For some reason, no matter my initial intention, every D&D character I make turns into a big sweetie.

We’ll start with Riolu, my first real character.

When I first made Riolu, he was initially a self-loathing Transmutation Wizard whom was very self-depreciating because of his half-elven half-dwarven heritage. However, as I started playing him more, that portrayal just didn’t feel right. About a year ago, I redesigned him as a much kinder, much gentler Druid of the Moon. This portrayal of him was much more caring and felt sooo much better and more organic to play. Now that the campaign he was in ended, I kept developing him now having a daughter in Paupricosh, which helps me segwey into her.

Paupricosh was initially made to be the complete opposite of Riolu. However, I couldn’t go through with it because I loved her so much. when I started making her, I felt this pang of love for her, and a desire to protect her. Most of the time she is a complete and total sweetheart like her father. However, she is bipolar and can switch into a vindictive state where she becomes completely cruel and uncaring, but those moments are few, far between, and don’t last more than a few minutes.

Last up is the character I just started playing, Roku.

I initially made Roku while rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender, hence his name. He was originally going to be this big, badass, brutish character who takes no shit, which is why his expression is so gruff in his original artwork (pictured above).

However, 2 sessions in and the trope continued. My portrayal of him softened. He is a very honorable warrior, but takes no shit and will fight to the death for his new allies. The first time he went to a restaurant, he walked right up to the bar and sat down on 2 stools (due to his massive size), and politely ordered 10 orders of chicken and dumplins. He even tipped the barmaid and the chef an additional gold each as a thank you for feeding him. He is always respectful and grateful of those that give him food. Most of his lines go like “Hi. Me Roku. What your name?” Reason for this is because he’s not used to speaking common, and so he talks like a young child. He’s trying to be a good person.

Albeit, he doesn’t always make the kindest choices (ex. He held his Greataxe under the chin of a wererat and threatened to kill him for harming his companions).

Even though he has an aversion to orcs (backstory), he’s still civil to the half-orc blood hunter and the meth orc (I’m not kidding. There is a person who playing a meth orc in his party. It switches from hilarious to a little too much at the drop of a hat). Originally he was planning on eating them, but he took one sniff and realized they both smelled toxic (blood hunter tonic and meth), and decided to let them live. However, in the case of the blood hunter at least, Roku’s developing a respect for him. Roku respects his battle prowess and conviction to his goals, and is actually helping him achieve his first one now.

I’m not sure what it is, but regardless of my initial intention of a character, they all turn into sweeties. Do I find this to be a problem? No. I feel the opposite. The fact that my characters always try to be good people, even without me trying to make them that way, adds a layer of humanity to the party, and I love that.