Okay, there are characters and then there are characters that we remember (for good or ill) for years and years, long after they have been retired.  These are the characters that are talked about by the gaming group or to anyone who will listen even when the conversation has nothing to do with Dungeons and Dragons.

One way to make a character memorable is to give that character a trait - a player playable trait - that sparks an emotional, physical, or mental reaction of some sort in the other players.  In many ways this can require a bit of meta-gaming, but in other ways it is just really thinking through who the character is and what he or she is about.

An easy trick to developing this kind of trait is using a tick.  Something that happens at regular intervals.  Some examples would be a catch phrase such as a barbarian’s battle cry, which is used at the start of every combat, or the character always referring to himself in third person.

Often during the character creation process we think in visual terms, i.e. the style of armor or the color of the character’s hair.  Unfortunately these things are relatively intangible.  The picture of that character is different in the head of each individual sitting at the table.  The shade of red in your heroine’s hair is going to be different for everyone.  The things that you as a player do, however, are going to be witnessed by all and will bring a much more tangible expression of your character that everyone can relate to.

I cannot over-emphasize that these need to be verbal or physical actions.  The other players need to hear or see what you do.

Now, be cautious in that you do not choose something that is very difficult to maintain.  A goofy accent, for example, works pretty good for about half an hour or so but then tends to become forgotten.  By the second session you don’t even bother trying.  Likewise complex or time consuming rituals will simply be annoying.

Which brings us to the final point of the day which is that these kinds of ticks will probably annoy someone?  You can overdo it, and you probably should – just once.  Overdoing it once will implant it into the memories of everyone at the table.  Overdoing it twice and you will most likely be asked to stop.  Throwing in the occasional reminder will play to the character without driving everyone nuts.  The whole idea is to make the character come alive with those little details that make all of us real.

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