration, in the case of the flower allergy on the lighter side of things. But you can create great narrative drivers by, for example, having a character wanting to be a great knight though he is talented through the whimsy of genetics in poetry rather than swordplay… that’s a whole story waiting to be told, especially when he is born into a great military family and the world is on the verge of an apocalyptic war.