Sometimes you just need a character concept in a hurry. Next time you’re rolling up a new character, try one of these!
One of the best parts of D&D is making up a new character. It’s that beautiful, shining moment before the campaign starts when infinite possibilities unfurl before you. Unless of course, you happen to be staring at a blank void, unable to think of a new character idea.
Then you have the paralyzing choice of infinite possibilities. How can you pick one when they’re all appealing? With no limits, how can you even know where to begin? Don’t worry we’ve all been there. And here are five fun character concepts to mess around with when building your next character.
Dungeon Chef

Listen, Delicious in Dungeon is popular for a reason. People want to eat monsters. They want to know what they taste like—you’ve probably thought about just how burny a gelatinous cube would be if you tried to eat it. I won’t judge.
But I will say a “dungeon chef” is a fun and easy concept to start messing around with. Because you could play basically any class for this. A Barbarian who’s very enthusiastic about fighting only the tastiest enemies. A Cleric who knows that nutritions is just as important. Even if you don’t make it about eating monsters—having a well prepared meal is a great fantasy trope. And in D&D? It’s easy to pull off.
All you really have to do is take the Chef feat, which gives you a bonus to Constitution or Wisdom, and lets you cook a special meal at the end of a short rest to heal your party even more, or to make treats that give everyone temporary hit points after an hour of cooking. If you really want to lean into it, take a background like Artisan, Farmer, or Guide to represent it. But all you really need is the idea – once you know you’re a chef that can inform whatever other choices you make, from what class you pick, to what weapons or spells you use, and beyond.
Monster Manualist

Another class-agnostic character concept, because sometimes all you need is the gentlest hint of an idea to nudge you from analysis paralysis into character creation elation. And here, the gentlest hint is a classic trope, the fantasy adventurologist. A person out to make a guide book of some kind.
D&D has Volothamp Geddarm, but why should he get to have all the fun? If you let him he’ll literally poke your eye out. You could set out to create your own manual of monsters found around the world. That gives you a great reason to adventure, and a reason to pay attention to whatever is happening in the world, and a project to work towards. All great things for any character to have.
And while you’re out there, completing your pokedex, you can again, let that inform whatever you’re playing. A Wizard dedicated to studying monsters probably takes a more scholarly approach than the action study of, say, a Rogue or the in-depth approach of a Druid.
Wizard’s Assistant

Now we get into the weeds a little. But one of my favorite fantasy tropes is the reluctant adventurer who is the long-suffering assistant to a larger-than-life, somewhat overbearing master of some kind.
This concept will involve a little bbit of cooperation with your DM to work out your patron. But the hapless assistant to a maniacal wizard is a perfect fantasy character. It probably works best if you are some kind of spellcaster yourself, though it is by no means required. The put-upon Fighter who gets sent on magical missions is hilarious to me.
Either way, you have a strong pull in the world, and it gives the DM a chance to be a weird little guy of the Wizard variety. Fun times to be had by all.
Noble Playboy

The Noble background isn’t just for people with an aristocratic bend towards scheming and intrigue. You could just as easily play a noble wastrel—someone who had wealth and power and privilege and has squandered it all on drinking, drugs, gambling, and a million other vices.
All you really have to do is take the Noble background. Though there are a dozen other things you could take: toughness to reflect how a hard partying life has left you surprisingly resilient, or alert because you always know when you’re about to be in trouble.
Havig vice as your character’s main goal is a great way to play an anti-hero that the party will still get along with and be happy to have along for the ride.
Doom Scroller

And then finally, someone who’s plagued by terrible vision. Obviously this sort of lends itself to a spellcaster like a Divination Wizard or a Great Old One Warlock, someone who routinely spends time poking around where no mortal mind belongs. But you could just as easily be a Monk or a Paladin who’s read a scroll of doom or some other thing.
There are a couple of ways to play this. You could be the “well I knew this was a bad idea all along” type. Who is never surprised when things go badly and whose attitude might tend towards gloom. Or you could be the sort of person who’s maybe a little enthusiastic about the return of the ancient dread one. When you know that all will be dust in the face of the devouring maw of Acamar, for instance, it’s easy to be chill about having to go fight some goblins.
At any rate, quick character concepts to jump start your next character. Use ’em, steal ’em, or invent your own better than I ever could.
Either way, happy adventuring!
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.
Don’t Miss:
Read more at this site