In my career as a tabletop roleplayer, I've found the following list of questions (originally from the Shadowrun Second Edition rulebook) to be one of the greatest tools in character development, both in creating a personalty, and in establishing some context for the character's life.
So, of course, I'm going to share them, in a form slightly modified to reflect the White Wolf games which I currently play.
1. What is the character's sex?
Face it, you've likely already chosen this, but gender makes a very large difference in a character's life. Apart from the physical differences, a character's gender can place certain expected societal behavior patterns upon them, and can lead to disadvantages in one area or another.
2. What is the character's physical size?
Is s/he tall or short, stout or lanky, or just average?
3. What colours are the character's hair, eyes, and skin?
What colour or colours is the character's hair? Is it natural? How do they wear it? Why? How about eye colour? Does s/he wear glasses or contacts? Has s/he had corrective surgery? How about skin colour?
4. What is the character's general appearance?
Does the character stand erect or stooped? How does s/he dress? Is there an intimidating look in his/her eye, or does she just have a casual air about her? Is s/he attractive? Does s/he have any distinctive features? What kind of impression would someone seeing him/her for the first time have?
5. Where was s/he born?
What kind of childhood did the character have? Did s/he grow up in luxury, or was life more difficult for his/her family? Try to pinpoint as closely as possible the character's birthplace. Did s/he always live there, or did they move a lot? What kinds of friends did s/he have?
6. What is the character's age?
This one's fairly self-explanatory, but when determining age, also try to think about what events surrounded their life since their birth.
7. What was the character's family?
What did his/her parents do? What was the family's means of support? Were the parents married? Separated? Divorced? What kind of family life did s/he have? Does s/he have siblings? If so, where are they now? What dod they do? Has the character kept in touch with them? Does s/he even know his/her birth family? If no, what was his/her surrogate family like?
8. Has s/he begun her own family?
Is s/he married? Divorced? Separated? Does s/he have children? If not, does s/he want to?
9. Where or how was the character educated?
How did s/he learn his/her Abilities and magic? Was s/he tutored? Did s/he go to public school? What was his/her mentor like? Did s/he even have one? Do they still keep in touch?
10. What did the character do before they "changed"?
Before your character Awakened/Chrysalized/was Embraced/had the First Change, s/he was human, and as such, had a mortal life. What was it? Does s/he still try to hold on to as much of this former existence, or has s/he fully embraced his/her new existence?
11. What about politics and religion?
Here's the loaded gun question. Does the character have any set beliefs? What are they? Did s/he grow up in a religious home? Is s/he a born-again? An agnostic? An atheist? Has s/he always followed the same religion, or did s/he change faiths? If s/he changed, why?
12. What are the character's morals?
Will the character kill? Why? If so, when did s/he decide that s/he could? Under which circumstances? Where does s/he stand on related issues such as euthanasia, abortion, and capital punishment? What about sex? Does s/he have any kind of personal ethics code, or even think about the ramifications of his/her sexcapades?
13. Does the character have any goals?
Is this all s/he ever wants to do? Does s/he have ambitions beyond the here and now? Is s/he satisfied with the way things are? If not, why not, and what does s/he plan on doing to change things? How? How long will that take, and is s/he willing to wait?
14. Why does the character belong to their particular group?
The supernatural side of the World of Darkness is filled with various sects, be it the vampiric Camarilla, the Technocracy of the mages, or the Seelie Court of the changelings. Does your character claim membership to any particular group? Why? Has s/he ever traded sides? If a werewolf, has s/he ever renunciated? Do they belong (or aspire to) a particular Camp? Was s/he born to kinfolk of more than one tribe? If so, how did this affect him/her?
16. What special qualities does the character posess?
Not necessarily his/her Abilities, but moreso innate traits about him/her and what s/he does well. Does s/he get along well with people? Can s/he take care of business? Plan ahead? Prioritize tasks?
17. Are there certain things that the character just cannot do?
Get close to people? Percieve him/herself realistically, Work well with others? Think clearly under stress? Handle money well?
18. What does the character hate?
Corporations? A specific other tribe/clan/tradition/kith? Personal questions? Sentimentality? The media? His/her family? Certain people? Society in general?
19. What does the character love?
The seashore? The view from tall buildings? Quiet times? Loud music? Art? Taking care of business? A specific person? A certain place?
20. What is the character's name?
Much like question one, you've likely already chosen this. Even then, does your character use the same name in dealings with humanity as when with his/her kind? Is that his/her birth name? Does s/he live under an alias?
