Dramatis Personae: Heroic Fantasy

Every story begins with someone.

Dramatis Personae: Heroic Fantasy offers one hundred characters built for adventure. Each one is designed to step into a scene with purpose. Whether they serve as protagonists, antagonists, or supporting figures, they bring with them a sense of momentum. You can drop them into a campaign, lift them into a spotlight, or weave them into the background of a world. Each is built to belong.

This book is part of The Simple Approach, a flexible narrative framework focused on character-driven play. The entries inside are ready for that system but equally easy to adapt to the rules you prefer. These characters serve just as well in one-shots, long-term campaigns, worldbuilding prep, or solo storytelling. Each profile offers a set of traits that speak directly to motivation, presence, and narrative function.

Every character begins with an archetype. This phrase signals the kind of role the character might play. Some archetypes follow familiar traditions, while others open strange and evocative possibilities. The identity grounds the character’s place in society or the story’s moral world. It reveals how they see themselves or how the world has decided to see them.

The other traits deepen and expand the portrait. Appearance sets the visual tone. Personality gives the character voice and energy. Strengths offer what they can be counted on to do. Weaknesses reveal where their fault lines run. The drive defines what they want, whether that desire leads to transformation or tragedy. Assets describe what they carry, command, or keep close.

Every part of the entry can be used in play. You can read the full profile when building a major figure or skim for one trait to fill out an encounter. Each character is playable, reusable, and ready to be repurposed. Their story arcs can unfold across years or unravel in a single scene. They are designed to make decisions, take risks, and leave marks behind.

You’ll find aspiring saints beside jaded warriors, honest outlaws beside cunning nobles. Some characters are shaped by duty, others by vengeance, by curiosity, by hunger, by memory, or by prophecy. Many are caught in turning points. Some are standing on thresholds. Each has the potential to create tension, invite connection, or challenge the values of the group.

This is a book for building worlds through people. Every entry can inspire a plot, reframe a setting, or add depth to an empty space. A single character might give rise to a new faction, a civil war, a haunted forest, or an unexpected alliance. They are tools for improvisation, foundations for arcs, and catalysts for drama. Use them to fill a tavern or guide a kingdom.

You can draw from this cast however you like. Select a rival. Introduce a lost relative. Shape a region around their influence. Connect two random profiles and see what emerges. Each one is a narrative seed, ready to grow into something strange or legendary.

When you need someone who belongs in the story, open this book.

They’re already waiting.