It has taken a some time, considerable thought, and a little bit of effort, but here is the final entry in the Character Wheel series. As promised, in the coming weeks I will compile all these various posts, edit and refine them, and put them out as a PDF so you can make better use of them.

By now, your character has a complex set of Attitudes and Motivations. You can describe him down to the mole on his left shoulder, and you know how he celebrated his sixth birthday. But do you know who was there?

A character doesn’t grow in a vacuum. He’s influenced by the people around him. As such, you need to take some time to think about his important relationships.

It’s Who You Know

Relationships are complex things, and people have a lot of them. A hugely tremendous number, really. In part, they define us. In a game, a character’s relationships are powerful motivations, tinged with deep-rooted attitudes. Each has it’s own history. To a certain level, every relationship a character has is practically a character biography in and of itself.

If Motivations describe what your character does, Attitudes describe what he says when he does it. Attitudes are the core of roleplaying, and are deeply tied to motivations.

This is where a character gets spunk, and where it becomes interesting at the table. Other players don’t care as much about your character’s Background or Motivations as you do, but they will certainly respond to a well crafted attitude.

I’ve Had Just About Enough Lip Out Of You

People don’t behave in just one way all the time. They react to things. Your character shouldn’t either. He should have a variety of opinions and reactions to various situations, and behave differently when experiencing various emotions.