One of the things that Dungeons and Dragons gives players are four little spots to create their own backstory snippets. They are bonds, ideals, flaws, and personality traits. Each one of these are capable of helping players flesh out that backstory and give them role playing opportunities. Let’s look at how you, as a player, can use them to the best of your ability.

Bonds

Let’s start with bonds. This one is pretty simple, but it’s a very handy one to have, and for the Dungeon Master to know about. This is what you are connected to. Often times, this is going to be a character, such as a family member, but it can also be an organization. If you play a monk, it might be the monetary that you studied at. If you’re a half-orc barbarian, it might be the tribe that grew up with. Or maybe you play a druid who has a wild old bear friend.

The important element, here is, that you don’t tie them too tightly into anything. While they are your bond, keep it a bit nebulas as to how. Why you want to do that, is so the Dungeon Master can play with the character more. If you create someone who is extremely specific in location and backstory, it is going to be trickier to integrate.

Flaws

Next up is the flaw. I think this one is very important as well because it is going to be important for your role playing. This is something that you character doesn’t like. I think the name flaw makes that fairly obvious, but let’s lay it out clearly. And this is something that you can role play when you play Dungeons and Dragons.

Now, I think most players pick a flaw that isn’t too big a complication. But a bigger complication can create more interesting role playing moments. For example, a character in my game dislikes leprechauns. Another one is afraid of water. These make for interesting moments in the game because water is a thing, rain is a thing. And turns out the fey are very important to the story so leprechauns show up.

And while I think a lot of players will gravitate towards, I dislike something, or I’m afraid of something. I think there is a physical element that you can add to. What does it look like if your rogue is missing an arm? How is that going to complicate life for them, because as an adventurer, and in particular a rogue who maybe does second story work, that is going to make the life way more challenging.

Ideals

Another way to say an ideal would be, what is your characters north star. And I want to use that term, because I think ideals are less role played out than some. But there is a very important reason to have them in your game and for your character.

Now, the reason I think it is less role played than other things, in Dungeons and Dragons, is that it’s a positive. I think a good ideal can be role played though. So how do you do that?

I think that you make it specific and general enough. Now that sounds weird, but if it’s too general, it can’t be acted upon. If it is too specific, like a bond, it is a fixed element of the story. There is less room for the story to grow.

The other thing the ideal is good for is the north star. This is for those moments when you get stuck asking yourself, what would your character do? As a north star, this is going to give you a quick decision check that you can think about. But there are risks to this, but we’ll talk about that later.

Personality Traits

These are going to be role playing prompts as well. But these don’t always serve that extra purpose for the Dungeon Master to use. Sure, they might be, but the others often more tie to a specific thing. But often times they are lesser things.

You might be very brash after you’ve had a couple of drinks. That is a personality trait, and something you can lean into. It is something, also, that a Dungeon Master can use. Or maybe when someone breaks your trust it is forever gone. That is something else that a Dungeon Master can use.

But a lot of the time, since you do two of these, it is going to be more important to how your character interacts with the party, the NPC’s and the world in general. So as a player, think about them, so you think about how you use them to get into and get out of trouble. Because a good personality trait should be a bit of both.

Using Them As Framework Not The Law

Let’s talk about something important that I hinted at with the ideals. The ideal, personality traits, flaw, and bond are all great things to help shape your character. But they are not all of who your character is. There is one thing as a player that you want to avoid.

And this goes to what I consider a golden rule for Dungeons and Dragons, gaming of any sort really. Is everyone at the table, yourself included, having fun. Ideally that answer should be yes. And it might be some fun with the game and a lot of fun with the company, or a lot of fun with the game.

Why talk about that now? Well, I think it is pretty easy to fall into the trap of “that is what my player would do.”, and that’s negative behavior at the table.

Example

What do I mean by that? Imagine you have a flaw where you have sticky fingers, common for a rogue in Dungeons and Dragons. What happens if you go into the castle and you see some jewels sitting out in the throne room? Do you steal them or not? Now your flaw might say yes. But the room is full of guards, nobles, and the king. If you get caught, what is the king going to do? You won’t be able to talk your way out of it.

If you play by the letter of the law with your character, you would steal them. Likely by stealing the jewels you get caught and you get your whole party in trouble. Now everyone in the party, and probably the people at the table, are annoyed with you.

So, let your character be smart. Don’t let them just be driven by their ideals, bonds, flaws, and personality traits. It is going to go against that fun for everyone at the table. Sure, you might find some fun with it, but is it going to be worth the long term ramifications?

They Can (And Should) Change

The final thing I want to talk about is changing them. This is an element of character creation that is often over looked. Mainly because, I think most players, myself included, think of it as part of character creation. But as you play your Dungeons and Dragons campaign, you will change. So at the start you might be brash, or you might have sticky fingers. But will you continue to have that?

I want to go back to the flaw of being afraid of rain. After a rainman killed the character and he was reincarnated, the player character became afraid of rain. That is going to knock out the previous flaw. Or it is going to be added to the previous flaw as an additional one.

Or, another example, very early on my players decided to befriend and get the help from a fellow student at their school. So now that is a bond that the characters have. They want what is good for that NPC because they befriended them. Sure, they pick other bonds before, but now it is one to add to their character.

Those are two easy examples. But the main point is that your character is a living character. In the world, they go on missions, fight monsters, and interact with people. Every thing they do is going to change them as time goes by. So update your bonds, flaws, ideals, and personality traits as needed.

Final Thoughts for Dungeon and Dragons Traits

There is a good amount in there. I always want to point back to the golden rule for Dungeons and Dragons and all RPGs. And thanks to The RPG Academy for being the ones who made it. But don’t let these things get in the way of fun at the table for everyone. The great thing is that your bonds, flaws, ideals, and personality traits are all tools to enhance the fun at the table.

Which is the hardest to get that proper balance for?

Two more topics to go for players. Let me know if there is an additional Dungeons and Dragons player topic(s) you want to see covered. I want to make this as comprehensive as possible.

• Roleplaying your character
• Character Arcs

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