OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Random Hobby Generator
Pastimes, Crafts, Sports and Collections to Try or Give a Character
OneTask is free, with no sign-up, and built by one person.
If this tool saved you time, a coffee helps keep new ones coming.
How the Random Hobby Generator works
This random hobby generator gives a fresh list with every click. Generate random hobbies and pastimes, beekeeping, birdwatching, sourdough baking, fencing, model railways, collecting fountain pens, filtered by kind from crafts to collecting, with a level, a how-long, a pair of hobbies, a sentence or a new-year resolution. For a character sheet, a persona, an icebreaker, a survey mock-up, a something-to-try or a test fixture, drawn in the browser.
Random hobby generator: how the names are built
A hobby tells you more about a character than a job does, because a job is what they have to do and a hobby is what they choose, and the kind select is what fits the draw to the use: a character sheet or a persona wants a hobby that suggests a temperament, the bell ringer and the powerlifter are different people; an icebreaker or a "two truths and a lie" round wants a hobby that is plausible but a little surprising; a something-to-try draw for a new year, a retirement or a rainy Sunday wants the crafts, the outdoors and the learning lists, which are the things a person can actually start; and a survey mock-up or a fixture wants a realistic spread across the population. The kinds are the everyday groupings, crafts and making, outdoors, sport and fitness, music and performance, games and puzzles, collecting, food and drink, learning and study, and home and garden, and the lists are ordinary British pastimes in the words people use for them, parkrun, allotment, crown green bowls, morris dancing, so a result reads like a line from a dating profile or a club noticeboard. The forms add the biography: a level, "keen beginner", "county-level", "lapsed", "obsessive", is a whole attitude; a how-long, "since lockdown", "since the kids left home", "on and off for years", gives a backstory in three words; the two-hobbies form, "fencing in summer, quilting in winter", is a rounded character in one line; the sentence form drops straight into a persona or a bio; and the resolution form, "finally learn the accordion", is for the list on the fridge.
The hobbies are common nouns and activities that belong to no one; the levels and the durations are random and can misfit, a "county-level" beetle collector or "since school" for a hobby that did not exist then, which is what a reroll is for. The draw is uniform within a kind and is not weighted by popularity, so bat detecting comes up as often as running, which is the point of a generator meant to surprise.
For the person who has the hobby, the Character name page in the People section; for the job they do the rest of the week, the Random job page; for the club or society they belong to, the Club name and Society name pages in the Business section; for the pet in the home-and-garden list, the Pet name page; for a random object to collect or an animal to watch, the Random object and Random animal pages; and for a whole persona at once, the User persona page in the Business section.
FAQ
Why are the hobbies so British?
Because the words are: parkrun, allotment, crown green bowls, morris dancing, bell ringing, pub quizzes, the Open University. Most of the list reads fine anywhere, and the few that are local to Britain are the ones that give a character a place; swap them for an American or Australian setting.
What is the resolution form for?
The "this year I will" list: "take up wild swimming", "get back into the cello", "spend one evening a week on the model railway". Generate ten from the kind you fancy and pick the one that makes you wince least; it is also a good icebreaker, since everyone has an abandoned resolution to confess to.
Is the level realistic?
It is random, so a "competitive" flower presser or a "semi-professional" jigsaw puzzler will appear, which is either a reroll or the best character you have had all week. The level list is the words people use for themselves, beginner, improver, serious amateur, lapsed, so most pairings sound like a real person.
Can I get a hobby that suits a particular character?
Choose the kind that fits the temperament, outdoors for the restless, collecting for the methodical, games and puzzles for the clever, home and garden for the settled, then generate a batch and pick; the two-hobbies form is a quick way to make a character less one-note, since a "boxing and embroidery" person is more interesting than either alone.
Can I use these hobbies for fiction or test data?
Yes. Hobbies are common activities and belong to no one, and nothing here names a club, a brand or a person. For a character sheet, a persona, a bio, an icebreaker, a survey mock-up, seed data, a form placeholder or a test fixture, use them freely.
See also: all Places & Things tools, People, Fantasy & RPG, Sci-fi, Culture & Language, Online & Social, Business & Brand.
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