Build from What you Establish

What makes a good character statement? Why do we cringe when the level 1 fighter says to call them ghoulsbane because “They once single handedly slew a pack of them?” Why don’t we cringe as much when the fighter just says their nickname is ghoulbane? And why does it feel pretty good if they say they hate their nickname of ghoulsbane, “it is just a result of a rumor, I barely managed to kill one ghoul in the churchyard.”

Unless your character is a serial exaggerator, character statements are best made when they build off of established facts in the world. We as players know a level 1 character can’t single handedly kill a giant, so everyone at the table rolls their eyes when someone claims they have. Better statements reflect the rules you used to make your character, or we can level up even more to reflect scenes that already passed in the campaign.

Level 1: Statements about Stats/feats

A baseline way to make sure that your RP statements match your character is to base them off of facts on your character sheet. Did your take the folk hero background? If you make sure to state that, then people take your RP statements about a nickname a lot more seriously. “I’ve got the folk hero background, and people who know of me call me ghoulsbane.” This is very close to what the other statements were, but it doesn’t make any suppositions about why they call you that, or how many ghouls you may have killed.

Likewise, you can say “I’m an expert in lockpicking, so I use my nimble fingers to manipulate the object.” These statements are great for describing and justifying actions. Just make sure that the scope of your action matches to scope of your power.

A side tip here is to leave your statements a bit open ended, and let other people make their own decisions about the details. Did you kill the ghouls? Did you just scare them off? Were you part of a group that killed ghouls? You can fill that in later.

The weakness of these statements is that it can be hard to quanitfy the “meaning” of your background, feat, or stat. What does an 18 strength looks like? To remove those inconsistencies, try referencing what you’ve successfully done at the table. If your campaign is just starting, you’ll have to start at level 1, but with a few sessions under your belt you’ll unlock level 2.

Level 2: Statements about previous scenes

Take a few sessions, and note down cool stuff that your character does. This could be a fun Social interaction, a crazy critical hit, or a clever puzzle solution. Even if your character themself hasn’t done anything impressive, feats that your party accomplishes work just as well. If you are using a post session wrap up sheet, you can reference all of your favorite moment notes here.

With a handful of notes, you can start making statements that directly reference what has already happened, and suddenly everyone else has the same reference points for your character.

Did your party kill a whole group of ghouls? You can walk in to a tavern an declare “Make way for the ghoulslayers!” Not only can your whole table confirm that yes, you’re ghoulslayers, but you can include the other characters as well.

When you reference past scenes, it doesn’t have to be bragging, either. Have you spent a lot of time shopping lately? When the local inkeep tries to charge you 10 gold for the night, you can chirp back, “That’s highway robbery. I know a good deal when I see one, I spend every day in the markets!”

Level 3: your character’s reactions to previous scenes

To really bring things to another level, try viewing earlier campaign sessions through the lens of your character. What would they feel as a result of the encounter?

Maybe that ghoul encounter god the fighter a lot closer to death than they prefer. Now they don’t go anywhere without a spare holy water at their side. That is a character cue that you can reference later, and the GM is able to play off of. When you sit down at the bar, the tender may ask “What’s with the bottle?” and you’re set up for a great interaction immediately. “In my line of work, it pays to always be ready. Ghouls don’t mess around.”

The more grounded your RP, the better

To avoid awkward looks at the table, tie your RP to the table, and your shared experiences. Best of all, when you tie it to the table’s experiences, your tablemates can join in too! RP is always better with a partner.