How do you gather info like birthdays and names for your characters?

[jamesalery1]

Hey everyone! I'm fairly new to roleplaying and character creation, and I'm working on developing some characters for my stories. I've noticed a lot of people mention including things like birthdays, zodiac signs, and even specific names to help make their characters feel more real.

I'm curious—do you think details like that are important for fleshing out a character? And if so, how do you usually go about gathering those details? Do you use any tools or methods to make the process easier, or is it all about brainstorming?

Would love to hear your thoughts and any tips you might have! Thanks in advance!

 

[jamesalery1]

Hey everyone! I'm fairly new to roleplaying and character creation, and I'm working on developing some characters for my stories. I've noticed a lot of people mention including things like birthdays, zodiac signs, and even specific names to help make their characters feel more real.

I'm curious—do you think details like that are important for fleshing out a character? And if so, how do you usually go about gathering those details? Do you use any tools or methods to make the process easier, or is it all about brainstorming?

Would love to hear your thoughts and any tips you might have! Thanks in advance!

Example is random birthday generator which people use to find random birthdays for their characters. (just an idea what I am talking about).

 

[Drathnoxis]

I wouldn't care about my characters birthday. Heck, I don't even care about my own birthday.

 

[JoJo]

I don't give many of my characters birthdays as I don't feel like its the kind of detail that says much about who someone *really* is and many of my characters live in worlds that don't follow our familiar calendar in any case. The only exception being a few characters who I've written extensively and in that case, I've often given them a "symbolic" birthday, like the date which I first wrote about them or first posted about them online.

As for character names, I'm not one for symbolic or meaningful names. After all, apart for those who have chosen to change their name, most of us were just assigned a name at birth long before any of our personality or character was apparent. I tend to just pick a name I like from the culture they originate from (if applicable).