100 Character Compulsions (DnD Other)

Character compulsions are ways your character might behave. These have no mechanical implications, so are not character flaws and can be used in any edition of D&D. They are purely roleplaying effects and you are never forced to have your character act on their compulsion.

1. Arachnophilia – You really like spiders.
2. Archaeophilia – You have an obsession with ancient artifacts and relics, both magical and mundane. You are either a patron of the arts, benefactor of a major Archeological institution, or collector of antiquities yourself. You probably enjoy visiting museums a lot, either to enjoy the displays... or to plot adding them to your own private collection.
3. Apathy – A lack of interest towards people and events that do not significantly appeal to you, often resulting in less than ideal social interaction. Best used with a neutral character. Apathy often will make the character indifferent towards combat, discussion, or even wounded party members unless the action affects something genuinely dear to them.
4. Attention Deficit – You find it difficult or downright impossible to focus on anything for more than a minute if that. ADD means your character's train of thought is disrupted often and your mind wanders easily. You are prone to daydreaming and zoning out during repetitive or boring tasks, or at least what you see as boring or repetitive tasks. ADHD means on top of being easily distracted you are also impulsive and hyperactive prone to buying useless things beca--OOO it's a SLAP CHOP we totally need this!
5. Bibliomania – You're obsessed with books and writing.
6. Binge Drinker – "Is that ale?! Oh, well, okay, just one...." When your character is around and aware of alcohol you are compelled to drink.
7. Boredom – When nothing interesting is happening, you fall asleep. Whenever the party is alone you fall asleep. In a noisy or crowded place you might stay awake for a few hours before falling asleep. You generally need to be slapped awake.
8. Can't Keep Secrets – You seems to be physically incapable of keeping a secret for very long, at least without showing extreme discomfort. Whenever you or your party meets new people and starts a conversation with them, you feel compelled to blur out any one secret you know about your friends or their plans. The choice of secret is DM's choice, or can be left to the player's discretion if the DM chooses. If you do not act on your compulsion, you show extreme visible discomfort in the current social interaction. You might be a typical gossiper, always sharing random facts with people you have barely just met.
9. Compulsive Gambler – "A coin won is twice as sweet as a coin earned." Gambling is in your blood. From a young age you've always been weak against Fortune's lure, the promise of great gain often pushing you to take risks no sane person would. The greater the gamble, the stronger the urge for you, and damned be the consequences. You see the risks and opportunities in everything, mostly the later, and always feel the urge to try your hand at winning any perceived gamble. Your urge can take any form, from a friendly wager with a travelling companion to betting your soul with a devil. While the stakes add to your thrill, most of your enjoyment comes from simply beating the odds; even a simple coin-flip called right will put you in the finest of moods.
10. Compulsive Maniacal Laughter – Your character is so ridiculously evil that they can't help but gloat.
11. Conceited – Your ego is massive. You simply cannot humble yourself.
12. Curious – You find it necessary to stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
13. Cute Things Lover – You love certain things that are cute and fuzzy. When you encounter a small or tiny creature (or anything else the DM defines as "cute") you are fascinated by that creature.
14. Defenstrative Urges – When you near a window or ledge with at least a 30' drop, your character gets paranoid that their teammates might try to kill them by throwing them out the window. So, you will beat them to it. Your character is compelled to grab the nearest person to them and throw them through the window or off the ledge.
15. Demonophilia – You seem to find Fiends and Incorporeal Beings sexually attractive. You are more prone to accepting Demonic Contracts. If given the ability to create Half-Fiends, you generally will. You have no idea if a Half-Ghost is a thing, but you are compelled to try and make one.
16. Dracophilia – You find dragons and dragonkin sexually attractive. You find it hard to resist requests that dragons give you. You hesitate before attacking dragons or dragonkin. If given an opportunity to make half-dragons, you will be tempted to do so.
17. Egotist – You're so confident of your own abilities that you consider almost anything a challenge. Any semi-offensive action is considered a challenge to a duel, and any word in passing is considered a dare.
18. Enosimania – You believe you've committed a terrible sin against the gods, and need to atone for it.
19. Entheomania – You think you can talk to the gods. But you can't.
20. Estranged – You've done something horrible. Really horrible. So much so that your family has burnt the bridges between you. Was it that one time where you got drunk and peed on the visiting king? Or maybe that one time where you left a burning pile of bat guano in front of the archmage's tower and, in an act of revenge, he launched fireballs at your parent's keep. Maybe it was that one incident with the goat. Whatever the case may be, you are now alone in the world. You can no longer rely on family and friends for any outside assistance. Your name is met with disgust, causing people within 250 miles of your home to figure out what you've done.
21. Finicky – Is this sword straight? This sword doesn't look straight. I don't think this sword is straight. Maybe if I try to ben- no, nope that made it worse. Did that make it worse? I think it made it better. But now the handle looks crooked. Does this handle look crooked to you? Your character is never satisfied with how things are; You are always trying to find something wrong with things, even when things are perfect.
22. Hatred – Pick a race. Whenever you are aware of the presence of a member of this race, you are compelled to attack the creature or to do anything to facilitate attacking the creature (run closer, attempt to climb or break down intervening obstacles, etc.). There must be a reason for this powerful hatred. You should arrange a suitable back story with your DM. Perhaps orcs killed your family, or a dwarf cheated you of your last copper coin.
23. Hippomania – You really, REALLY like horses.
24. Lazy – Watch your friends swim across that river or dance the night away while you just stand there like the lump you are.
25. Lecherous – Whenever you see an attractive member of a preferred gender, you immediately try to seduce them. Being the lecherous filth they are, they usually come off as a pervert to their prey.
26. Logomania – When you're talking, it's impossible for anyone to get a word in edgewise.
27. Loyal – You are incredibly loyal to your allies. You are compelled to remain in combat whilst allies are still fighting. If an enemy seriously injures an ally you are compelled to attack that enemy in preference.
28. Music Enthusiast – You are so devoted to singing you would do anything within your power to show off in battle, you take singing seriously and will never stray from the path of your singing career.
29. Night Terrors – Your nightmares run so deep, that they still haunt you upon your waking hours. Upon awaking you are immediately attacked by some monster that lurked within your last dream, whether it is a dragon or a demon, or an army of orcs. However once somebody gains your attention, these phantoms immediately vanish and so do all of your wounds. If you are not awoken from these terrors, they last until they are defeated or you are. Once either of these things happen, you finally return to reality. You probably had some major past trauma to induce such dreadful nightmares; whether they have blocked it out or it haunts them still.
30. Necrophilia – For whatever reasons, you find the dead and the undead sexually attractive. Bonus points if you're an undead-slaying cleric
31. Nyctophobia – You're afraid of the dark.
32. Obsessive Observation – When not in combat you get bored. Unless you are busy doing something in particular, you will observe another character doing something they deem interesting. You are then compelled to learn or improve that action. You are not necessarily intelligent, but are filled with random knowledge you considered fascinating. You don't learn for the sake of being smarter, you learn because they can't help but wonder how others accomplish the things they do. You are curious about the interactions of others and can often be found peering over the shoulders of tinkers, inventors, scholars, etc. You also lose focus when you aren't with your group, such as when going into to town for provisions, and coming back with a new found skill for wood carving.
33. Overprotective – Choose another PC or NPC traveling with the party. A character with this flaw will never willingly allow them to come to harm. In addition, whenever you become aware of injuries inflicted upon them, you are compelled to attack the offender - regardless of circumstance.
34. Pathological Liar – "Do you wanna know how I got these scars?"
35. Picky Eater – You refuses to eat a certain group of foods (berries, vegetables, meats, etc.) Usually your character will try as hard as they can to not eat these foods, and be angry if forced or tricked into eating them.
36. Berry Picker – You only eat foot you gathered or hunted and prepared for yourself. You won't eat a meal prepared by another party member, nor will you eat at a house, feast or banquet in a friendly camp. You must pick berries, forage for food, hunt for fresh meat, or engage in some other activity whenever you wish to eat, (or make your own rations). When you have to eat somewhere, or whens someone offer you food, you politely (or not so politely) decline it, or find some reason why you must leave.
37. Pseudologia Fantastica – Pseudologia Fantastica
38. Pyromania – You like setting things on fire and watching them burn. Ducking the falling cinders, the group dove from the structure and into the fountain in the courtyard. The shouts of the fire-fighters could be heard on the other side of the structure, but as the group surfaced it became clear that the building could not be saved. As most of their number watched the roof fall in, sending showers of sparks in all directions, the fighter grabbed the rogue by the hair as the halfling attempted to sneak away and held him at eye-level, glaring straight into his face. "New party rule. Next time we need to research something at a library, we tie Dakar up first." The entire group nodded in unison.
39. Reversion – Due to some tramautic event in in your life, you reverted or stayed with a child's mentality.
40. Royal Appetite – You can only stand for rich feasts of the grandest kind. Every time you eat something that is not prepared by a "master chef" you are compelled not to eat. You cannot be tricked into eating as they can tell if a master chef made the food by smell. If you go without such food for several days you eventually succumb after much consternation.
41. Sadist – You are incapable of spending a day without inflicting pain upon another living creature.
42. Sophomania – INT is your dump stat, but you act like it's your primary.
43. Stoic – You repress emotion to favor knowledge and logic. Stoicism is the philosophy based on logic overcoming the emotions of human beings. Those who practice in stoicism are cold to the world viewing all things in the world with absolute apathy to discern their properties and discover truth. Stoics use knowledge to find reason, and only approximations can be found when finding truth. The player should have a character who has a mild personality that distances itself from others to gain perspective of situtions, while the character can hold personal alliances and relationships. The ethical code of the stoic should be to based on rational and logical responses to situations, the fair treatment of others, removal of pleasures that cause pain and trouble, and the general view of moderation and self control. Being a stoic doesn't mean being devoid of emotion, it means that you can't let emotion control your character.
44. Ipsummania – When you see a button or lever and you don't know what it does, you are compelled to activate it. Especially if it's clearly a bad idea.
45. Theomania – You think you're actually a god.
46. Xenomania – You're obsessed with other cultures or races, perhaps one in particular.
47. Self-critical – You pay great attention to your failures-- and redefine your successes out of existance

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