Twenty Character Questions

Players should try to consider the following questions while creating a new character in this or any campaign world. The answers that one comes up with will go a long way into defining the character as a person that is more than the collective sum of his ability statistics.

1. Who were the character's parents? Did they raise the character? If not, why? If not them, who? 
2. Did the character have any childhood friends? Any siblings? Where are they now? Does the character stay in touch with them or have they become separated? If separated, why? 
3. What was childhood like for the character? 
4. Does the character have any or did the character have any role models? Describe them. 
5. What did the character do before he/she entered the story? Who trained the character to do what she/he does now? What is the character's relationship with his teacher(s)? 
6. What are the character's moral, ethical and religious beliefs? What lengths will the character go to defend those beliefs? Who or what taught those beliefs to the character? Remember that a character's moral and ethical beliefs, not necessarily his behavior, define his alignment. What is his/her alignment? 
7. Does the character have any unusual habits or physical traits? What are they? What do they stem from? How do others tend to react to them? 
8. What is the general reaction to the character by other characters? Why, in the character's opinion, do they act that way? 
9. Can the character kill? When did he decide (or learn) that he could? Why would the character kill? Does he/she have any enemies at all? Would or could the character kill them? 
10. What kind of relationships does the character currently have? Does he/she have any close friends? Bitter enemies? If so, who? What are they like? What is the history of the character and this person's relationship? 
11. Does the character have any mental problems? Phobias? If so, what are they? What do they stem from? 
12. How does the character generally treat others? Does she/he trust easily? Or not? How does the character relate to people? Is he shy and withdrawn or outgoing and friendly? 
13. What does the character look like? Does he/she have any scars or tattoos? If so how did she/he get them? Obviously this includes eye and hair color, but an unusual gait (walking style) or accent comes into play here as well. 
14. What is the character's normal daily routine? How does he/she feel when it's interrupted for whatever reason? 
15. Was the character present during any key events in the history of the campaign world? How did that event affect the character? 
16. Does the character have a notorious or celebrated ancestor? What did he/she do? What do people assume about the character when his/her ancestry is known? Does the character actively try to live up to the reputation, try dispelling it or ignore it? 
17. Where is the character's homeland? What is its history and what are its people like? Is the character patriotic, or a social outcast? What is his opinion of home? 
18. What are the character's dreams? Ambitions? Goals? 
19. How does she/he seek to obtain them? How does adventuring fit into this dream, or does it at all? 
20. Does the character ever want to have a family of his/her own someday? If they do, with who or what type of person?