Blank space and mechanical fluff

Perhaps my favorite part of any character sheet is the 'appearance' section, especially if it has an area for drawing a character portrait.

People should be allowed and encouraged to engage in creative pursuits, irrespective of technical skill, and it helps them to explore the character. Likewise, when I'm having trouble fleshing out a character, it can really help to have some guidance or framework to start with. To this end, part of the character creation process in my game generates connections to the larger setting, along with open-ended questions inviting further worldbuilding on the player's end.

one million by Lois van Baarle

It's important to have this kind of blank space, and sometimes it's necessary to point players toward it. Some games try to make every part of character development mechanical, and I generally find that to be a very clumsy, unhelpful approach (generally mind you, there are exceptions) much like trying to mechanically simulate every physical element of a fight or adventure. Oftentimes it's best to just leave the relatively unimportant details up to the players, they can reason a situation intuitively or come up with interesting details for themselves.

Part of this is how magic users in Skies Below must keep an arcane focus to use their magic in combat. This can be any item they possess, such as a wand, tome, or lute, or even such items as a hat, flaming sword, or key. The arcane focus doesn't do much mechanically, besides adding some tension if it gets lost or stolen, its main purpose is to make the player think about their magic, what it looks like and what it says about their character. A character who casts magic through a musical instrument might think of their character as sort of a bard, or one with a blanket may think of that as a shelter the character has held onto their whole life.

Tavern Hijinks by Lap Pun Cheung

Now I'm extending this philosophy to some of the martial classes. In order to enter rage, a berserker must perform a brief, ritualistic action such as eating a certain food or calling out a warcry. Similarly, to use their cooperative abilities, the infantry must use a team name that the party has agreed on. These mostly won't impact actual gameplay, but will push players to add a bit of character building to their PCs, and the infantry's team name encourages them to talk to the other characters and really work together creatively.

Berserker rage ritual

1. Shout out "For mount and stone!"
2. Call out "Blood of the bloodmaker!"
3. Declare "By the skulls power!"
4. A quick, violent dance.
5. Don a fierce mask.
6. Remove a placid mask.
7. Swallow a flame.
8. Bite into shield.
9. Devour raw meat.
10. Drink personalized draught.
11. Anoint in sacred perfume.
12. Anoint in ash.
13. Anoint in honey.
14. Cut a rune into chest.
15. Shatter a clay disc.
16. Rip a sacred cloth.
17. Crush a soul cricket.
18. Crack knuckles.
19. Tear off shirt.
20. Clasp hands in a moment of meditation.

Holographic battle by Diana Tsareva

1d100 Character Memories

Still working on my city generator, but this list of character memories is fully filled out, one hundred with no repeats!* Hopefully this will help with generating new characters, especially for players who don't have much experience with roleplaying/writing, and with so many they can roll as many as they want.

*I think

1d100 memories

1. Parents used to cook a special meal.
2. Parents punished minor misbehavior with beatings.
3. Family was an unstable web of distrust and manipulation.
4. Siblings were always competing to outdo one another.
5. Grew up with a beloved doll.
6. Family was killed in war.
7. Family died of plague.
8. Parents restricted personal interests.
9. Parents paid little attention.
10. Saw a travelling magic show when it stopped in town.
11. Bullied by other local children.
12. Had something precious stolen.
13. Had something valuable stolen.
14. One of the local children had a memorable quirk.
15. Played nobility with other children.
16. Had an imaginary friend.
17. Encountered magic before adventuring.
18. Nearly died in an accident.
19. Ran away from home.
20. Created a secret language with friends.
21. Had a tryst with someone from a different class in society.
22. Attended a royal execution.
23. Got kidnapped.
24. Did something incredible, thanks to luck.
25. Befriended a wild animal.
26. Parents praised every effort.
27. A hated pet died.
28. A beloved pet died.
29. Got into a really embarrassing accident.
30. Knew how to play an instrument, but forgot.
31. Worked at a festival.
32. Got lost on a trip through the city.
33. Witnessed a supernatural possession.
34. Survived a very dangerous accident through luck.
35. Got saved from a very dangerous accident.
36. Looked up to a local knight.
37. Feared a local knight.
38. Family shared everything.
39. Found true love, but lost it.
40. Sought true love, but never found it.
41. Never wanted true love, but faked it for someone else.
42. Deemed blessed by the clergy.
43. Deemed cursed by the clergy.
44. Broke into a house with other children.
45. Broke into a house alone.
46. Found a treasure, had it stolen.
47. Found a treasure, and wasted it.
48. Had a terrible experience with drugs.
49. Had a terrific experience with drugs.
50. Thought an animal spoke to them once. It did.
51. Thought an animal spoke to them once. It didn't.
52. Heard the voice of a god.
53. Parents spoke of a family curse.
54. Once got embarrassed by a relative.
55. Honored by a visiting relative.
56. Shamed by a distant relative.
57. Targeted by a nasty rumor.
58. Used a nasty rumor against a peer.
59. One step removed from a local scandal.
60. Was once the center of a local scandal.
61. Shook an addiction.
62. Celebrated the passage of victorious soldiers.
63. Hid while allied soldiers raided.
64. Hosted peaceful enemy soldiers.
65. Watched the passage of defeated soldiers.
66. Hid while enemy soldiers raided.
67. Wrote a love song that didn't work out.
68. Wrote a love song that worked perfectly.
69. Came up with a drinking song that really picked up.
70. Came up with a drinking song that nobody ever joins.
71. Watched an elderly relative die.
72. Witnessed murder in a semi-public area.
73. Witnessed sex in a semi-public area.
74. Joined a secret ritual in the wilderness.
75. Joined a secret ritual in town.
76. Tried a strange and exotic dish that was delicious.
77. Tried a strange and exotic dish that was sickening.
78. Rode a ship once.
79. Parents had a really nice dining set.
80. Once saw a magic item one parent secretly owned.
81. One of the neighbors wasn't human, nobody else knew.
82. One of the neighbors wasn't human, everybody knew.
83. Spent a night in the castle.
84. Spent a night in the wilderness.
85. Spent a night in the dungeon.
86. Helped a merchant make a sale.
87. Stopped a con artist from pulling a scam.
88. Helped a con artist pull off a scam.
89. Scammed a traveller once.
90. Scammed a neighbor once, they never caught on.
91. Scammed a neighbor once, later they realized.
92. Got into an argument against all the other children.
93. Got into an argument against the entire family.
94. Got into an argument with one peer.
95. Got into an argument with one relative.
96. Saw something unforgettable that nobody else remembers.
97. Everyone always talked about something crazy that you couldn't have forgotten.
98. Once got injured practicing with a weapon.
99. Pulled off a stupid dare.
100. Failed a stupid dare.