Funny DnD Character Ideas For Your Next Campaign

Image: HGG / Devin Dornbrock

Human Made

Penned by Devin Dornbrock

Devin has always been a fan of good writing and compelling visuals. She learned from an early age that video games are the best and most satisfying... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

While some Dungeons and Dragons campaigns are pretty serious, a lot of players enjoy adding some humor and levity to the game. After all, many sessions will be spent in strenuous combat with dire consequences on the line. A bit of levity can make the game a lot more enjoyable, which is why we’ve got a list of some funny DnD character ideas for you!

Most of these characters have some flexibility in terms of race, class, and background, so you can really make them your own. Just make sure you loop in your resident Dungeon Master to get their go ahead. They may even play along and incorporate events to go along with your character concept. 

Now, let’s jump right into the list!

1. Cult of Self Leader 

• Race: Any 
• Class: Warlock / Sorcerer
• Background: Charlatan

This character pretends to be a cleric and takes on a role of religious leadership wherever they go…or at least, they try to. Their success will be reliant on your wits and a roll of the dice. 

Go heavy on the Charisma in order to trick NPCs and maybe even your fellow players into joining your character’s cult. The goals of the cult, how it was started, and its beliefs, rituals, and other customs are up to you. You may want to talk with your DM ahead of time to collaborate, though — it doesn’t hurt to get them on your side as you endeavor to spread your “religion” and its influence. 

Since the character is the head of the cult and its object of worship, most groups shouldn’t have too much of an issue getting along with them. Since there is no higher power above the character, the other players won’t need to worry about being pushed into nefarious deeds. Probably. 

2. Tiny Horse for a Tiny Horseman 

• Race: Any small race
• Class: Fighter (Cavalier subclass)
• Background: Any

Mounted fighters are a newer addition to the Dungeons and Dragons character class list. They aren’t necessarily funny on their own, but what if they were tiny? This character concept is designed to be adorably hilarious. 

You’ll need to choose a small beast as your mount and work with your DM for the type that will best fit the campaign. Your character’s race will of course need to be something that could reasonably ride on a creature of that size. Unless you want to get magic involved to reinforce your mount’s strength and make it a clown car situation, which is also very funny.

Whatever your character’s size, it is imperative that the mount itself is small. Riding something the size of a beagle into battle is never not funny. To add to the hilarity, you can also take a background that gives proficiency in Intimidation. That way you’ll still have those bandits shaking in boots even as you charge at them on a goat.

3. Hardcore Granny

• Race: Any 
• Class: Barbarian / Fighter / Paladin
• Background: Gladiator

We can all admit that the idea of a little old lady suddenly whipping out a set of brass knuckles to give someone a beatdown is hilarious. The more physical this character gets, the better. The idea is to play up how harmless she is until it’s time to throw down. 

To make it even funnier, this hardcore granny works best as the tank in a group of spellcasters. Tricking NPCs into thinking she’s just a harmless and fragile wizard when in fact she could bench press a warhorse without breaking a sweat is sure to bring a lot of joy to your table.  

Of course, you can also make the character an old man. It probably won’t pack quite the same punch unless you really play up the doddering fool bit, though. Bonus points if you can perfect a harmless elderly voice to go along with your character. 

4. Bugbear Philosopher 

• Race: Bugbear
• Class: Barbarian
• Background: Sage

This character concept can really be customized for any race that is typically seen as warlike or aggressive. The key to making this character funny is to contrast the hostility usually associated with their race with a thoughtful personality. How exactly you go about doing that is up to the player. 

The best way to prepare for a session with a bugbear philosopher is to prepare some sort of topic or even a monologue beforehand. If your improv skills are up to the task, you can also just rattle off a soliloquy about whatever topic comes up mid-game. 

Do your best Hamlet impersonation while your character stands over a bloodied bandit, waxing poetic about the morality of thievery. The important thing is to have fun with it. You may even spark a deeper discussion at your table. Just try not to get too carried away and take focus off the actual game. 

5. Obsessed with a Personal Side Quest

• Race: Any 
• Class: Any
• Background: Any

The next character concept we’re going to talk about for our funny DnD character ideas is definitely one of the most flexible on this list. What makes the character funny doesn’t have anything to do with their race, class, or even background. What makes the character funny is their fixation.

It’s up to you as the player to decide on whatever their fixation is. Treat it like a personal goal for the character as they travel around with the other characters in the group. The fixation can be just about anything.

Perhaps they want to create something that exists in the real world but doesn’t in the campaign’s fantasy one. Or maybe they just really like tea cups and get side tracked whenever they see porcelain in their travels. The idea is for it to be something a little ridiculous that doesn’t necessarily derail the main campaign. 

It adds some direction in role playing situations for newer players while still promoting creativity. A character concept like this can also be applied to already existing players, too. It doesn’t have to be the center of the character’s personality (even if it’s funnier when it is). 

6. Kazoo Bard

• Race: Any
• Class: Bard
• Background: Entertainer 

Be a bard. Play a kazoo. Do we really need to say more?

The idea behind the next concept on our list of funny DnD character ideas is to play the most ridiculous, unserious musical instrument you can think of. For us, that happens to be a kazoo. It’s hard not to laugh when you’re providing some Bardic Inspiration with your handy dandy kazoo. You can also use more era-appropriate instruments if your campaign takes place in a medieval-adjacent world. 

If you really want to make your table laugh, be sure to pull up some actual music ahead of time to whip out at a moment’s notice. Ideally you could also play an actual kazoo, but pulling up a YouTube playlist should work too. 

The rest of the character is up to you. We suggest leaning into as much Charisma as possible and taking proficiencies in Performance and Persuasion. It’s even funnier when the ridiculous kazoo serenades actually accomplish something after all.

7. Necrophobic Necromancer

• Race: Any 
• Class: Wizard (School of Necromancy focus) 
• Background: Any

Oh, the irony of being able to raise the dead when nothing is more terrifying than the sight of a corpse. Will your table have to coax the character into using their power, like Velma offering Shaggy and Scooby a Scooby Snack? Not only does this offer a very funny DnD character, the concept also offers an inherent opportunity for character growth.

Overcoming this fear and coming into their power as a necromancer will give the character a directed journey for the campaign, which your DM is sure to appreciate. Or you can ignore the personal growth schtick and just focus on over-the-top antics instead. Either way, you’re going to be in for a good time with plenty of chances for party interaction and roleplay. 

However you decide to play it, you have a lot of control over who your character is, what they look like, and how they fight. And most importantly, you get to decide why they became a necromancer if they’re afraid of the dead. 

8. Tourist

• Race: Any 
• Class: Any
• Background: Noble

The world of Dungeons and Dragons is a dangerous place. Most towns see their fair share of terrifying monsters and magical disasters. Not exactly the place for a naive tourist. Which is exactly why our next concept for funny DnD character ideas is so great.

The race and class don’t exactly matter — what’s important is that this character is always out of place. Everything is new and foreign to them, and they want to embrace it all with excitement. Even the most mundane experiences are a novelty to them. 

They can be a lone tourist who joins up with the first group of adventurers to help them out of a bind, or maybe your whole table decides to go in on the gag. Either way, you get to play up stereotypes with items like a homebrew Fanny Pack of Holding and Birkenstocks of Speed.

However you go about it, before long you’ll be talking way too loudly to creatures that definitely don’t speak Common. 

9. Two Kobolds in a Trench Coat

• Race: Kobolds 
• Class: Warlock
• Background: Charlatan

The character concept here is like the “two kids in a trench coat” gag, with some extra flavor for DnD. 

This concept can be used with other small races as well, but kobolds is definitely the funniest. Especially because they can pretend to be a singular dragonborn whilst in their trench coat. They will definitely need some high Charisma if they want to actually fool anyone, and some proficiency in Deception wouldn’t hurt either. 

Of course, you can also change their class and background into whatever you want, too. Another way to have fun with the concept is to make it a running joke that everyone actually knows and just goes along with it. 

Whether the party actually believes the lie or not doesn’t make it any less funny. Each encounter with NPCs will be a test for the kobolds and another chance to try and sell their lie. Definitely makes for some entertaining roleplay if nothing else. 

10. Disney Princess… But It’s Gaston

• Race: Goliath 
• Class: Any
• Background: Folk Hero 

Depending on the way you want to play it, this character concept can be another surprisingly gentle giant or a running gag about how animals love someone that hates nature. 

It’s sort of the reverse trope of every DnD party trying to use animal handling on each four-legged creature they come across. Rather than the party trying to cozy up to animals, it’s the animals trying to cozy up to one specific character — one who wants absolutely nothing to do with them and is exasperated at every turn. 

Sort of like how cats seem to like people who are indifferent to them the most. For whatever reason, this character has some serious animal magnetism to them and they’re at their wits end about it. The DM should be able to have a lot of fun with this one especially. They’ll be able to bring out random critters to try and cozy up to an abrasive giant at the most random of times. 

Join the High Ground!

That’s our list of funny DnD character ideas! Did you find a character you’d like to use or incorporate into your next campaign? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to share your own funny DnD characters too! For more Dungeons and Dragons ideas, take a look at these 25 DnD Side Quest ideas to change up your next session. 

Until next time, happy gaming!