Stepping Up Your Game: Creating Awesome Characters

[Rigwyn]

Stepping Up Your Game: Creating Awesome Characters

Cookie cutters are the work of the devil. Beware!
/end rant

Introduction

There's nothing more refreshing than getting into an RP with a player who's character is believable, unique, animated, clever, resourceful, etc..  Its like the experience of watching a good movie and seeing the character versus the actor. One of the best examples I can think of would be Dustin Hoffman in "The Rain Man". For those who haven't seen the movie, he played the role of a man who had autism - but he played it so convincingly that it was believable; he created that illusion. You forgot that this was Hoffman acting and instead, just saw his character, Charlie Babbit. Now I'm not suggesting that we all go around mimicking every disorder, condition, or what have you, but rather to make characters that are unique and believable. This is harder than it sounds.

Before going on, let me harp on a few of the don'ts.

Don't

* Don't think that stats, skills, race, name, guild, alignment and weapons make a character unique. They don't.

* If you are going to use your own personality for the basis of your character, fine, but don't do that with multiple characters or they will all look the same. I mean, you can do this if you really want, but like flossing your teeth, its just a suggestion

Ok... So what makes a unique character?

I want to focus on six things for making unique characters:

* Alignment ( ie. Chaotic good, neutral evil )
* Mannerisms
* Qualities and faults
* History
* Goals and ambitions
* Five words

There are more aspects that can be added, but for now let's start with these.

Alignment

Your character's alignment should be used to help determine what choices they will make. Generally speaking, an evil character should favor evil choices, a lawful should favor doing what they *should*, a chaotic should favor rebelling against rules and norms.

Notice that I said "favor". Alignment should influence one's choices, not necessarily dictate them.

For more detail on the AD&D Alignment system, check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)



Mannerisms

Everyone has their own unique mannerisms that we come to know and recognize. Some folks look down when you look them in the eye, some tend to crack jokes, others have little habits and fixations like playing with a coin, checking their watch - whether they need to know the time or not, looking outside of the group as if searching for someone, talking about themselves, chewing their tongue, biting fingernails, etc...

Just watch what people do and you'll have some ideas.


Qualities and Faults

Being that this is a "Fantasy" game, it can be quite tempting to make characters who are perfect - free from fault, excellent in ever way...  this is very cliche; don't do it. At minimum, pick at least one fault for every few strengths. A criminal who never gets caught just doesn't play out very well, likewise a good guy who never loses is equally boring.

Some ideas for faults might include: hubris, any of the "seven deadly sins", "Seven virtues", compassion(for a criminal), fear (for a knight or guard), alcoholism for a character that is expected to be reliable, etc...

Also worth noting is that people tend to hide their faults... Or at least the ones they feel worst about, or the ones that will get them in the most trouble.

* How does your character feel about their faults, flaws, or handicap?

* What does your character do about them. Does he hide them? Does he compensate for them! Is he quite open and outspoken about them?


History

Some folks prefer to start off with a blank character and fill them in as they go -feeling out the character. I've tried this and am personally not a big fan of it. The main reason is, we all come from somewhere and more than often than not, our past experience influences our decisions.

My personal recommendation is this:

1. Make a background story. Figure out who you character's parents were. What major events happened in their life. Where did they live, what trade did they learn.

2. try and tie your story in with the character history for your race ( found on the planeshift.it website )

When I started role playing with Rigwyn, we didn't have these detailed histories for the races. instead I made a background story that would help explain his current state of mind.  Given this story, its understandable why he's a criminal.

For further reading, check out the Race Histories and setting overview.


Goals and Ambition

Giving your character a goal in life sort of puts that character in motion. Its the difference between being a sentient being who just hangs out, and one who will act and react in accordance with their goals. Obviously you can add and remove goals at any time.

Some ideas for RP goals:

* To become a Master in a certain magic way
* To get married and settle down
* To find a long lost relative, relic, or loved one
* To find a way out of Yliakum in into some other land

Not all goals need to be attainable. The idea is just to have some direction in life.


Five Words

I found another site that took an entirely different approach to character creation. The idea was to get a rough idea of what sort of character you wish to make, then describe him or her in only 5 words. The idea here is to keep refining and tweaking this set of words until you have the five that fit the best. When two words overlap, you would delete one of the overlapping words and pick another.

Examples might be:  detached, evil, reckless, funny, troublesome
or :   Smart, Bubbly, compassionate, warm, insecure


 
 
Ok, that's it for now... So lets hear some feedback, criticism, suggestions, questions etc...

[LigH]

An "available average wife" character would be awesome...

[Tzarhunt]

I strongly advice you DO NOT use anything like 'alignment' (particularly D&D alignment) to design you character; it relies on nothing real, which will cause most to have a very hard time not to fall into stereotypes.
May I suggest defining 'Motivations / objectives' and something like a 'level of empathy' instead in order to evaluate you character's course of action? I think it would lead to a much more natural behaviour pattern.

[Aramara Meibi]

heck, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterizationTropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterAlignment

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MyersBriggs

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterCalculus

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterDepth

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterTics

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterDevelopment

[Elkarway]

The most important thing to consider when creating a character is what I call the 'servitude factor.'

Considering all other characters are in the game to be plot devices for my characters, it's important for everybody to really consider how their character will improve my characters' stories.  Will he be my bodyguard?  An obsessed fan?  Right hand man?

All other things are really secondary.

[Aramara Meibi]

Considering all other characters are in the game to be plot devices for my characters,

haha, that's right, you all make such a wonderful supporting cast. 

[Aramara Meibi]

don't ask me why, call it divine intervention, but for some reason today i started reading through Life of Reilly which is a summary of the Spider-Man Clone Saga. No, I don't plan on introducing any clones into PS.

Anyways, here's an on topic quote from editor Glenn Greenberg in part 6:

"This kind of thing was going on in the X-Men books all the time back then - these new villains would show up with a lot of flash and hype, with a lot of mystery and veiled references surrounding them. And in the end, nothing would come of it. None of them ended up having any real staying power, because they were so half-baked, ill-defined, and poorly developed. As a budding writer at the time, I learned a very important lesson from watching this happen at Marvel: try to know who your characters are before you introduce them. Maybe not every last detail of their lives and histories, but at least know who they are, what they want, their connections to the other characters in the story, their powers and abilities, and their weaknesses. It's kind of like Method acting for writing."

I think this is as important in RP, it's easy to jump on the game, go through the character creation without a thought, pick up a shortsword and start killing rats, but if you begin with some idea of who your character is, their mannerisms, their personal philosophy, outlook on life, goals, fears, desires, etc. and you're able to switch on that personality in game, PS becomes more than just a hack and slash and becomes a living breathing vital world. That was a run-on sentence.

[Elkarway]

That was a run-on sentence.

Favourite post ending ever; your characters may be considered part of the starring cast along with mine.  No more supporting cast for you!

[Rigwyn]

Good point Aramara. I learned that the hard way once while playing an undefined character. The minute someone asked my character what he did for a living, I was lost for words. I then had to make something up on the fly. More questions were asked about my character's past and so on and I found my self hopping from stone to stone hoping that I didn't slip up and contradict myself.  It was awkward, but left me realizing how silly it is to not know anything about your character.  We don't just fall out of the sky with empty heads xD

[bilbous]

Ya, when someone asks you a question, you are under no obligation to answer it to their satisfaction. You can even lie outrageously or just tell them it is none of their business. A little mystery goes a long way.

[Aramara Meibi]

along the line of giving your character certain quirks and tics, also consider behavior that would be common and instinctual amongst your character's race. Not every race is going to exhibit human-like behavior because not all races are human (only Ylians are, now that Xacha have been baleted from).

For instance, for those of you who want to play Enki, but have never been around a cat:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_behavior

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_communication

[LigH]

It is not even like most female characters exhibit female-like behaviour as expected in medieval settings ... no, I don't mean the "wife at the stove" as ideal; but my characters would not be very interested in female conquerors and leaders and heroines and skill masters ... where are the primarily "loving wives" with a main interest in a stable family (at least during their public lives, which may not exclude a different "hobby")?

[Eonwind]

It is not even like most female characters exhibit female-like behaviour as expected in medieval settings ... no, I don't mean the "wife at the stove" as ideal; but my characters would not be very interested in female conquerors and leaders and heroines and skill masters ... where are the primarily "loving wives" with a main interest in a stable family (at least during their public lives, which may not exclude a different "hobby")?

"loving wives"?? do they really exists anymore? 
I think the "loving wife" concept may be considered too naive, but it is not IMHO

[Rigwyn]

Come hither sir Gag,
For I am quite loving and submissive.
I shall sustain for thee my lord, a stable family.
Fresh flour, I shall grind with stone in fist,
and the finest meat, I shall strangle myself,
and prepare for thee with a thick brown gravy
and a fist full of picked vegetables from out back.



*waves affectionately with her thick, calloused hand*