So after reading my character's bio, my DM sent me this Reddit thread. (For those wondering, my character scores 13 points.) And I mean, I've known from the start she's somewhat edgy, but it was hard to come up with something else on the spot that was less edgy and that worked for the campaign.

Either way, now I sort of want to make the least edgy character possible, so I'm looking for help from people with more experience, since this is my first campaign. So, how would you all go about making the least edgy character possible?

Personally, I would say as long as you're having fun with it, it shouldn't matter how edgy or not a character is. :) It IS your first campaign, and sometimes it's hard to come up with characters. It's all about what you find interesting, though, because if you don't enjoy the character you're playing and are only playing them as they are because others had some remarks that made you change, it's not gonna be fun for you, y'know?

That being said! I would just kind of keep it real, maybe give the character some unusual/fun quirks, round out the personality so that it's not all darkness and moodiness. Having a tragic backstory can be a good thing, but making it all-encompassing on the character's personality/motives tends to get stale. You want a character that can adapt and grow as the story goes on; one-trick ponies are no fun. So, maybe if your character has a tragic backstory that propels them, I would kind of play around with the character so that that's not all there is to them. Like, give them some bright spots to their history too, or maybe some hopes/dreams/hobbies/loves/what-have-you that go hand-in-hand with them. Super scary assassin-type? Maybe he/she also likes knitting sweaters for kittens or they really want to start a bakery or something.

But honestly, if you really wanted to do the opposite of edgy, all you'd have to do is make a character that's super cheerful and bubbly and up in everybody's business haha.

idk, this was probably the least helpful input, but that's my two cents! I've personally never really worried about edginess too much, because as long as other people and myself are having fun, I could care less. Challenge yourself to make interesting characters, but don't push yourself into playing someone you don't think would be fun! Regardless, I hope you have fun with your character and your campaign!

I do like the tips about making a well-rounded character, though, that is something I should probably watch out for. And yeah, it probably seems simple and maybe a bit weird, but I really want the character to be the epitome of everything not edgy. I can work on scoring less on the edginess scale after that, we'll see...

According to that criteria, my character scores a 1 (possibly a 2 on a bad day) :D Maybe I need to go burn down a tavern...

I'm a Life Cleric, which sometimes feels like the least edgy choice possible. I occasionally get a little jealous when I see our Bard, Rogues and Warlock pull their stunts, but at the end of the day they're very glad to have me around.

(I even chose Life Cleric in the first place because I had a feeling that everyone else was going to go for the more exotic classes, and sure enough they did. Sometimes it gets tiresome having to be the "practical" one, but I can actually do some impressive damage when given the chance!)

But as long as your character can work well with the rest of the party, I think it's important to keep in mind that not all of the "sins" on that list are equal. A "black motif", "large visible scar" and "royal ancestry" aren't hurting anybody. Even "Brooding Personality" isn't necessarily that bad, since it's up to you how much you want to emphasize these aspects of your character. On the other hand, "Tries to get the party to fight" is quite a different story.

Haha, maybe a Life Cleric is a good idea, then. I was thinking about trying a healer sometime.

Echoing a lot of what said. I feel like the goal should be to create a character who is interesting and works well with the party, rather than one who is (or isn't) edgy. If you think RPing as a purely un-edgy bubbly character would be fun, then more power to you, but if not, I'd focus more on fleshing out one you think will be fun to play as, regardless of how edgy/not edgy it seems at a glance.

I'm also not a huge fan of lists like that as a means to gauge a character's development. They can be fun to play around with, but I definitely wouldn't take their words as gospel. As someone else on that thread who shares my sentiment said, "the character descriptor isn't nearly as important as how it's used." Lists also don't take into account dynamic characters who change over the course of the campaign. When our campaign first started my current character would have scored a 19, largely because he was distrusting of the entire party (always sullen, lonewolf, sleeping away from the party, etc). Now that he likes them, he scores a 6.

Something you could also try (though this would be up to your DM) would be to have a session 0 where you play a one-off adventure so to ease into your characters and develop them together before jumping into the real deal. My group and I did this for our current set of characters (we actually had two session 0's before starting the real adventure lol) and it was extremely helpful, as we were able to give feedback on each others' characters and playstyles without it impacting the canon story of the campaign.

Like with your character, I am planning to have mine develop. But then again, I do want to make a super non-edgy character just for the sake of making a super non-edgy character, especially since it was our DM who sent me the list.

I'm not sure what our DM is planning, but he is really patient with the newbies in the group, including myself. A session 0 like that does sound interesting, though.

Edginess is good in moderation, and is also up to interpretation

Me and my dads character score a two and a 0 ( or 3 f you count the -kin rule as applying to giantkin) respectively

Yet in the right eyes they could be edgelords

Perhaps ask your DM's opinion on your character

I mean I like edgy if it's done -right- not too cliche-y or the like etc. Usually for D&D (maybe extending to other chars too) going by that reddit thread's numbering my go to chars would score around a 3 at most. If you make it so it's not contrived or edgy just for the sake of being edgy I think you're good.

You could always choose one specific thing on the "edginess" list and turn the trope on its head to make a very obviously anti-edgy character; for example, I have a Drow Ranger, son of a drug lord, who rescued a wolf puppy at a young age (later became his companion) and he's basically a full-on Disney Princess with little animal friends. It's great.

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