In this series a tagline of character development advice will become one inspired example focused on giving your player characters more depth and personality.
Think of the archetype of your class…and go another way.
Like I discussed in my previous article, D&D is full or archetypes. They exist for good reasons and can drive characters in interesting ways, but another way to go is to think of how you can break that archetype and still make a character that makes sense. In this example I will present to you an artificer who is not the studied tinkerer, trained in the arcane arts, but instead is a haphazard user of magic who taps into a natural talent in times of need, but openly believes herself to be a holy woman.
Moradin, the Dwarf Forger, had always been an important deity to Nihial. She grew up around the temple and often liked going there in her free time as she grew. It gave her a quiet place to reflect on her life. She was sure that one day she would join the clergy and dreamed of becoming a powerful cleric in the service of her creator god, spreading the faith and fighting against the evils of the world. As she grew older she even started volunteering at the temple, running errands and making deliveries.
It was on one of these delivery runs that Nihial first discovered her god-given talents. This task was a big deal to her, especially in her youth, because she was being asked to make a delivery outside of the tunnels where she was raised. She was leaving the mountain to bring a package to Artorus, a strange half-elf who used an odd mental magic, who lived not too far from the mountain halls in the wilderness. The region was safe in those days and so the young girl was sent without escort and arrived safely. Inside the wizard’s cabin, however, the safety came to an abrupt end.
She entered the cabin when she was called and laid the package down on the table like Artorus called to her to to do while he as working in the back room when a loud crash preluded the trouble that was to come. A monstrous beast, covered in fur and claws came bursting through from the back. She was instantly on her heels and scrambling to stay out of the thing’s way and found herself grabbing a handful of wands on the cluttered worktable nearby. Fumbling with them she managed to point one at the creature and blast it with magical energy that she was completely unprepared for. This was just enough of a distraction that the beast hesitated long enough for Artorus to come through the broken doorway and finish the creature off.
Since then Nihial was convinced that she was a priest right and true. Moradin had blessed her. He was a god of crafting and making and so he would naturally bless her with the power to work with the items of magic and manipulate them. The temple, however, was confused by her abilities as none of the other priests knew of a divine magic manifesting in such a way. Eventually Nihial met back up with Artorus and asked his help since he was much more worldly than her. Artorus told her of a placed called “The Forge” that had many users of magic of all sorts that could help her and he even agreed to join her in the trip and so Nihial’s journey of discovery and adventure began where she might someday learn why Moradin had infused her with a divine magic unlike any that she had seen before.
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Jeff Greiner has hacked his way through 2nd edition in his youth. Became a paragon of virtue in 3e. Found a home in 3.5 and is permanently vacationing in 4e. He produces the longest running unofficial D&D podcast, 
I make these all the time, especially in 3.5 games. Every cleric I make is neutral in some form, and rarely heals. Fighters that use glaives instead of more conventional weapons. Dwarf druids that specialize in earth magic and turning into a badger. 5-year-old sorcerors that know summoning magic and defensive spells only. I’ve always loved catching DM’s off guard by playing lawful neutral “lawful-neutral” instead of “lawful-not as good as a paladin”.