Pointy Hat

The Three Pillars Method of

Character Creation
An Introduction
Welcome! This guide is designed to help you through the process of coming up with a character.
This guide has been designed to be system agnostic, which means it can be used for any game
that asks you to create a character in order to play, including 5e. This guide, therefore, does not
instruct you on how to pick classes, abilities, weapons, spells or other aspects of gameplay, but
rather centers on the character itself: their motivations, their backstory, and their central conflict,
among others.

This guide has also been written to help you set the groundwork for your character to undergo a
character arc through play, as well as give you a visual motif for your character. You may
choose to use these aspects of this guide or ignore them as you see fit.

You can save this document to your own google drive and send it to your players to fill before
making a character.
First Pillar: Gimmick
A character’s Gimmick is the most recognizable and the most shallow aspect of who they are.
This is the groundwork upon which we will build our character. Choosing a Gimmick not only
allows us to create a foundation from which to build a more three-dimensional and deeper
character, but also to make an easy-to-understand character concept with a clear point of view
that makes an instant impression at the table.

Examples of Gimmicks: Quick to Anger, Scaredy-Cat, Jokester, Absolute Idiot, Know-it-All,

Excessively Naive, Prissy Noble, Morbid and Creepy, Compulsive Liar.

Your Character’s Gimmick:

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Second Pillar: Conflict

A character’s Conflict is the main issue they are facing. This, along with your character’s Want,
will allow you to set the groundwork for a character arc by giving your character a direction to
grow in. Conflict should be personal to your character, rather than vaguely related to them.
Choosing a Conflict is the start of building your character’s main motivation. It allows you to start
thinking of a backstory that is specifically made to facilitate the growth of your character through
the campaign, as well as give your character something to do during play.

Examples of Conflicts: Being persecuted for a crime they did not commit; evading the
authorities; being disowned by their family; Losing a loved one; Suffering a great injustice; Being
the object of a prophecy; Discovering a mystery.

Your Character’s Conflict:

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Third Pillar: Want

Your character’s Want is the second piece to build your character’s arc. A Want is your
character’s deepest desire at the start of their story. A character that wants something is the key
to making a dynamic and highly motivated character who seeks out and has agency in their own
story, rather than a character that passively has the story happen to them. A Want can also set
up a character arc in which that want is replaced by a need, which is related to the original Want
but is informed by the story the character has gone through. A character could start their story
with the Want to change so that their parents accept them as their heir, and through the story
they grow and change to find they need to love themselves as they are.

Examples of Wants: I want to find out who my parents are; I want to be accepted by my family;
I want to become strong enough that I don’t need to rely on anyone else again; I want those
who wronged me to suffer; I want to rule my father’s kingdom; I want to be rich; I want to bring a
loved one back from the dead.

Your Character’s Want:

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