Defining Your Bard's Personality

Most of the other Complete Handbooks present sample personality types. It can be very useful to read over these sections to help you define your character's personality. Although such descriptions are colorful and useful, they just begin to establish the many facets that you should define for a bard.

Generating complete examples of individual bard personalities would take pages of text and would result in only a dozen options for you to choose from. For this reason, personality types are not presented in this handbook. Rather, the following section contains many traits of a character's personality, along with several examples of each trait.

Although examples under each trait are numbered, you should only roll randomly if you are having a hard time selecting an appropriate trait. Also note that randomly rolling every trait will likely result in combinations that make little sense or are unplayable. So go through and carefully select your character's traits. Keep in mind his kit, alignment, race, other traits, and all other elements that you have already defined.

Note that the examples under each trait are not exhaustive. Feel free to select any other descriptive term that could define the trait. You can also select one or more traits within a specific category if they aren't contradictory. Also, note that the following list of traits is far from complete. Selecting the following traits will help define your bard's persona and is a good start, but you should expand these descriptive terms in your own mind or on paper. Examine your character as a whole, then fill in the gaps and add some extra details.

Table 28: BARD TRAITS

Personality


Rationality

1
Neurotic

2
Normal

3
Slightly insane

4
Stable

5
Unstable

6
Very stable




Mannerism

1
Careless

2
Curious/Inquisitive

3
Fanatical/Obsessive

4
Perceptive

5
Precise/Exacting

6
Relaxed

7
Retiring

8
Somber

9
Studious

10
Suspicious/Cautious




Self-Esteem

1
Egoist/Arrogant

2
Humble

3
Modest

4
Proper

5
Proud/Haughty

6
Servile/Obsequious




Philosophy

1
Altruist

2
Benevolent

3
Extroverted

4
Hedonist

5
Introverted

6
Malevolent

7
Optimist

8
Pessimist




Intellect

1
Active

2
Anti-intellectual

3
Average

4
Brilliant

5
Flighty

6
Dull

7
Ponderous

8
Scheming




Bravery

1
Brave

2
Calculating

3
Craven

4
Fearless

5
Foolhardy

6
Normal




Morals

1
Aesthetic

2
Amoral

3
Depraved

4
Immoral

5
Lustful

6
Lusty

7
Normal

8
Perverted

9
Sadistic

10
Virtuous




Piety

1
Average

2
Iconoclastic

3
Impious

4
Irreligious

5
Irreverent

6
Martyr/ Zealot

7
Pious

8
Profane

9
Reverent

10
Saintly




Motivation

1
Driven

2
Energetic

3
Lazy

4
Motivated

5
Normal

6
Slothful



Interests




Hobbies

1
Altruism

2
Athletics

3
Community service

4
Dancing

5
Exotic animals

6
Fishing

7
Foods & Preparation

8
Gambling

9
Handicrafts

10
History

11
Horticulture

12
Hunting

13
Husbandry

14
Legends

15
Nature

16
None

17
Politics

18
Religion

19
Smoking & Pipes

20
Wines & Spirits




Loves

1
Armor

2
Artwork

3
Books & Scrolls

4
Coins & Tokens

5
Knives & Daggers

6
Minerals & Gems

7
Ornaments & Jewelry

8
Porcelain, China, & Crystal

9
Shields & Weapons

10
Swords

11
Trophies & Skins

12
Weapons




Fears

1
Caves

2
Enclosed places

3
Crowds

4
Dark

5
Dying

6
Heights

7
Horses

8
Insects

9
Loneliness

10
Pain

11
Poison

12
Priests

13
Sight of own blood

14
Snakes

15
Spiders

16
Torture

17
Traps

18
Undead

19
Water

20
Wizards




Hates




1
Authority

2
Bad food

3
Beggars

4
Braggarts

5
Bullies

6
Greed

7
Guards

8
Heretics

9
Laws

10
Lower class

11
Farmers

12
Priests

13
Rival clan

14
Selfishness

15
Stupidity

16
Thieves

17
Big cities

18
Upper class

19
Warriors

20
Wizards



Relationships




Allies

1
Baker

2
Beggars

3
Blacksmith

4
Constable

5
Foreigner

6
Innkeeper

7
King

8
Local college

9
Mayor

10
Merchant

11
Prince

12
Princess

13
Sage

14
Sheriff

15
Slave master

16
Tavern master

17
Thief

18
Thieves' Guild

19
Warrior

20
Wizard




Foes

1
Beggars

2
Criminals

3
Dragons

4
Dwarves

5
Elves

6
Gnomes

7
Half-elves

8
Half-races

9
Halflings

10
Highwaymen

11
Humans

12
Lizard men

13
Lower class

14
Nonhumans

15
Planar beings

16
Ruffians

17
Thieves

18
Underworlders

19
Upper class

20
Use ally list




Manner

1
Abrasive

2
Antagonistic

3
Blustering

4
Capricious/Mischievous

5
Compassionate/Sensitive

6
Courteous

7
Diplomatic

8
Forceful

9
Foul/Barbaric

10
Helpful/Kindly

11
Hostile

12
Opinionated/Contrary

13
Overbearing

14
Practical joker/Prankster

15
Rash

16
Rude

17
Trusting

18
Vengeful

19
Violent/War-like

20
Well-spoken




Mood/Disposition

1
Aloof

2
Cheerful

3
Cruel/Callous

4
Easygoing

5
Even-tempered

6
Forgiving

7
Hard-hearted

8
Harsh

9
Hot-tempered

10
Pleasant

11
Moody

12
Silly

13
Peaceful

14
Reserved

15
Scheming

16
Soft-hearted

17
Solitary/Secretive

18
Taciturn

19
Unfeeling/Insensitive

20
Unforgiving




Honesty

1
Average

2
Deceitful

3
Liar

4
Scrupulous

5
Truthful

6
Very honorable



Appearance/Possessions




General

1
Dandyish

2
Dignified

3
Foppish

4
Imposing

5
Slob

6
Spartan

7
Stately

8
Typical




Quantity

1
Above Average

2
Abundant

3
Average

4
Exceptional

5
Few

6
Scant




Quality

1
Cheap

2
Durable

3
Garish

4
Functional

5
High

6
Junk

7
Kingly

8
Low

9
Practical

10
Trash




Personal Habits

1
Disheveled

2
Immaculate

3
Nonchalant

4
Organized

5
Perfectionist

6
Prim and proper

7
Scatterbrained

8
Sloppy




State of Clothing

1
Clean

2
Dirty

3
Immaculate

4
Ragged

5
Rough

6
Unkempt




Thrift

1
Ascetic

2
Average

3
Charitable

4
Covetous

5
Generous

6
Greedy

7
Miserly

8
Spendthrift

9
Thrifty

10
Wastrel

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