Post by Anjan on Apr 4, 2008 22:25:51 GMT 10
Characters, how to make them more interesting…
I actually just want to bring an interesting little subject to all of your attention. This is something that is a bit of a pet peeve for me when I role-play with my friends, being a Game Master or Story Teller will give you lots of pet peeves, so I thought I would bring the subject up here to simply give everyone on Kylanda the chance to enhance their abilities to create and play characters that are interesting. So I thought I would post some info, guidelines and rules around how to create a good character and to keep it interesting. Do note that I don’t always consider all of this when I make my own characters – but I try to get as much of it as possible into my characters as I can.
A little introduction to what goes through my mind
First we shall address the process of making a good character and making it interesting. There is a lot to think about when you first create your character, you need to decide on the appearance of the character, the personality, the background, what drives the character, what the characters hopes are, how the characters functions and so on. All of this together works together to make your character come alive. But there are a few things I have noted people tend to do in role-plays that keeps the characters to really feel like it could be a person – no matter what race, gender or occupation the character have. The two things I have noted in my years of role-playing, both online and offline is that some people have troubles finding limitations and weakness for their characters. Or if they have them they hardly ever lets them come into play. Few people seem to realise that it is the limitations and weaknesses of the characters that really makes it feel like something else then a super human or what ever are you are playing. Making your character invincible or to have no weaknesses is a form of power playing in my mind, and that is a big no-no to me. It makes the characters feel shallow, and unbalanced which often makes the whole game feel awkward. But most people that power play without knowing it or thinking about it can be cured from it. It isn’t that hard to create and interesting character with interesting limitations and weaknesses. Another think I have noticed about weaknesses and limitations is that a lot of people somehow end up using somewhat similar weaknesses. This does not create interesting game play, people; it only makes it feel awkward. A weakness doesn’t have to be something huge and trading in the past. It just has to be something about your character that makes it human. I shall go into this more in depth a bit further ahead in this post though so don’t worry about it.
Starting with the process of creating a character
Now let’s talk about the process of creating a character. To help me find creativity I have used a Swedish role-playing book with a much extended way of making characters. It really goes in depth on the whole thing with pro and cons, strengths and weaknesses. The game is called Noir and is published by Regnskugga Förlag. The reason I at all mention it here is that I want to give credit to what a good system they have created. Let’s get on with talking about the character creation process now.
The concept
The process of creating a character should always start with the concept of your character. And a good way in any kind of role-play to get a concept is to choose a nature of your character and then add an occupation or something similar to add to it. Nature is the main trait of your character, remember that. There will be other traits to add to the character further on. I shall now provide you with a list of natures to choose from to make it easier for you, but remember that you do not have to use these. If you can come up with a single word that better describes the nature of your character then use that instead.
Adventurous * Ambitious * Blasé * Bitter * Burnt out
Charming * Chatty * Cheerful * Cocky * Condescending
Cowardly * Cynical * Daring * Depressed * Desperate
Disturbed * Doubtful * Dutiful * Egoistic * Enthusiastic
False * Friendly * Greedy * Idealistic * Incompetent
Manipulative * Mean * Melodramatic * Nervous * Passionate
Pompous * Reckless * Reclusive * Relaxed * Ruthless
Sarcastic * Self-loathing * Sharp * Single-minded * Stupid
Tedious * Tyrannical
Now using this with occupations or other words will create a concept for you. Examples are my character Caída whose concept would be Reclusive Wanderer. This because she’s been lonely a big part of her life and does have a hard time blending in with a lot of people. Wanderer is what she has been doing, her occupation so to speak. It describes who she is.
Kass was kind enough to share the concept of her two characters Kijah and Ingwë. This is what kass said about Kijah:
“Kijah would be best described as a Passionate Hunter, in her pack her job was a hunter. Omegas were not given any job higher than that, which was the worker job. Passionate because she held very high the traditions and ways she was taught by the elders of the pack. Anything she did, she did with enthusiasm and zeal.”
About Ingwë kass wrote this for me:
“Ingwe is a Dutiful Father Figure. Ingwe is very dutiful, regardless of what he is interested in, or wants; his duty to his family comes first, even if it meant giving up someone he loved for the good of his family. Where as there are many words that could describe the various jobs and duties he performs, the main descriptive one would be a Father Figure. With his father having been killed in battle, he now takes it upon himself to be the strong father figure in little Idril's life. He also does tasks around the house for his mother that his father would normally have done. He is also trying to find a separate source of income so he can provide for his dear mum thus taking care of her better as he knows his father would have desired.”
The Talents and Limitations
Every character has strengths, talents or something else that makes them different from other character. This can be a magical ability, an uncanny skill with a weapon, or being good at tracking or healing. But they also need weakness to be a counterweight at what they are good at. I would also say that a character needs limitations. Limitations isn’t just being bad at something, I would rather say that it’s something that holds your characters back. Something that also forms them into the character they are. Now strengths and weaknesses, being good or bad at something should be equally weighed against each other to give the character a balance. And its better if the character has more weaknesses then strengths then the other way around. Talents and Limitations should be used in a 1:2 relationship. Meaning that If you want your character to have a talent, some trait outside what is normal, then you should be willing to add two minor limitations for a minor talent.
Examples of strengths could be:
Being good with a weapon of choice.
Being a good cook.
Being good at craft of choice.
Being good at a skill of choice.
Examples of weaknesses would be:
Being bad with a certain weapon.
Being a poor cook.
Being bad with a certain skill.
Of course there are other strengths and weaknesses but these will give you an idea of what I am talking about when I talk about strengths and weakness in contrast to talents and limitations. Talents and Limitations are rarer then strength and weaknesses, this because they are actually more powerful then mere strengths and weaknesses.
The list of Talents includes:
Major Talents
Mind speaking, Healing, Magic abilities, Exceptional with a weapon, Ability to hold form longer, Exceptional with a skill, Exceptional with a Craft,
Minor Talents
The list of Limitations includes:
Major Limitations
Minor Limitations
----- Examples will be added later, and talents and limitations will be added
The Appearance and Small things
The very last part of all of this is actually getting the characters appearance settled and to decide the small things about the character. This is where you build out your character from what you have done before; I would call this part fleshing out your character. There are a whole load of things to consider here too, making a good character isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be. At this moment you need to start asking yourself questions about the character. Some good ones to start with is:
How does the characters family, relatives and relations like those look like?
How does the character look on these relations?
How did the character grow up?
What are the most important/clearest events in the characters life?
What does the character value most of all?
What quirks/things does the character dislike in others?
What secrets and deeds does the character hide from others?
These questions should get you started on who the character is since it fleshes out a lot for you. It gives you a lot of info about the characters past his family and his surrounding as well as some deeper stuff. The next thing to get to then is to maybe pick out one or two quirks about the characters looks, or the way they are dressing. Some good examples of these kinds of quirks could be:
Always wears expensive Clothes
Always wears skirts
Always wears a white shirt
Always uses gloves
Always wears expensive jewellery
Always has stubble
Has perfect/bad skin
Has a certain hairstyle
Always wears makeup
Is visibly scarred
And so on….
This kind of thing would help both you and others remember the character since it has something that is special with how it looks. Of course there are other kinds of quirks, like what they do. Does the character have any signature behaviour that he or she does? It could for example be one of these:
May become slightly obsessed with a chosen area
Only eats certain foods
Always looks for confirmation in others for self-esteem
Uses certain expressions often
Doesn’t go anywhere without arms
Bites his/hers nails
Always flirts, even when it’s inappropriate
Is always very competitive
And so on…
After deciding on how the character acts and its habits it is time to dig into who the character is and what he or she thinks. This is best done by settling on a few things that the character might admire as well as a few things the character loathes. That way you can form an opinion on who he or she is. Then you compliment this with a few things in general the person likes and dislikes and you should be set to handle most things the character might encounter. All you have to do then is keep all of this in mind. The lists below are just examples. There is tons of other stuff you can choose for this part, be creative and make your character unique. Then other people will remember your character better.
Some examples of things a character can loath or admire might be:
Specific persons/groups/organisations
Unemployed
Animals
Criminals
The Law
Charity
Money
Men in general
Women in general
Prostitutes
And so on…
Some examples of things a character can like or dislike might be:
Alcohol
Reading books
Kids
Weapons
Art
Makeup
Water
And so on…
As long as you have this info written down somewhere you should have no trouble playing your character and knowing what he or she thinks. It might also be a good idea to add in more info as the character is in play. Maybe the character encounters something that he or she really starts to dislike or maybe he changes his mind about something as time moves on. Remember that a charter isn’t static, he or she can change. But don’t let her change in a second, let it be a gradual change unless it’s a real Aha-experience. With this in mind you should now be able to play a character that will interest us all a lot and that will keep evolving and come alive.
--------- Examples will be added later
------------------------- This post is subject to updates since I haven’t figured out all the small details. Kass will also be fleshing out the talents and limitations better so you understand what they are all about.
I actually just want to bring an interesting little subject to all of your attention. This is something that is a bit of a pet peeve for me when I role-play with my friends, being a Game Master or Story Teller will give you lots of pet peeves, so I thought I would bring the subject up here to simply give everyone on Kylanda the chance to enhance their abilities to create and play characters that are interesting. So I thought I would post some info, guidelines and rules around how to create a good character and to keep it interesting. Do note that I don’t always consider all of this when I make my own characters – but I try to get as much of it as possible into my characters as I can.
A little introduction to what goes through my mind
First we shall address the process of making a good character and making it interesting. There is a lot to think about when you first create your character, you need to decide on the appearance of the character, the personality, the background, what drives the character, what the characters hopes are, how the characters functions and so on. All of this together works together to make your character come alive. But there are a few things I have noted people tend to do in role-plays that keeps the characters to really feel like it could be a person – no matter what race, gender or occupation the character have. The two things I have noted in my years of role-playing, both online and offline is that some people have troubles finding limitations and weakness for their characters. Or if they have them they hardly ever lets them come into play. Few people seem to realise that it is the limitations and weaknesses of the characters that really makes it feel like something else then a super human or what ever are you are playing. Making your character invincible or to have no weaknesses is a form of power playing in my mind, and that is a big no-no to me. It makes the characters feel shallow, and unbalanced which often makes the whole game feel awkward. But most people that power play without knowing it or thinking about it can be cured from it. It isn’t that hard to create and interesting character with interesting limitations and weaknesses. Another think I have noticed about weaknesses and limitations is that a lot of people somehow end up using somewhat similar weaknesses. This does not create interesting game play, people; it only makes it feel awkward. A weakness doesn’t have to be something huge and trading in the past. It just has to be something about your character that makes it human. I shall go into this more in depth a bit further ahead in this post though so don’t worry about it.
Starting with the process of creating a character
Now let’s talk about the process of creating a character. To help me find creativity I have used a Swedish role-playing book with a much extended way of making characters. It really goes in depth on the whole thing with pro and cons, strengths and weaknesses. The game is called Noir and is published by Regnskugga Förlag. The reason I at all mention it here is that I want to give credit to what a good system they have created. Let’s get on with talking about the character creation process now.
The concept
The process of creating a character should always start with the concept of your character. And a good way in any kind of role-play to get a concept is to choose a nature of your character and then add an occupation or something similar to add to it. Nature is the main trait of your character, remember that. There will be other traits to add to the character further on. I shall now provide you with a list of natures to choose from to make it easier for you, but remember that you do not have to use these. If you can come up with a single word that better describes the nature of your character then use that instead.
Adventurous * Ambitious * Blasé * Bitter * Burnt out
Charming * Chatty * Cheerful * Cocky * Condescending
Cowardly * Cynical * Daring * Depressed * Desperate
Disturbed * Doubtful * Dutiful * Egoistic * Enthusiastic
False * Friendly * Greedy * Idealistic * Incompetent
Manipulative * Mean * Melodramatic * Nervous * Passionate
Pompous * Reckless * Reclusive * Relaxed * Ruthless
Sarcastic * Self-loathing * Sharp * Single-minded * Stupid
Tedious * Tyrannical
Now using this with occupations or other words will create a concept for you. Examples are my character Caída whose concept would be Reclusive Wanderer. This because she’s been lonely a big part of her life and does have a hard time blending in with a lot of people. Wanderer is what she has been doing, her occupation so to speak. It describes who she is.
Kass was kind enough to share the concept of her two characters Kijah and Ingwë. This is what kass said about Kijah:
“Kijah would be best described as a Passionate Hunter, in her pack her job was a hunter. Omegas were not given any job higher than that, which was the worker job. Passionate because she held very high the traditions and ways she was taught by the elders of the pack. Anything she did, she did with enthusiasm and zeal.”
About Ingwë kass wrote this for me:
“Ingwe is a Dutiful Father Figure. Ingwe is very dutiful, regardless of what he is interested in, or wants; his duty to his family comes first, even if it meant giving up someone he loved for the good of his family. Where as there are many words that could describe the various jobs and duties he performs, the main descriptive one would be a Father Figure. With his father having been killed in battle, he now takes it upon himself to be the strong father figure in little Idril's life. He also does tasks around the house for his mother that his father would normally have done. He is also trying to find a separate source of income so he can provide for his dear mum thus taking care of her better as he knows his father would have desired.”
The Talents and Limitations
Every character has strengths, talents or something else that makes them different from other character. This can be a magical ability, an uncanny skill with a weapon, or being good at tracking or healing. But they also need weakness to be a counterweight at what they are good at. I would also say that a character needs limitations. Limitations isn’t just being bad at something, I would rather say that it’s something that holds your characters back. Something that also forms them into the character they are. Now strengths and weaknesses, being good or bad at something should be equally weighed against each other to give the character a balance. And its better if the character has more weaknesses then strengths then the other way around. Talents and Limitations should be used in a 1:2 relationship. Meaning that If you want your character to have a talent, some trait outside what is normal, then you should be willing to add two minor limitations for a minor talent.
Examples of strengths could be:
Being good with a weapon of choice.
Being a good cook.
Being good at craft of choice.
Being good at a skill of choice.
Examples of weaknesses would be:
Being bad with a certain weapon.
Being a poor cook.
Being bad with a certain skill.
Of course there are other strengths and weaknesses but these will give you an idea of what I am talking about when I talk about strengths and weakness in contrast to talents and limitations. Talents and Limitations are rarer then strength and weaknesses, this because they are actually more powerful then mere strengths and weaknesses.
The list of Talents includes:
Major Talents
Mind speaking, Healing, Magic abilities, Exceptional with a weapon, Ability to hold form longer, Exceptional with a skill, Exceptional with a Craft,
Minor Talents
The list of Limitations includes:
Major Limitations
Minor Limitations
----- Examples will be added later, and talents and limitations will be added
The Appearance and Small things
The very last part of all of this is actually getting the characters appearance settled and to decide the small things about the character. This is where you build out your character from what you have done before; I would call this part fleshing out your character. There are a whole load of things to consider here too, making a good character isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be. At this moment you need to start asking yourself questions about the character. Some good ones to start with is:
How does the characters family, relatives and relations like those look like?
How does the character look on these relations?
How did the character grow up?
What are the most important/clearest events in the characters life?
What does the character value most of all?
What quirks/things does the character dislike in others?
What secrets and deeds does the character hide from others?
These questions should get you started on who the character is since it fleshes out a lot for you. It gives you a lot of info about the characters past his family and his surrounding as well as some deeper stuff. The next thing to get to then is to maybe pick out one or two quirks about the characters looks, or the way they are dressing. Some good examples of these kinds of quirks could be:
Always wears expensive Clothes
Always wears skirts
Always wears a white shirt
Always uses gloves
Always wears expensive jewellery
Always has stubble
Has perfect/bad skin
Has a certain hairstyle
Always wears makeup
Is visibly scarred
And so on….
This kind of thing would help both you and others remember the character since it has something that is special with how it looks. Of course there are other kinds of quirks, like what they do. Does the character have any signature behaviour that he or she does? It could for example be one of these:
May become slightly obsessed with a chosen area
Only eats certain foods
Always looks for confirmation in others for self-esteem
Uses certain expressions often
Doesn’t go anywhere without arms
Bites his/hers nails
Always flirts, even when it’s inappropriate
Is always very competitive
And so on…
After deciding on how the character acts and its habits it is time to dig into who the character is and what he or she thinks. This is best done by settling on a few things that the character might admire as well as a few things the character loathes. That way you can form an opinion on who he or she is. Then you compliment this with a few things in general the person likes and dislikes and you should be set to handle most things the character might encounter. All you have to do then is keep all of this in mind. The lists below are just examples. There is tons of other stuff you can choose for this part, be creative and make your character unique. Then other people will remember your character better.
Some examples of things a character can loath or admire might be:
Specific persons/groups/organisations
Unemployed
Animals
Criminals
The Law
Charity
Money
Men in general
Women in general
Prostitutes
And so on…
Some examples of things a character can like or dislike might be:
Alcohol
Reading books
Kids
Weapons
Art
Makeup
Water
And so on…
As long as you have this info written down somewhere you should have no trouble playing your character and knowing what he or she thinks. It might also be a good idea to add in more info as the character is in play. Maybe the character encounters something that he or she really starts to dislike or maybe he changes his mind about something as time moves on. Remember that a charter isn’t static, he or she can change. But don’t let her change in a second, let it be a gradual change unless it’s a real Aha-experience. With this in mind you should now be able to play a character that will interest us all a lot and that will keep evolving and come alive.
--------- Examples will be added later
------------------------- This post is subject to updates since I haven’t figured out all the small details. Kass will also be fleshing out the talents and limitations better so you understand what they are all about.
