What is Your Character's Hook? (A Method From The Know Direction Podcast!)

A lot of the time when we sit down to make new characters for an upcoming campaign it can be like trying to pick a particular duck to feed out of the flock that waddles up when they see you have grapes. There are so many ideas, and it can be hard choosing which one gets a treat this time. Is it going to be that evoker you've been tinkering with? Ragnar Wolfsbane, whose class you haven't quite decided on yet, but who punches werewolves to death with his silver hand? Do you pick a healer because you know your table, and you know no one else will step up to take that role? How do you choose?

Well, I was recently on the Know Direction podcast (which you should check out and subscribe to), and Ryan Costello gave us all a great, simple question we should always ask before we pick a duckling out of the bunch... what is this character's hook?

For those who want the full context of the conversation, the episode is linked above. And for those who notice I was a little rambly, well, I haven't been doing cons and events for over a year now... I've gone a bit feral, and sort of forgot how to people about 2/3 of the way through. Still, lovely show, professional hosts, and you should all check them out if you haven't already!

And before we get into the meat of this week's topic I wanted to remind folks to follow me on Twitter @nlitherl, consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter, and if you have the spare dosh for it, think about becoming a Patreon patron. A little help goes a long way!

Lastly, for those curious about the Pathfinder Tales story I talked about earlier on, go get your copy of The Irregulars today!

So What's Your Hook?

As Ryan points out, a hook is the thing that immediately makes your character interesting, useful, or best of all some combination of the two. Not only that, but your hook can be a mechanical trick, a fun story beat, or a little bit of both.

So think about your potential PCs as if you were making a movie. What about them is going to immediately make the audience invested in them, and what are they going to bring to this story?

A cyborg wizard/fighter? All right, I'm curious to see how you pull this one off!

As an example, look up at the intro paragraph. Ragnar Wolfsbane's hook (or his gimmick, if we were to think of the PC in terms of professional wrestling) is that he has a silver hand that he beats werewolves to death with. That is immediately arresting as an idea, particularly if it will have a similar effect in getting around the damage reduction of other creatures that will show up in your campaign. And whether you make him a Constructed Pugilist brawler (the basis I suggested for my Winter Soldier character conversion), a monk with a magical prosthetic, a ranger who specializes in fighting lycanthropes, a fighter archetype, etc., as long as the mechanics back up that hook, and that skill set is useful to this campaign, Ragnar is a shoe-in.

But what if you wanted to bring your evoker? It's a solid chassis for a character, but they're pretty plain as a character at this point... they lack a hook. So what are you going to add to them to give them that unique appeal?

For example, is your evoker a former soldier who's often mistaken for a fighter due to their sidearm and greatcoat? Or are they covered in tattoos and furs, looking more like a barbarian from the wilds? Perhaps they're unusual in their approach, mixing the traditions and styles of a dozen different schools together to create unique magics that are far more than the sum of their parts?

I've written about each of these in the Military-Grade Evoker, the Savage Wizard, and the Chaos Magician, respectively.

Alternatively, you might want to give them a mechanical hook. Whether it's being able to swap out the elements of certain spells (turning fireballs into lightning storms, lightning bolts into cold snaps, etc.), using metamagic feats to physically blast enemies back through the air, or any other unique rider onto your spells that other characters don't have. Whether you start out with story or mechanics, though, it's important to make sure you've got a balance of each of them to create an effective hook that can stand up on its own, and solidify your character firmly into the campaign.

Being interesting is important, but you need to make sure you're the right tool for the job. Otherwise you might just end up being a tool, and nobody wants to be the crowbar left off to the side because the job they're designed for isn't the job at-hand.

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