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One of the most enjoyable evenings of D&D I’ve played in the last few months was a one-off game with brand new low-level characters. I made pregenerated 5th level characters for each of the players in my group and then got out a deck of cards. Before the evening started I had thrown together a list of character personality traits and tied them to each card in the deck. I had each player draw a card for a dominant personality trait and then a second for a secondary personality trait. Each person kept their traits secret and role-played their pregenerated character using those traits as guidelines.
Everyone had a blast. Sure there was some bad over-acting, but that’s part of the fun. We had more roleplay encounters that people cared about and more in-character dialogue than usual and everybody enjoyed guessing what the other’s personality traits were. The pregenerated characters allowed the players to detach from their normal characters and accept random personality traits. In fact these characters, in one session, had so much personality development that they are just as memorable to the group as their normal characters.
If you’ve found that your players aren’t enjoying the roleplaying aspects of the game, I definitely encourage giving this a try. Here are the traits I used with my deck of cards. Feel free to rip this off or tweak this list as you see fit! I made each suit a theme of traits and gave the Ace a special role. You’d be surprised how many aces were drawn in our game.
Character Traits
| 2 | Hearts | Naive |
| 3 | Hearts | Humble |
| 4 | Hearts | Caring |
| 5 | Hearts | Flirty |
| 6 | Hearts | Generous |
| 7 | Hearts | Loyal |
| 8 | Hearts | Lucky |
| 9 | Hearts | Honest |
| 10 | Hearts | Humorous |
| J | Hearts | Polite |
| Q | Hearts | Sociable |
| K | Hearts | Whimsical |
| A | Hearts | In Love |
| 2 | Diamonds | Pompous |
| 3 | Diamonds | Quarrelsome |
| 4 | Diamonds | Self Reliant |
| 5 | Diamonds | Proud |
| 6 | Diamonds | Well Groomed |
| 7 | Diamonds | Thrifty |
| 8 | Diamonds | Impatient |
| 9 | Diamonds | Frank |
| 10 | Diamonds | Critical |
| J | Diamonds | Ambitious |
| Q | Diamonds | Needy |
| K | Diamonds | Formal |
| A | Diamonds | Addiction |
| 2 | Clubs | Adventurous |
| 3 | Clubs | Impolite |
| 4 | Clubs | Courageous |
| 5 | Clubs | Fierce |
| 6 | Clubs | Argumentative |
| 7 | Clubs | Rash |
| 8 | Clubs | Decisive |
| 9 | Clubs | Fidgety |
| 10 | Clubs | Domineering |
| J | Clubs | Confident |
| Q | Clubs | Moody |
| K | Clubs | Stubborn |
| A | Clubs | Child of a Hero |
| 2 | Spades | Sly |
| 3 | Spades | Terrified |
| 4 | Spades | Quiet |
| 5 | Spades | Sarcastic |
| 6 | Spades | Self-Centered |
| 7 | Spades | Suspicious |
| 8 | Spades | Sullen |
| 9 | Spades | Opinionated |
| 10 | Spades | Mischievous |
| J | Spades | Jealous |
| Q | Spades | Cruel |
| K | Spades | Dishonest |
| A | Spades | Insane |
At the age of eight JackOfHearts was invited to play Dungeons & Dragons during summer camp by kids that were much cooler than him. When he wasn't working on the family farm or practicing tennis, he spent much of his teen years reading fantasy novels and playing games of the role playing, collectible card, tabletop, and video varieties. He's now a nine-to-fiver who never forgot the joy of descending into a tomb for forgotten treasures. 
Very Cool and easy to implement idea. I have already saved this table for use in some future game. I may even use this for NPCs, when I don’t have access to the internet and Chaotic Shiny. Thanks.
Very cool idea – how do you think it would work out for a longer game? Most players I know would prefer to build their own character personality, but this could certain help to mix things up with players who have fallen into a rut…
Personally, I kind of enjoy trying to take on a role. I think there are plenty of players out there who enjoy role-playing but feel a lot of pressure or who feel lost in trying to develop a role, and these can be great starters. For a long-running game, a character can certainly change, and I wouldn’t say that you’re stuck with what you drew. Maybe you overcame your addiction or you’ve come out of your shell a bit. Either way it can still be an interesting place to start and lead to character development.