Character Survey

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Character Survey

"The Mother of All Character Questionnaires"

Use this list of questions to construct or add to your own character questionnaire. The survey has been used by actors, role-players, reenactors (both revolutionary and medieval) and writers to provide fuel for the creative process of inventing a whole persona.

Questions cover different genres and types of details, so feel free to exclude or modify to suit your specific needs. The questions are divided into broad categories, and similar questions are grouped together. For brevity, assume that any of the questions could be deepened with a follow-up "Why", "how come", and so on.

This list is an adapted and expanded tool that I originally found by subscribing to Johnn Four's newsletter over at RolePlayingTips.com.

To read the questions for each section of the survey, click the read more link.

Introductory Questions

The basic questions - just enough for a quick character sketch.

Physical Traits

Physical traits are more than external appearances; they're also resistance to illness and general health.

Historical Questions

Historical questions involve both your personal history and the world around (and before) you. They're a great way to consider what the world was like before your arrival, and how they have shaped you.

Family Relationships

Family (or its absence) has a profound impact on what shapes us. This series of questions explores both immediate, extended, and adopted/surrogate family ideas, and how they might impact your persona.

Personal Relationships

Association with others defines us in many ways. This set of questions focuses on your relationship with those around you, both friend and foe.

Personality and Beliefs

Over 100 questions on who you are and how your beliefs were formed. This is a long section of the survey and it gets into deep territory. It is most suitable for a main role, but is quite probably overkill for secondary personas and extras.

Career / Training Questions

A series of thought-provoking questions around how your character / persona might have made (or is making) a living.

Hobbies and General Lifestyle

We can't be 'on' all the time. Whether it's the brusque sailor crafting ornate scrimshaw or the maiden practicing the art of knife-throwing, each person has (or needs) some form of small escape from the day-to-day. This series of questions, while brief, provides a different perspective, allowing you to explore the details that make a unique and well-rounded persona.

Travel

Many characters in dramatic works spend time traveling, sometimes great distances, sometimes not so great. While the camera is focused on you, what is left behind? This short series of questions asks how well you travel, and some other intriguing details that make a persona more real.