Xjyuk

The group I am getting ready to DM for sat down last Wednesday to do character building together. After a little discussion, the players started building their characters. Two of the players shortly thereafter proudly announced that they were finished and were looking them over. I noticed that they hadn't selected any of the aforementioned features. They then argued they didn't need to because they knew their character. I didn't make too much of an issue at the time because I couldn't figure out if they were right or not.

Please help enlighten me as to the purpose of them and if they are important or not.

As written, yes

The Players Handbook outlines all of the details for creating characters. Nowhere does it say that personality traits, etc. are optional.

D&D is meant to be a roleplaying game where you make your character act in accordance to that character's beliefs and personality.

That being said, all rules can be ignored by the DM if you so wish.

A character without personality traits will generally just be acting however the player would act. This can be disruptive as some players will make their characters do things that will get the party into a lot of trouble.

Or they might be fine; some players just stay quiet until combat starts.

The whole purpose of these traits is if you plan to build a story around the characters. A character who's flaw is greed might ignore the rest of the party while they are fighting for their lives in order to steal some valuable items. A character who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge might read a tome on a pedestal which is surrounded by long dead bodies who have presumably done the same. A character who refuses to retreat when innocent lives are at risk might insist on staying and fighting an army of ogres approaching a village even if the rest of the party want to run.

Keep in mind though, for premade modules this is less important unless you plan to adjust it to factor in your party members. There's no point worrying about a party member who has an alcohol addition if they are stuck at the bottom of a dungeon with no booze.

As KorvinStarmast mentioned in the comments, the other use for character traits and roleplaying in general is for the optional rule regarding Inspiration. You might give player an inspiration to use if they do something particularly in character or for other reasons such as coming up with a clever solution to a problem.

Even though Dungeons & Dragons is a combat-focused game, it is still a roleplaying game. The PC's personal characteristics provide guidelines for the role-playing aspect, and help shape the character's motives and values.

For new players, especially those new to roleplaying, having these guidelines can be useful. It can also help the DM maintain a coherent narrative and party cohesion.

As the DM, you could allow players to skip these character aspects. This is generally okay if your game is mostly combat and little social interaction, and you trust the players to behave themselves. But if you suspect that players may exploit the lack of defining personality or motives, such as having an unpredictable "lolrandom" character who disrupts the game, then you should ensure players have filled in these options.

However, players are not required to select personalities, ideals, bonds, and flaws from among the published options. Sifting through the many options can be tedious, particularly if none of the given options match the character concept they have in mind. The PHB (page 123) mentions the following:

Each background presented later in this chapter includes suggested characteristics that you can use the spark your imagination. You're not bound to those options, but they're a good starting point.

If players don't want to choose among the options in the book, then have them write their own. Even a one-word answer should suffice. Just ask them to write 5 things about their character:

• 2 Personality Traits = The character's likes, dislikes, attitudes, or accomplishments.


• 1 Ideal = The character's moral or ethical values.


• 1 Bond = The character's connection to another character, group, location, or object.


• 1 Flaw = The character's weakness, fear, or vice.