Personality Part 2: Secondary Traits

If you’ve filled out everything in Part 1, you already have enough for a serviceable personality profile. It will cover the large majority of situations you are likely to encounter. If you are looking for more, The Guide is here to serve! Below you can flesh out your character’s sense of humor, religion, habits, hobbies, favorite topics, group affiliations, and even some mental disorders. As before, each of these are entirely optional and only need to be filled out if you think they will enhance your overall gaming experience.

Sense of Humor

SENSE OF HUMOR
1-10%	Crude	51-60	Prankster
11-20	Dry	61-70	Mean-spirited
21-30	Slapstick	71-80	Gleeful
31-40	Jokey	81-90	Surreal
41-50	Cynical	91-100	None

Favorite Topics of Conversation

What does your character like to talk about? It can be helpful to list out three or four topics that your character defaults to in casual social situations. The basic rule of thumb is that people like to talk about what they are good at and things they find interesting. So, look at your character’s skills, hobbies, training, and background to see what they might be into. It’s a good idea to come up with specifics, but some general topic areas to consider include:

• Politics
• Religion
• Relationships
• Work/profession/money
• Entertainment—music, art, dance, games
• Hobbies and pastimes
• Current events
• Philosophy
• Science
• Humor

Group Affiliations

An optional component might be adding groups that your character identifies with. Affiliation plays an important role in how people actually act, and this can add another role-playing dimension as well. Quite simply, this comes down to deciding which general groups your character fits into and whose members they accept as “one of their own.”

For example, if your character enjoys playing dice, this can mean more than just the activity, it can also mean identifying with dicers as a general group. Of course, it’s easy to pick groups based on class or race, but choosing non-obvious groups can make for more interesting play. A good place to start might be to look at your hobbies, any past professions, or religion. Also, after you finish your background, come back to this section and see if any groups pop out from your character’s unique history.

Religion and Spirituality

ADHERENCE—Strength of belief or association with a religious system
1-25% Non-believer; 26-50 Agnostic; 51-75 Casual adherent; 86-100 Orthodox adherent
TOLERANCE—Willingness to accept differences of belief in others
0-33% inclusive; 34-66 tolerant; 67-100 intolerant
RELIGIOUS DEMEANOR—How your character tends to acts in regards to religious beliefs
Expression of beliefs: 0-33% none; 34-66 occasional; 67-100 constant
Converting others: 0-33% never; 34-66 casual; 67-100 aggressive
Attitude: 0-20% irreverent; 21-40 fearful; 41-60 judgmental; 61-80 humble; 81-100 ecstatic
RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION
1-20	Church	Generally an established, hierarchical organization
21-40	Cult	A large or small group usually attached to a single charismatic leader
41-60	Fellowship	Small group(s) that lack formal organization and a charismatic leader
61-80	Solitary	When a character either has unique beliefs or chooses not to affiliate religiously with others
81-100	Indigenous	Religious traditions within a cultural group, such as a family or village
RELIGIOUS ROLES—Also useful for background information in Part II: Background
1-7%	Abbot/Abbess	Leader of a monastery or convent.
8-13%	Cult Leader	Usually a charismatic head of a small group of highly devoted followers
14-20%	Disciple	Dedicated follower of a religious teacher or leader
21-26%	Guru	Spiritual teacher
27-33%	Hermit	One who follows a solitary and isolated spiritual path
34-40%	Inquisitor	An official tasked with finding and “correcting” people who have broken religious rules
41-46%	Jihadist	A religious warrior
47-53%	Missionary	Dedicated to converting others, usually in distant geographic areas
54-59%	Monk/Nun	Belongs to a monastery or convent
60-66%	Patriarch/Matriarch	Leader of an organized religion, such as a pope
67-73%	Pilgrim	One traveling to a holy site or landmark
74-79%	Priest/Priestess	Someone authorized to administer sacraments as an ordained member of a church
80-86%	Prophet	One inspired to utter revelations or predictions, often in service to a specific deity
87-93%	Sacred Courtesan	Has sex, often with strangers, in service to a religion and for a symbolic price
94-100%	Shaman	A medium between the material and spirit world who practices healing and divination

Quirks, Habits, and Oddities

These are small behaviors that a character can engage in as a way to give extra flavor to gameplay. Some are pretty innocuous (e.g. humming, lip biting) while others can provide some very interesting gaming opportunities (e.g. exhibitionism, sleepwalking).

QUIRKS, HABITS, & ODDITIES
1-2%	Humming	51-52%	Constant eating
3-4	Dancing	53-54	Pacing
5-6	Sleepwalking	55-56	Blade sharpening
7-8	Facial tics	57-58	Counting
9-10	Exhibitionism	59-60	Hair pulling
11-12	Fingernail biting	61-62	Snoring
13-14	Eavesdropping	63-64	Walking backwards
15-16	Daydreaming	65-66	Teeth sucking
17-18	Talking in sleep	67-68	Excessively touching others
19-20	Stuttering	69-70	Substance use (non-addicted)
21-22	Compulsive lying	71-72	Hair pulling
23-24	Whistling	73-74	Animal hater
25-26	Name dropping	75-76	Insomnia
27-28	Self-inflict pain/injury	77-78	Beard/hair stroking
29-30	Mumbling	79-80	Nose picking
31-32	Constant grooming	81-82	Needless apologizing
33-34	Foot tapping	83-84	Exaggeration
35-36	Lip biting/licking	85-86	Superstitious (omens, luck, etc.)
37-38	Coin flipping	87-88	Belching
39-40	Chewing (e.g. sticks, small bones)	89-90	Sleeping in odd places
41-42	Knuckle cracking	91-92	Repeating others
43-44	Collects odd things	93-94	Smelling things
45-46	Singing	95-96	Teeth picking
47-48	Snacking (nuts, seeds, etc.)	97-98	Stealing
49-50	Reciting poetry	99-100	Tree climbing

Hobbies and Enjoyments

HOBBIES & ENJOYMENTS
1-2%	Acrobatics	51-52%	Glassmaking
3-4	Acting	53-54	Animal racing
5-6	Astrology	55-56	Horse riding
7-8	Music appreciation	57-58	Hunting
9-10	Theatre	59-60	Invention
11-12	Gaming (e.g. chess)	61-62	Jewelry making
13-14	Boating/Sailing	63-64	Jousting
15-16	Collecting	65-66	Juggling
17-18	Calligraphy	67-68	Metalwork
19-20	Cards	69-70	Painting
21-22	Carving	71-72	Philosophizing
23-24	Combat competition	73-74	Reading
25-26	Cooking	75-76	Research
27-28	Dancing	77-78	Riddles
29-30	Dicing	79-80	Sewing
31-32	Animal fighting	81-82	Sports (Wrestling, racing, etc)
33-34	Eating	83-84	Storytelling
35-36	Drinking	85-86	Swimming
37-38	Embroidery	87-88	Art appreciation
39-40	Falconry	89-90	Weaving
41-42	Fishing	91-92	Woodworking
43-44	Fortune-telling	93-94	Writing
45-46	Singing	95-96	Playing an instrument
47-48	Gambling	97-98	Pipe smoking
49-50	Gardening	99-100	Bird watching

Mental Disorders

These are common (modern) human mental/emotional disorders. It seems unlikely that most players would want their character to have a debilitating problem, although it could certainly make for interesting play. This option might be better suited to NPCs, giving the GM something other than flat characters to play. This list can also be used as ideas for hideous curses or divine punishment. This list is by no means complete and gives only cursory descriptions.

Mental Disorders
1-10%	Addiction	Chronic, compulsive drug/activity indulgence, despite harmful consequences. Can decide if it is mild, moderate, or severe.
11-20%	Amnesia	Severe memory loss; can be loss before a certain point (retrograde) or after (anterograde).
21-30%	Bipolar Disorder	Erratic swings from periods of mania to major depression.
31-40%	PTSD	Anxiety disorder developed after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal resulting in potential re-experiencing of the ordeal, nightmares, hypervigilance, trouble sleeping, being easily startled, and avoidance of anything that is a reminder of the event.
41-50%	Major Depression	Impaired physical functions (e.g., sleep, appetite); loss of interest and pleasure; low energy & motivation; possibly accompanied by severe pessimism, hopelessness, guilt, and suicidal thoughts/intent.
51-60%	Fugue	Abrupt travel away from home, an inability to remember important aspects of one’s life, and the partial or complete adoption of a new identity.
61-70%	Hypochondria	Preoccupation with fears of having a serious disease or physical problem based on little or no real evidence.
71-80%	Schizophrenia	Delusions (unreal beliefs, e.g. savior complex or assigning unusual significance or meaning to normal events); hallucinations (unreal sensations, usually auditory, i.e. “voices”); disorganized speech; grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior; paranoia.
81-90%	OCD	Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder described the existence of both regular compulsions (overwhelming need to engage in a ritualized behavior) and obsessions (persistent, often irrational, and seemingly uncontrollable thoughts).
91-100%	Phobia	Extreme anxiety and fear associated with an object or situation. Can include anything, for instance: specific monsters/animals, fire/water, heights, magic, open/enclosed spaces, heights, or darkness.

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