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Chapter 4: Personality and Background

Characters are defined by much more than their You don’t need to be confined to binary notions of sex
race and class. They’re individuals with their own stories, and gender. The elf god Corellon Larethian is often seen
interests, connections, and capabilities beyond those as androgynous, for example, and some elves in the mul-
that class and race define. This chapter expounds on the tiverse are made in Corellon’s image. You could also play
details that distinguish characters from one another, in- a female character who presents herself as a man, a man
cluding the basics of name and physical description, the who feels trapped in a female body, or a bearded female
rules of backgrounds and languages, and the finer points dwarf who hates being mistaken for a male. Likewise,
of personality and alignment. your character’s sexual orientation is for you to decide.
Character Details Height and Weight

Your character’s name and physical description might be You can decide your character’s height and weight, using
the first things that the other players at the table learn the information provided in your race description or on
about you. It’s worth thinking about how these character- the Random Height and Weight table. Think about what
istics reflect the character you have in mind. your character’s ability scores might say about his or
her height and weight. A weak but agile character might
Name be thin. A strong and tough character might be tall or
just heavy.
Your character’s race description includes sample names
If you want to, you can roll randomly for your charac-
for members of that race. Put some thought into your
ter’s height and weight using the Random Height and
name even if you’re just picking one from a list.
Weight table. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier
Sex column determines the character’s extra height (in
inches) beyond the base height. That same number mul-
You can play a male or female character without gaining tiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight
any special benefits or hindrances. Think about how your Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight
character does or does not conform to the broader cul- (in pounds) beyond the base weight.
ture’s expectations of sex, gender, and sexual behavior.
For example, a male drow cleric defies the traditional Random Height and Weight
gender divisions of drow society, which could be a rea-
Base Height Base Weight
son for your character to leave that society and come to Race Height Modifier Weight Modifier
the surface.
Human 4'8" +2d10 110 lb. × (2d4) lb.
Tika and Artemis: Contrasting Characters Dwarf, hill 3'8" +2d4 115 lb. × (2d6) lb.
The details in this chapter make a big difference in setting Dwarf, mountain 4' +2d4 130 lb. × (2d6) lb.
your character apart from every other character. Consider Elf, high 4'6" +2d10 90 lb. × (1d4) lb.
the following two human fighters. Elf, wood 4'6" +2d10 100 lb. × (1d4) lb.
Hailing from the Dragonlance setting, Tika Waylan was a Halfling 2'7" +2d4 35 lb. × 1 lb.
brash teenager who had a rough childhood. The daughter of
a thief, she ran away from home and practiced her father’s For example, as a human, Tika has a height of 4 feet 8
trade on the streets of Solace. When she tried to rob the
proprietor of the Inn of the Last Home, he caught her and inches plus 2d10 inches. Her player rolls 2d10 and gets
took her under his wing, giving her a job as a barmaid. But a total of 12, so Tika stands 5 feet 8 inches tall. Then the
when the dragonarmies laid waste to the town of Solace player uses that same roll of 12 and multiplies it by 2d4
and destroyed the inn, necessity forced Tika into adventure pounds. Her 2d4 roll is 3, so Tika weighs an extra 36
alongside the friends she’d known from her childhood. Her pounds (12 × 3) on top of her base 110 pounds, for a total
skill as a fighter (a frying pan remains one of her favorite of 146 pounds.
weapons) combined with her history on the streets gave her
skills invaluable in her adventuring career. Other Physical Characteristics
Artemis Entreri grew up on the streets of Calimport in the
Forgotten Realms. He used his wits, strength, and agility You choose your character’s age and the color of his or
to carve out his own territory in one of the city’s hundreds her hair, eyes, and skin. To add a touch of distinctiveness,
of poor shanty towns. After several years, he attracted the you might want to give your character an unusual or
notice of one of the most powerful thieves’ guilds in the memorable physical characteristic, such as a scar, a limp,
city, and he ascended the ranks of the guild quickly despite or a tattoo.
his youth. Artemis became the favored assassin of one
of the city’s pashas, who sent him to far-off Icewind Dale Alignment
to recover some stolen gems. He’s a professional killer,
constantly challenging himself to improve his skills. A typical creature in the worlds of Dungeons & Drag-
Tika and Artemis are both human and both fighters (with ons has an alignment, which broadly describes its moral
some experience as rogues), possessing similarly high and personal attitudes. Alignment is a combination of
Strength and Dexterity scores, but there the similarity ends. two factors: one identifies morality (good, evil, or neutral),
and the other describes attitudes toward society and

Chapter 4: Personality and Background
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D&D Basic Rules (Version 1.0). Not for resale. Permission granted to print and photocopy this document for personal use only.