Post by warraven on Mar 26, 2008 22:07:00 GMT -5
Due to the complexities of character creation this will be a work in progress. Please do not post here as I may need multiple posts.
The intent of this workshop is to help people when they design their characters and give some tips for those who would like to work on adding more depth to their characters. As someone who has created countless characters both for roleplay and writing I'll shall what I've found works for me and helps avoid some common problems creating a character poorly can cause. I will be using a character of mine as an example. Her name is Cavral and I learned to roleplay with her. (human warrior D&D ftw!)
Contents:
1. You are not in a bubble.
2. Start simple.
3. What's your theme?
4. We're all flawed.
5. But we've got some good traits too.
6. I don't want to hear your lifestory.
7. Sentimental value and other hobbies.
8. You did WHAT?!
9. Strutting your stuff...
10. Yes, there's a reason powers are last to be defined.
11. Bad things happen.
12. So we all make mistakes.
13. Cliches aren't all bad. Just tricky.
1: You are not in a bubble.
Roleplaying is at heart a social event. Just like common culture likes to depict us we do sit around on our Friday evenings and do X amount of damage to the dragon we're fighting while screaming our battlecry or cowering in a corner and hoping the dragon doesn't notice you shooting arrows at it. When I played D&D in college it was more a social gathering than a game - we interacted with each other. The only thing is we're interacting with each other across a computer.
So when you login and create your character you are no longer by yourself. Remember this above all: you do not roleplay in a bubble. This is not your world. It belongs to everyone and you will be influenced by the actions of others around you. Your character will react to others. That is the nature of roleplaying. If you do not take into account other people's actions than you are roleplaying in a bubble and honestly, that's no fun. We don't want to sit back and be pawns in your little game. Go get some Barbie dolls and play make-believe if you want to do that. When you roleplay, be prepared to be influenced by others. Be ready to influence others. This is, after all, a social thing.
That being said, there is a wrong way to be influenced and influence others. Hopefully, if you've defined your character well-enough, we won't have to worry about that. But just in case, I'll cover it later.
2: Start Simple
This is probably the most common mistake I see people make. They try to cram in as much as they can about their character from the get-go. Now, sometimes if you have a very good idea, that's great! If it all clicks and you have your character, excellent. But let me tell you that doesn't happen very often.
I once had the 'joy' of roleplaying with someone who worked out every detail of his character's life. He was an exiled prince who turned to a life of banditry and spent most his time being emo about his oh-so-tragic past. Then there was the person who took his character and said, "I don't like this guy because he kills psychics." Guess which character turned out to be the most interesting and fun to roleplay with? The second.
The reason is you can adapt. Your character will mold him/herself around the roleplay because they aren't forced into your perfect model of what you want your character to be. They are flexible in their simplicity. That isn't to say they shouldn't have depth - by all means, give them depth - but you shouldn't set every little detail down about them in stone.
Another example. Cavral was strong but stupid. She didn't fit in (her family were glassblowers) and so she left to see more of the world. That simple. From there, the rest of the character can rise. It's like baking bread. You start simple with the dough and then let it expand into a fully baked loaf. Stupid metaphor, but hey, I hope you get the idea.
3. What's your theme?
Having a theme to a character is far better than having a carefully laid out personality. Again, it allows you to be flexible. Can you sit down and define yourself on a piece of paper? Write down every trait about yourself? Of course not. I could write down every emotion I have right now, get up tomorrow, and half of them will have changed. Maybe more. Realistic characters change too much for us to decide "my character is irritable, doesn't like talking, and looks down on others." Sure, that may be true, but it won't be true ALL the time. That's why you should have a theme, not a list of personality traits.
Can you write down your basic personality? Of course. I am headstrong, assertive, but prone to fits of low self-esteem every now and then. There is a myriad of other things true about me but these will change from day to day.
Do the same for your character. Define their theme. Are they someone who is outgoing? Or are they an introvert? Don't define their emotions - go deeper. Go to the core personality. Define that and let the emotions and personality traits come from that theme as they react to the situation and others around them.
Cavral's theme was the trusting idiot. She would willingly follow the people she trusted, even if they were subtly insulting her lack of intelligence all along. And in the end, her friends killed everyone in a guard tower and then blew up the building and left the captain's head on the ruins in vengeance to save her. It was because her theme grew into something they loved. The trusting idiot.
4. We're all flawed.
It is so tempting to think of what awesome things your character can do, especially in a game where we CAN do awesome things. DON'T. Banish that thought from your mind! I don't care how many epics you're wearing and how cool a spell you can cast. That is not your character. Your character is made interesting by what is WRONG with them.
Think about it for a moment. Han Solo. We love Han Solo. But he's got this small problem of being a bit of a scoundrel and dishonest with his monetary dealings... Or how about Illidan? He's awesome! We love him! He makes a great character! Too bad he's got an ego bigger than Outlands. See where I'm getting at?
Far too often flaws are tacked on to a character to balance out what is so awesome about a character. The exiled prince I mentioned earlier that I roleplayed with? He gave himself the flaw of a severe speech impediment to balance out his awesomeness. Half the time he forgot about it until our GM instated the rule of "before you say a word you role a die and then I say if you can talk or not." Drove us up a wall. But the other character I mentioned earlier... he started with a flaw. A horrible temper. And again, we loved roleplaying with him.
So figure out what is wrong with your character. What is their weak point? What do they struggle with? What personality trait annoys the heck out of other people? Your character could be multiple flaws. Once you've got that nailed down you can start building up other aspects because you've done the hardest part FIRST. You've put something in to balance your character before you go on to their good qualities. Just make sure your flaw is real and well-thought out. Don't tack it on to get past this step. Put some time into it.
Cavral's biggest flaw really wasn't her lack of intelligence. Her stupidity was more than being unable to read very well. It was her ignorant trust. I actually started a tally mark for every time she got captured/kidnapped/mind-controlled by an enemy because she was too trusting to realize something was wrong and I also couldn't roll anything higher than a 9 on will saves. And those led to some amazing roleplay moments.
5. But we've got some good traits too.
So now you know what is wrong with your character. But what is good about your character? Do they have something that makes them appealing to others, a reason that they're still around despite the flaw you just created? Of course. It's time to define that reason. It doesn't have to be anything major - I think for a lot of the guild you've already defined it. Loyalty is something I see a lot of. That's a good thing. It's a good trait to have. Maybe your character isn't perfect at it either. They don't have to be. But if they have a redeeming quality and strive towards this trait then they are just like anyone else you would meet in real life. We all have our faults and we all have our strengths we seek to improve on. So find out what is good about your character and let them struggle to make the most out of it.
Cavral's redeeming trait? Her loyalty. She would rush into danger recklessly to save a friend or someone she loved. She was also very driven to doing the right thing, so much so that she did eventually die due to those traits.
Your flaws and redeeming traits will interact with each other. They should. And the flaws should be defined first so that they don't wind up being a bandaid for an overly perfect character.
6. I don't want to hear your lifestory.
So Arthas burned down your village, killed you and your entire family, then you rose from the dead as a Forsaken and found out that Illidan had found your pet dog Snuffles wandering around and decided it would make a good sandwich. You have sworn revenge. That's nice. I'm sure you, like everyone else who has had a traumatic event happen to them, walk around the streets of Orgrimmar yelling "DEATH TO ILLIDAN! VENGEANCE FOR SNUFFLES!"
No. You have a backstory, yes, you have a home (or had a home) and may have had family or have family. Anything. You may have a very simple backstory or a very complicated one. Either way, you have a story to tell. It's just... you're not going to tell it right off the bat. We just don't operate like that, especially not if something bad has happened to us.
When I got sick (as some of you are aware of) the first thing I did was try and hide it. I continued trying to hide it and still do to some degree. Why? I don't want people to know. It's painful. The same is true of your character. If they have a painful past unless they have come to grips with it they will struggle with revealing it to people they don't really know that well. That's just our nature. If you really want to, lookup the five stages of loss. It may shed some light as to how your character will act depending on what stage they're in.
I'm not saying you shouldn't tell us anything about your backstory. We do want to know.... just not all at once and not right away. Consider it your box of candy. Every now and then you share a piece with us. But give us too much and we'll get sick on it.
I must admit, I didn't have a complex backstory for Cavral as I was new to roleplay. But she grew a complex story as our roleplay progressed. When someone she had a friendship with sacrificed himself to save her life and she realized he loved her (I about throttled the GM when I realized what he just did) she did not talk about it. It tainted what she did - after his death she changed but she did not broadcast it as the reason she was so driven to stop the evil that led to his death. It was just part of her, quietly there, sometimes appearing by the fact she carried his old sword.
And that's what makes your character interesting - the fact that you know there is more to them than what's been said. Drop a hint here and there. Comment that this reminds you of home... but get uncomfortable when asked how. Keep us wondering.
7. Sentimental value and other hobbies.
A good roleplay device is a trinket or something else of sentimental value. As mentioned above Cavral had a sword that she carried in rememberance. She had a number of small items like this: a necklace of the god she followed, a flute from a demi-god, the very same demi-god's hat (he eventually took it back), and a ferret she got from a bag of animals or whatever it was called that SOMEHOW survived the entire game. (the rolls I made for that ferret were amazing)
These trinkets can be used as conversation starters. "Why is someone like YOU wearing the hat of the deity I follow?!" They can also be used as conversation enders. "Why do you carry that swor...ah... sorry." Either way, everyone has something significant for them that may or may not be incredible. Cavral's hat was significant. But it was used in moderation - I never found out what it did because the GM kept the stats hidden. But there were other things that were meaningless, like the ferret. Let me give you a real life example. I earned a gold link at an SCA event (google SCA if you don't know them) because when I failed my fighter's authorization I looked them in the eyes, crying and all, accepted my failure, and then got back up and kept practicing to get better. And so the knight who failed me gave me a gold link for inspiring him with my tenacity. I wear it under my shirt when I'm having a bad day.
What does your character have? What is their demi-god's hat, sword of a lost love, or a simple gold link?
Hobbies can also be used. What does your character do in their free time? Cavral talked to her intelligent greatsword. (it had a higher intelligence than her.... ouch) Not much of a hobby, okay? So let's use Eonthane. He reads about Uther. As in, that paladin dude. Why on Azeroth would Eonthane read about Uther? I dunno. Ask him. Same goes for your character. What is their hobby? It can reveal a lot about someone's interests and thus their personality... and maybe even some of their flaws, redeeming traits, and even backstory.
8. You did WHAT?!
Without a doubt, a moment in time when your character did something incredible (ly stupid) is a great starter for roleplay. Make sure you've got such an incident. It can be something that happened during roleplay, such as when Molinu caught Warraven's pants on fire. Or it can be something that happened before your character met anyone else. Did you know Eonthane murdered a paladin? WHAT?! Yep. When your character is in a situation to confess to one of these incidents, take it. Don't detract from a current roleplay, but if the opportunity presents itself, take it. It'll make others see your character in a whole new light and will give you some material for your character. Cause we've all done something really stupid in our lives. Just ask Molinu about how he managed to blow up ramen, or how I didn't realize I bought laundry softener instead of laundry detergent. These are the things that make great stories. Have them on hand.
9. Strutting your stuff...
Eventually you do have to get down to appearance. This is low on the list because again, sometimes people go over the top. We all see the "mysterious girl with a haunted look in her eyes and shimmering golden hair." And we've all seen the "battle-scarred veteran with a single scar across his eye that somehow doesn't detract from his attrativeness." Okay. Let's not go there. Just don't. There are way too many appearance cliches and unless you feel like taking the hard route (see a later portion) it's best to just be careful and avoid them. Find the middle of the road. Go back to the theme of your character. Adjust from there.
When I created Cavral I made her average appearance, save for red hair cause I love red hair. Then as I looked at her stats I realized she'd be pretty buff for a girl due to her strength but not necessarily all that attractive. When I made Eonthane I took middle of the road and then adjusted due to the fact he's squishy and made him skinny, emaciated, and slightly effeminate due the long hair and robes. Yes, he's attractive. But one good punch and you break half his ribs.
Think of appearance as a sliding scale. You start in the middle, then go back and forth between what you want. For everything you give yourself (sexy!) you take something away. (hmph. Arrogant pretty boy).
10. Yes, there's a reason powers are last to be defined.
It's not that having power is a -bad- thing. After all, without it, we'd never make it past the starting zone, much less into Outlands. However, all too often people start by defining what their character can do rather than what they can't. That's why we started by defining their flaws - their limitations. It keeps things from getting out of hand.
Remember my earlier example about how Cavral had the hat of a demi-god? I never found out what stats it had. The GM kept those to himself and modified any rolls accordingly. Why? Because it was an incredibly powerful artifact and if I were to abuse it, it could be game-breaking. (that and he liked to play tricks on people)
The same is true with whatever powers you chose. No matter how AWESOME it would be to have unlimited power you simply cannot do that. Pick your powers carefully. Think about your flaws. What can your character not do? What does that prevent them from doing well? In turn, what CAN they do? That will give you their powers.
Abilities and power is like a system of checks and balances. You have to have something to balance things out or else you WILL ruin the roleplay for everyone else. Always keep in mind your circumstances. Is your character injured? I doubt they'll be able to stand up against someone who is uninjured then.
It's hard to describe how to pick powers. I think it can be summed up with one word: moderation. You do not have to be powerful to be an interesting character. Furthermore, by practicing restraint on what you can do, you don't escalate other people's characters. It's like a nasty cycle - if you can do something amazing, then someone else has to compensate to keep you in check. And that will kill a roleplay. So define your character by who they are, not what they can do, not what they have, and not by anything else that gives them an unfair advantage.
11. Bad things happen.
Do not be afraid to let something bad happen to your character. I don't mean as part of your character's history either - far too often a character has a tragic past in which awful things happened... but that's it. They live a normal life from that point on while sometimes grieving over the fact the lost Fluffy due to Illidan wanting a sandwich. I would go so far as to say don't let bad things happen as part of your character's backstory. Sure, this is a war-torn land, but not everyone is going to be betrayed/demon possessed/lose everything they love. They'll have rough pasts because all the races have suffered, but again, look at #10. Moderation.
Bad things do happen though. They're just more interesting when they happen NOW. So don't worry about keeping what happens to your character under control - it'll be far more interesting if you let something unexpected happen. You are not in full control of your character. You are interacting with others. And sometimes, things go wrong.
Besides, I got my poor Cavral mind-controlled and kidnapped by a psuedo-dragon. I would have been embarrassed but it'd happened so often that it was becoming routine.
12. So we all make mistakes.
Character development is not easy. There are a lot of traps to fall in because honestly, the reason we roleplay is to identify with someone else. Now here's the tricky part. If you identify with your character too strongly they become you and you want them to excel in everything and be safe from harm, as that's what we want in real life. You must think of your character as completely separate from yourself. Otherwise, we tend to make mistakes. Here's a list of some of the most common ones. There's far more. But these are the worst.
- 'controlling' the roleplay. You have a story. You want it to go to point X. But the instant you decided to roleplay you brought other people into the equation and you may wind up at point XY. Roll with this. If you feel you're being completely hijacked, speak up in OOC, or ask an officer to help. Otherwise, let other's interact with your character instead of just watching.
- Cliches. I'll address these next. But unless you know what you're doing, stay far, far away.
- Hijacking. I mentioned it above. Roleplay is give and take and it also requires patience. When playing D&D our GM would often point to a person and say, "You're on hold." What that meant is that the character in question was no longer in the scene and would have to wait. They could not interact because it was time for someone else to be in the spotlight. The same is true here - when someone is having a pivotal moment in their character's life it is not the time for you to reveal YOUR pivotal moment. You can interact with the person currently roleplaying - please do! - but remember: you are on hold. Don't try and hijack the roleplay to what you want.
- Losing track. Even I do this. Sometimes things can get a bit confusing and you lose track of who is where and what they're doing. Ask in the OOC channel! If you're confused, you may not be the only one, and everyone may need to step back and take a breather and refresh on what is going on.
- On the note of losing track, patience is another huge mistake. Or rather, a lack of. A large source of confusion can come from people being impatient and plowing ahead with what they want to say or their own storyline without waiting for others to react. That leaves people in the dust wondering what just stormed by. Give people time to respond, let yourself have time to let things play out.
13. Cliches aren't all bad. Just tricky.
Let me list some cliches. Last of a clan. Royalty in disguise/exile/didn't know. Half-breed whatever. Demon-possessed/pact with evil entity. Owner of a one-of-a-kind artifact of incredible power. Imbued with power from a deity. The youngest to be inducted into whatever fighting/magical group. The most accomplished at X - ever. Fluent in all languages. Color-changing eyes. Runaway/lost their parents at a very young age. Lost their true love in some tragedy. Part of an obscure cult with nefarious plans. I could go on and on.
Now, these aren't always bad things. They just usually are because they're tricky to pull off. And I mean very tricky. Now, I've read plenty of fiction where a character hit very hard on some of the above-mentioned cliches. So how do they do it? They have a very strongly defined character so that the cliches are part of who they are, rather than WHAT they are. There is a difference.
If you've been paying attention you'll notice my example, Cavral, hit a lot of those cliches. She hit some more I didn't mention. But yet, when she finally died there were tears instead of relief to have her gone. Why? Because what happened to her came out of her personality - she started simple. She started with flaws. Her powers did not define her. And when a cliche hit it fit seamlessly into the storyline. Let me give you an example. Which would you prefer:
You meet Cavral. She is carrying an intelligent sword that allows her to turn into a half-dragon, grow wings, and is wearing the hat of a demi-god. She has a haunted look on her face because she lost the man she loved - twice - and is driven only to destroy the evil that is responsible for his death. You find this all out in a very short period of time and that's about it.
You meet Cavral. She has a strange sword and a battered hat and her armor is worn. She's friendly, a bit naive, and really strikes you as being way on the low end of intelligence. There's something you can't put your finger on, that she seems to have a goal and that something bad happened to put her on this path, but you don't find out right away, or at all. Heck, unless you follow her around you'll never see her turn into a half-dragon or sprout wings.
Which would you prefer to roleplay with? They both have the same traits. But one version is defined by personality and the other is defined by these traits, which are cliches. If you elect to use a cliche make sure you have a character first. It can be woven into who they are but it cannot be who they are. Define them first. Then add in the extras. Cliches can be the icing on the cake - but only if done right. Your character is not your cliche. Your character is not you. Your character is your character.
In closing, I'd just like to say that this is all based on personal experience. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you want to know what's gone through my head when I've designed characters, let me know. I'll pull some out of my bag and explain it. And remember - these things take practice. A plot-driven roleplay is fine but a character-driven roleplay is even better. Strive for that. And don't be afraid to make mistakes, to learn, and to ask or receive advice. That's why I wrote this, after all.
The intent of this workshop is to help people when they design their characters and give some tips for those who would like to work on adding more depth to their characters. As someone who has created countless characters both for roleplay and writing I'll shall what I've found works for me and helps avoid some common problems creating a character poorly can cause. I will be using a character of mine as an example. Her name is Cavral and I learned to roleplay with her. (human warrior D&D ftw!)
Contents:
1. You are not in a bubble.
2. Start simple.
3. What's your theme?
4. We're all flawed.
5. But we've got some good traits too.
6. I don't want to hear your lifestory.
7. Sentimental value and other hobbies.
8. You did WHAT?!
9. Strutting your stuff...
10. Yes, there's a reason powers are last to be defined.
11. Bad things happen.
12. So we all make mistakes.
13. Cliches aren't all bad. Just tricky.
1: You are not in a bubble.
Roleplaying is at heart a social event. Just like common culture likes to depict us we do sit around on our Friday evenings and do X amount of damage to the dragon we're fighting while screaming our battlecry or cowering in a corner and hoping the dragon doesn't notice you shooting arrows at it. When I played D&D in college it was more a social gathering than a game - we interacted with each other. The only thing is we're interacting with each other across a computer.
So when you login and create your character you are no longer by yourself. Remember this above all: you do not roleplay in a bubble. This is not your world. It belongs to everyone and you will be influenced by the actions of others around you. Your character will react to others. That is the nature of roleplaying. If you do not take into account other people's actions than you are roleplaying in a bubble and honestly, that's no fun. We don't want to sit back and be pawns in your little game. Go get some Barbie dolls and play make-believe if you want to do that. When you roleplay, be prepared to be influenced by others. Be ready to influence others. This is, after all, a social thing.
That being said, there is a wrong way to be influenced and influence others. Hopefully, if you've defined your character well-enough, we won't have to worry about that. But just in case, I'll cover it later.
2: Start Simple
This is probably the most common mistake I see people make. They try to cram in as much as they can about their character from the get-go. Now, sometimes if you have a very good idea, that's great! If it all clicks and you have your character, excellent. But let me tell you that doesn't happen very often.
I once had the 'joy' of roleplaying with someone who worked out every detail of his character's life. He was an exiled prince who turned to a life of banditry and spent most his time being emo about his oh-so-tragic past. Then there was the person who took his character and said, "I don't like this guy because he kills psychics." Guess which character turned out to be the most interesting and fun to roleplay with? The second.
The reason is you can adapt. Your character will mold him/herself around the roleplay because they aren't forced into your perfect model of what you want your character to be. They are flexible in their simplicity. That isn't to say they shouldn't have depth - by all means, give them depth - but you shouldn't set every little detail down about them in stone.
Another example. Cavral was strong but stupid. She didn't fit in (her family were glassblowers) and so she left to see more of the world. That simple. From there, the rest of the character can rise. It's like baking bread. You start simple with the dough and then let it expand into a fully baked loaf. Stupid metaphor, but hey, I hope you get the idea.
3. What's your theme?
Having a theme to a character is far better than having a carefully laid out personality. Again, it allows you to be flexible. Can you sit down and define yourself on a piece of paper? Write down every trait about yourself? Of course not. I could write down every emotion I have right now, get up tomorrow, and half of them will have changed. Maybe more. Realistic characters change too much for us to decide "my character is irritable, doesn't like talking, and looks down on others." Sure, that may be true, but it won't be true ALL the time. That's why you should have a theme, not a list of personality traits.
Can you write down your basic personality? Of course. I am headstrong, assertive, but prone to fits of low self-esteem every now and then. There is a myriad of other things true about me but these will change from day to day.
Do the same for your character. Define their theme. Are they someone who is outgoing? Or are they an introvert? Don't define their emotions - go deeper. Go to the core personality. Define that and let the emotions and personality traits come from that theme as they react to the situation and others around them.
Cavral's theme was the trusting idiot. She would willingly follow the people she trusted, even if they were subtly insulting her lack of intelligence all along. And in the end, her friends killed everyone in a guard tower and then blew up the building and left the captain's head on the ruins in vengeance to save her. It was because her theme grew into something they loved. The trusting idiot.
4. We're all flawed.
It is so tempting to think of what awesome things your character can do, especially in a game where we CAN do awesome things. DON'T. Banish that thought from your mind! I don't care how many epics you're wearing and how cool a spell you can cast. That is not your character. Your character is made interesting by what is WRONG with them.
Think about it for a moment. Han Solo. We love Han Solo. But he's got this small problem of being a bit of a scoundrel and dishonest with his monetary dealings... Or how about Illidan? He's awesome! We love him! He makes a great character! Too bad he's got an ego bigger than Outlands. See where I'm getting at?
Far too often flaws are tacked on to a character to balance out what is so awesome about a character. The exiled prince I mentioned earlier that I roleplayed with? He gave himself the flaw of a severe speech impediment to balance out his awesomeness. Half the time he forgot about it until our GM instated the rule of "before you say a word you role a die and then I say if you can talk or not." Drove us up a wall. But the other character I mentioned earlier... he started with a flaw. A horrible temper. And again, we loved roleplaying with him.
So figure out what is wrong with your character. What is their weak point? What do they struggle with? What personality trait annoys the heck out of other people? Your character could be multiple flaws. Once you've got that nailed down you can start building up other aspects because you've done the hardest part FIRST. You've put something in to balance your character before you go on to their good qualities. Just make sure your flaw is real and well-thought out. Don't tack it on to get past this step. Put some time into it.
Cavral's biggest flaw really wasn't her lack of intelligence. Her stupidity was more than being unable to read very well. It was her ignorant trust. I actually started a tally mark for every time she got captured/kidnapped/mind-controlled by an enemy because she was too trusting to realize something was wrong and I also couldn't roll anything higher than a 9 on will saves. And those led to some amazing roleplay moments.
5. But we've got some good traits too.
So now you know what is wrong with your character. But what is good about your character? Do they have something that makes them appealing to others, a reason that they're still around despite the flaw you just created? Of course. It's time to define that reason. It doesn't have to be anything major - I think for a lot of the guild you've already defined it. Loyalty is something I see a lot of. That's a good thing. It's a good trait to have. Maybe your character isn't perfect at it either. They don't have to be. But if they have a redeeming quality and strive towards this trait then they are just like anyone else you would meet in real life. We all have our faults and we all have our strengths we seek to improve on. So find out what is good about your character and let them struggle to make the most out of it.
Cavral's redeeming trait? Her loyalty. She would rush into danger recklessly to save a friend or someone she loved. She was also very driven to doing the right thing, so much so that she did eventually die due to those traits.
Your flaws and redeeming traits will interact with each other. They should. And the flaws should be defined first so that they don't wind up being a bandaid for an overly perfect character.
6. I don't want to hear your lifestory.
So Arthas burned down your village, killed you and your entire family, then you rose from the dead as a Forsaken and found out that Illidan had found your pet dog Snuffles wandering around and decided it would make a good sandwich. You have sworn revenge. That's nice. I'm sure you, like everyone else who has had a traumatic event happen to them, walk around the streets of Orgrimmar yelling "DEATH TO ILLIDAN! VENGEANCE FOR SNUFFLES!"
No. You have a backstory, yes, you have a home (or had a home) and may have had family or have family. Anything. You may have a very simple backstory or a very complicated one. Either way, you have a story to tell. It's just... you're not going to tell it right off the bat. We just don't operate like that, especially not if something bad has happened to us.
When I got sick (as some of you are aware of) the first thing I did was try and hide it. I continued trying to hide it and still do to some degree. Why? I don't want people to know. It's painful. The same is true of your character. If they have a painful past unless they have come to grips with it they will struggle with revealing it to people they don't really know that well. That's just our nature. If you really want to, lookup the five stages of loss. It may shed some light as to how your character will act depending on what stage they're in.
I'm not saying you shouldn't tell us anything about your backstory. We do want to know.... just not all at once and not right away. Consider it your box of candy. Every now and then you share a piece with us. But give us too much and we'll get sick on it.
I must admit, I didn't have a complex backstory for Cavral as I was new to roleplay. But she grew a complex story as our roleplay progressed. When someone she had a friendship with sacrificed himself to save her life and she realized he loved her (I about throttled the GM when I realized what he just did) she did not talk about it. It tainted what she did - after his death she changed but she did not broadcast it as the reason she was so driven to stop the evil that led to his death. It was just part of her, quietly there, sometimes appearing by the fact she carried his old sword.
And that's what makes your character interesting - the fact that you know there is more to them than what's been said. Drop a hint here and there. Comment that this reminds you of home... but get uncomfortable when asked how. Keep us wondering.
7. Sentimental value and other hobbies.
A good roleplay device is a trinket or something else of sentimental value. As mentioned above Cavral had a sword that she carried in rememberance. She had a number of small items like this: a necklace of the god she followed, a flute from a demi-god, the very same demi-god's hat (he eventually took it back), and a ferret she got from a bag of animals or whatever it was called that SOMEHOW survived the entire game. (the rolls I made for that ferret were amazing)
These trinkets can be used as conversation starters. "Why is someone like YOU wearing the hat of the deity I follow?!" They can also be used as conversation enders. "Why do you carry that swor...ah... sorry." Either way, everyone has something significant for them that may or may not be incredible. Cavral's hat was significant. But it was used in moderation - I never found out what it did because the GM kept the stats hidden. But there were other things that were meaningless, like the ferret. Let me give you a real life example. I earned a gold link at an SCA event (google SCA if you don't know them) because when I failed my fighter's authorization I looked them in the eyes, crying and all, accepted my failure, and then got back up and kept practicing to get better. And so the knight who failed me gave me a gold link for inspiring him with my tenacity. I wear it under my shirt when I'm having a bad day.
What does your character have? What is their demi-god's hat, sword of a lost love, or a simple gold link?
Hobbies can also be used. What does your character do in their free time? Cavral talked to her intelligent greatsword. (it had a higher intelligence than her.... ouch) Not much of a hobby, okay? So let's use Eonthane. He reads about Uther. As in, that paladin dude. Why on Azeroth would Eonthane read about Uther? I dunno. Ask him. Same goes for your character. What is their hobby? It can reveal a lot about someone's interests and thus their personality... and maybe even some of their flaws, redeeming traits, and even backstory.
8. You did WHAT?!
Without a doubt, a moment in time when your character did something incredible (ly stupid) is a great starter for roleplay. Make sure you've got such an incident. It can be something that happened during roleplay, such as when Molinu caught Warraven's pants on fire. Or it can be something that happened before your character met anyone else. Did you know Eonthane murdered a paladin? WHAT?! Yep. When your character is in a situation to confess to one of these incidents, take it. Don't detract from a current roleplay, but if the opportunity presents itself, take it. It'll make others see your character in a whole new light and will give you some material for your character. Cause we've all done something really stupid in our lives. Just ask Molinu about how he managed to blow up ramen, or how I didn't realize I bought laundry softener instead of laundry detergent. These are the things that make great stories. Have them on hand.
9. Strutting your stuff...
Eventually you do have to get down to appearance. This is low on the list because again, sometimes people go over the top. We all see the "mysterious girl with a haunted look in her eyes and shimmering golden hair." And we've all seen the "battle-scarred veteran with a single scar across his eye that somehow doesn't detract from his attrativeness." Okay. Let's not go there. Just don't. There are way too many appearance cliches and unless you feel like taking the hard route (see a later portion) it's best to just be careful and avoid them. Find the middle of the road. Go back to the theme of your character. Adjust from there.
When I created Cavral I made her average appearance, save for red hair cause I love red hair. Then as I looked at her stats I realized she'd be pretty buff for a girl due to her strength but not necessarily all that attractive. When I made Eonthane I took middle of the road and then adjusted due to the fact he's squishy and made him skinny, emaciated, and slightly effeminate due the long hair and robes. Yes, he's attractive. But one good punch and you break half his ribs.
Think of appearance as a sliding scale. You start in the middle, then go back and forth between what you want. For everything you give yourself (sexy!) you take something away. (hmph. Arrogant pretty boy).
10. Yes, there's a reason powers are last to be defined.
It's not that having power is a -bad- thing. After all, without it, we'd never make it past the starting zone, much less into Outlands. However, all too often people start by defining what their character can do rather than what they can't. That's why we started by defining their flaws - their limitations. It keeps things from getting out of hand.
Remember my earlier example about how Cavral had the hat of a demi-god? I never found out what stats it had. The GM kept those to himself and modified any rolls accordingly. Why? Because it was an incredibly powerful artifact and if I were to abuse it, it could be game-breaking. (that and he liked to play tricks on people)
The same is true with whatever powers you chose. No matter how AWESOME it would be to have unlimited power you simply cannot do that. Pick your powers carefully. Think about your flaws. What can your character not do? What does that prevent them from doing well? In turn, what CAN they do? That will give you their powers.
Abilities and power is like a system of checks and balances. You have to have something to balance things out or else you WILL ruin the roleplay for everyone else. Always keep in mind your circumstances. Is your character injured? I doubt they'll be able to stand up against someone who is uninjured then.
It's hard to describe how to pick powers. I think it can be summed up with one word: moderation. You do not have to be powerful to be an interesting character. Furthermore, by practicing restraint on what you can do, you don't escalate other people's characters. It's like a nasty cycle - if you can do something amazing, then someone else has to compensate to keep you in check. And that will kill a roleplay. So define your character by who they are, not what they can do, not what they have, and not by anything else that gives them an unfair advantage.
11. Bad things happen.
Do not be afraid to let something bad happen to your character. I don't mean as part of your character's history either - far too often a character has a tragic past in which awful things happened... but that's it. They live a normal life from that point on while sometimes grieving over the fact the lost Fluffy due to Illidan wanting a sandwich. I would go so far as to say don't let bad things happen as part of your character's backstory. Sure, this is a war-torn land, but not everyone is going to be betrayed/demon possessed/lose everything they love. They'll have rough pasts because all the races have suffered, but again, look at #10. Moderation.
Bad things do happen though. They're just more interesting when they happen NOW. So don't worry about keeping what happens to your character under control - it'll be far more interesting if you let something unexpected happen. You are not in full control of your character. You are interacting with others. And sometimes, things go wrong.
Besides, I got my poor Cavral mind-controlled and kidnapped by a psuedo-dragon. I would have been embarrassed but it'd happened so often that it was becoming routine.
12. So we all make mistakes.
Character development is not easy. There are a lot of traps to fall in because honestly, the reason we roleplay is to identify with someone else. Now here's the tricky part. If you identify with your character too strongly they become you and you want them to excel in everything and be safe from harm, as that's what we want in real life. You must think of your character as completely separate from yourself. Otherwise, we tend to make mistakes. Here's a list of some of the most common ones. There's far more. But these are the worst.
- 'controlling' the roleplay. You have a story. You want it to go to point X. But the instant you decided to roleplay you brought other people into the equation and you may wind up at point XY. Roll with this. If you feel you're being completely hijacked, speak up in OOC, or ask an officer to help. Otherwise, let other's interact with your character instead of just watching.
- Cliches. I'll address these next. But unless you know what you're doing, stay far, far away.
- Hijacking. I mentioned it above. Roleplay is give and take and it also requires patience. When playing D&D our GM would often point to a person and say, "You're on hold." What that meant is that the character in question was no longer in the scene and would have to wait. They could not interact because it was time for someone else to be in the spotlight. The same is true here - when someone is having a pivotal moment in their character's life it is not the time for you to reveal YOUR pivotal moment. You can interact with the person currently roleplaying - please do! - but remember: you are on hold. Don't try and hijack the roleplay to what you want.
- Losing track. Even I do this. Sometimes things can get a bit confusing and you lose track of who is where and what they're doing. Ask in the OOC channel! If you're confused, you may not be the only one, and everyone may need to step back and take a breather and refresh on what is going on.
- On the note of losing track, patience is another huge mistake. Or rather, a lack of. A large source of confusion can come from people being impatient and plowing ahead with what they want to say or their own storyline without waiting for others to react. That leaves people in the dust wondering what just stormed by. Give people time to respond, let yourself have time to let things play out.
13. Cliches aren't all bad. Just tricky.
Let me list some cliches. Last of a clan. Royalty in disguise/exile/didn't know. Half-breed whatever. Demon-possessed/pact with evil entity. Owner of a one-of-a-kind artifact of incredible power. Imbued with power from a deity. The youngest to be inducted into whatever fighting/magical group. The most accomplished at X - ever. Fluent in all languages. Color-changing eyes. Runaway/lost their parents at a very young age. Lost their true love in some tragedy. Part of an obscure cult with nefarious plans. I could go on and on.
Now, these aren't always bad things. They just usually are because they're tricky to pull off. And I mean very tricky. Now, I've read plenty of fiction where a character hit very hard on some of the above-mentioned cliches. So how do they do it? They have a very strongly defined character so that the cliches are part of who they are, rather than WHAT they are. There is a difference.
If you've been paying attention you'll notice my example, Cavral, hit a lot of those cliches. She hit some more I didn't mention. But yet, when she finally died there were tears instead of relief to have her gone. Why? Because what happened to her came out of her personality - she started simple. She started with flaws. Her powers did not define her. And when a cliche hit it fit seamlessly into the storyline. Let me give you an example. Which would you prefer:
You meet Cavral. She is carrying an intelligent sword that allows her to turn into a half-dragon, grow wings, and is wearing the hat of a demi-god. She has a haunted look on her face because she lost the man she loved - twice - and is driven only to destroy the evil that is responsible for his death. You find this all out in a very short period of time and that's about it.
You meet Cavral. She has a strange sword and a battered hat and her armor is worn. She's friendly, a bit naive, and really strikes you as being way on the low end of intelligence. There's something you can't put your finger on, that she seems to have a goal and that something bad happened to put her on this path, but you don't find out right away, or at all. Heck, unless you follow her around you'll never see her turn into a half-dragon or sprout wings.
Which would you prefer to roleplay with? They both have the same traits. But one version is defined by personality and the other is defined by these traits, which are cliches. If you elect to use a cliche make sure you have a character first. It can be woven into who they are but it cannot be who they are. Define them first. Then add in the extras. Cliches can be the icing on the cake - but only if done right. Your character is not your cliche. Your character is not you. Your character is your character.
In closing, I'd just like to say that this is all based on personal experience. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you want to know what's gone through my head when I've designed characters, let me know. I'll pull some out of my bag and explain it. And remember - these things take practice. A plot-driven roleplay is fine but a character-driven roleplay is even better. Strive for that. And don't be afraid to make mistakes, to learn, and to ask or receive advice. That's why I wrote this, after all.