One of the things I go for when creating a character or (as a DM) approaching an NPC that has already been described is to really look at the motivations and circumstances of that character.
So the old actor's line goes: "What's my motivation?"
I'll take one of the initial NPCs from Rise of the Runelords. You don't necessarily have to see them as they are written.
Kendra Deverin is described as "Kendra Deverin has served as Sandpoint’s mayor for the past eight years. Lawmaker, judge, and general peacemaker, Deverin has proven to be both an adept diplomat and stern hand when need be—skills likely honed during her youth in Magnimar and adventuring in the region. With a personal—some say sisterly—style of governing, Kendra holds the abiding respect of most of Sandpoint’s people, charming them with her fiery temper and tenacity for justice (as dem-onstrated during the Late Unpleasantness). A council of several of the town’s most respected and affluent landowners aids Deverin’s work. While several councilmembers have their own agendas and visions for the town, the mayor’s no-nonsense attitude assures that council decisions ever work toward the common good."
Now from this description, I roleplay her like Hillary Clinton. She's dedicated. I thought about what kind of background would fit her best and came to the conclusion that a upper-middle class (maybe even noble) upbringing in Magnimar would suit her. So she's from a wealthy family in Magnimar, but she wanted to go out and prove herself on her own. Thus the move to Sandpoint and climbing the political ladder there.
So far it's worked really well in this campaign.
For PCs, I do the same thing. I work from a skeleton concept of personality and history and then try and make the stats fit the character. Sometimes that means having a low stat, so be it. Sometimes it means taking a feat that makes sense for the character and not any sense for the build. So be it. Sometimes it means putting a lot of ranks in a skill that isn't very useful in an adventurer's daily life. So be it.
What do you think? How do you approach character creation from a roleplaying aspect?
One of the things I go for when creating a character or (as a DM) approaching an NPC that has already been described is to really look at the motivations and circumstances of that character.
So the old actor's line goes: "What's my motivation?"
I'll take one of the initial NPCs from Rise of the Runelords. You don't necessarily have to see them as they are written.
Kendra Deverin is described as "Kendra Deverin has served as Sandpoint’s mayor for the past eight years. Lawmaker, judge, and general peacemaker, Deverin has proven to be both an adept diplomat and stern hand when need be—skills likely honed during her youth in Magnimar and adventuring in the region. With a personal—some say sisterly—style of governing, Kendra holds the abiding respect of most of Sandpoint’s people, charming them with her fiery temper and tenacity for justice (as dem-onstrated during the Late Unpleasantness). A council of several of the town’s most respected and affluent landowners aids Deverin’s work. While several councilmembers have their own agendas and visions for the town, the mayor’s no-nonsense attitude assures that council decisions ever work toward the common good."
Now from this description, I roleplay her like Hillary Clinton. She's dedicated. I thought about what kind of background would fit her best and came to the conclusion that a upper-middle class (maybe even noble) upbringing in Magnimar would suit her. So she's from a wealthy family in Magnimar, but she wanted to go out and prove herself on her own. Thus the move to Sandpoint and climbing the political ladder there.
So far it's worked really well in this campaign.
For PCs, I do the same thing. I work from a skeleton concept of personality and history and then try and make the stats fit the character. Sometimes that means having a low stat, so be it. Sometimes it means taking a feat that makes sense for the character and not any sense for the build. So be it. Sometimes it means putting a lot of ranks in a skill that isn't very useful in an...
For it is about taking a concept which i have already formed and making the Statistics fit the concept. Ideally I choose classes who's background fit, but i am not opposed to ignoring elements traditionally associated with a class, if i feel this will lead to a more accurate and interesting stat block for the NPC.
For instance, if a character is know for his foul temper and drunken brawls, I am happy to give him a level of barbarian to provide a mechanicial outlet for a core element of his concept.
For instance, if a character is know for his foul temper and drunken brawls, I am happy to give him a level of barbarian to provide a mechanicial outlet for a core element of his concept.
I'm not understanding why that would be necessary. That's one way to do it, but why should we as roleplayers rely on one of the classes to define who we are. You could make any class with that same personality trait. It may not fit the typical archetype of that class, but that's where the fun is.
But I guess, that's the difficulty of the discussion. My real question is, where do you get your character concepts and how do you create the character?
For instance, if a character is know for his foul temper and drunken brawls, I am happy to give him a level of barbarian to provide a mechanicial outlet for a core element of his concept.I'm not understanding why that would be necessary. That's one way to do it, but why should we as roleplayers rely on one of the classes to define who we are. You could make any class with that same personality trait. It may not fit the typical archetype of that class, but that's where the fun is.
But I guess, that's the difficulty of the discussion. My real question is, where do you get your character concepts and how do you create the character?
Why is it important to reflect personality traits mechanically? Because mechanics are how we define credibility to actions withing the game world SIS. It is important to reflect an NPCs mental health issue, anger mannagement problems, or social oddities for the same reason that one needs to apply mechanics to combat.
If all i say about a NPC is that they have a temper, how that interacts with the characters is left entirely in my hands. While it might seem reasonable to say, 'no your attempts to provoke randolfs temper fails because i am unconvinced that your approach would work.', consider if the following statement would be acceptable in combat 'no, your attempt to hit to hit randolf and do him harm fails because i am unconvinced that your approach would work.'
By reflecting a character as accurately as possible in mechanical terms, you provide a more level field on which the PCs can play. Ofcause giving a level of barbarian is a clumsy way of reflecting an especially bad temper, but class based systems are fairly clumsy systems for creating holistic characters.
By reflecting a character as accurately as possible in mechanical terms, you provide a more level field on which the PCs can play.
I think my question is, why is that necessary? How does that enhance the game? If I had to have a mechanic to reflect every personality trait about my character, I'd have a huge character sheet or I'd need a class/prestige class to reflect any number of different possible characters or a multitude of skills.
Certain numbers can hint at certain roleplaying characteristics, but I shouldn't need a numerical characteristic to determine everything about my character.
By reflecting a character as accurately as possible in mechanical terms, you provide a more level field on which the PCs can play.I think my question is, why is that necessary? How does that enhance the game? If I had to have a mechanic to reflect every personality trait about my character, I'd have a huge character sheet or I'd need a class/prestige class to reflect any number of different possible characters or a multitude of skills.
Certain numbers can hint at certain roleplaying characteristics, but I shouldn't need a numerical characteristic to determine everything about my character.
Clearly, some character traits will not translate well into mechanical effects and many will be irrelivant in the grand scheme of things or can be reflected in general trends.
Certainly, the fact that Mrs. Miggs the creepy housekeeper prefers cats to dogs, probably isn't going to effect most games to the extend that it requires anything more than existing mechanical details to cover. It tends to be the exceptions that need to be covered in detail.
I also use props. So when I know the character concept, I think about which (mundane and magical) items fit the character. When a character is e.g. a gentleman, he has a walking stick. If he is a gentleman with a secret, he might have a weapon hidden within the walking stick, etc. When introducing the character during play I describe such details to the players and let them draw conclusions.
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
I REALLY like my characters to be tied as deeply as possible into the background information. This is true of PCs I create or PCs in game I am running.
If I am creating a character I read through anything and everything I can get my hands on about the game. This includes anything about the world that it takes place in and any specifics that I can get the DM to provide.
If I am running a game I try my best to work with the players to steer whatever they would like in their backgrounds to include as much from the campaign as possible. In some cases I will actually offer to insert something into their background whole cloth, but this requires the approval of the players. This has worked well enough to date that my players have even said they would be happy with just being given premade characters (I did this for a one shot CoC game that they have asked to turn into a longer running game).
All that said, I also like to play a character that fits well into the needs of the group. I don't see this as constraining my creativity as there is a lot of character ideas that I think would be fun to play. I guess the important part here is to not make the choice on what character I would like to play until I see what will work best with the group.
I also think it is a great idea for the group as a whole to come up with a background prior to coming up with individual character ideas. This then allows them all to build concepts that will work together and have a reason for being together (although I have yet to have a group buy into this).
An example of that would be a group of people who all lived in the same neighborhood as kids. They all went to the same school run by a local priest. After they all left the neighborhood was taken over by street thugs and only the Father would stand up to them... a trait which they killed him for. The campaign then might start with the Father's funeral. The PCs all find out individually the affects on the neighborhood and their family, then they all find themselves bemoning the situation over drinks at the Father's wake and decide to do something about it.
It gives the Player's a lot of leeway on what type of character they would like to play while still giving them all a common ground and reason to be together. You still need to get everyone to agree to a ground rule that they must make a character interested in working with the group (the druid who refuses to ever enter a city is a good example of someone making a character that may not work in a group... or the rogue who always runs off on his own with his own agendas... they can be great stories but are not the stories being told).
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
Once I know what will fit well with the group and what others are playing, I try to look at what my options are and if any of them sound interesting to me to play.
I then work up the character's sheet and then build a background to match the history and notes I have on the campaign.
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
I guess I feel that a persons experiences build their personality. On the other hand if inspiration has struck and I have a personality first, then I will work the backstory to make it fit. So... either?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
What ever I wrote up in their backstory? Not sure what you mean by this one.
Sean Mahoney
|
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
At the moment I always play two characters.
So I think about how I want them to interact, how their relationship will function.
\everything else flows from that.
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?What ever I wrote up in their backstory? Not sure what you mean by this one.
This is an acting question. Since you're not the character, how do you empathize with the character and make their emotions your own. For example, when someone has to give the mayor of Sandpoint bad news, I try desperately hard to make it seem like she's trying to keep her composure amidst all the danger and evil she knows is at the door. As a result, the players can sense her tension and constantly tell her to "relax, everything is under control". I try to imagine my own frustration in situations where I've felt out of control or my life was in someone else's hands.
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
1) MOVIES, Video Games, Random pop culture, My imagination and/or some combination thereof. I'm a big fan of Mel Brooks, The Zucker Brothers, The Tick, The Maxx, Courage the Cowardly Dog, etc. I do tend to enjoy playing the dumb and/or silly, but have played more serious characters usually bent towards a goal/quest.
2) Race usually seems the most important decision to me when deciding how I want to ROLEplay something and have fun doing it, but Class and Alignment can swing a concept in a completely different direction.
3) Personality first, backstory pieces together as the character's statistics start falling into place. (Class, Alignment, feats, skills, equipment, etc.) Personality has changed once or twice after a character was completed in the past, such as a Kobold Outrider(Druid-Boar) remake from 2E with the realization that it would be way more fun in 3.5E to make a Kobold Arcane Hierophant (also mounted on companion-Boar), which is better suited to a smaller race and what I like to call "Blaster Master" via Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome. Little smart guy on the Big hulking beater.
Sometimes a single class ability will be what I focus on and build the character up from there, good example being Wildshape or Favored Enemy.
4) I'm not entirely certain I draw upon ANY emotions to portray my characters, but I do tend to use props when appropriate, as someone else mentioned above.
My most recent example would be a straw cut up into cigarette lengths and a D-ring for a sparker(Arms & Equipment) aka Lighter. I don't smoke, it was more durable and cheaper than buying something I wasn't going to actually use. It was a Human Rogue/Marshal who wouldn't consider disarming a trap until he had his cigarette lit, and then he would talk to (& answer) himself, being as he was more of a street thug than a dungeoneer... traps made him extremely nervous. (Overall personality was similar Lex Luthor from Smallville, always coveting power, but being stuck within his father's shadow.)
Hope that provides some interesting incite. :)
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
1. Books, comics, movies, music, art & history generally all mashed into the sausage machine of my imagination... can be a tiny thing [quirk or look] to a full blooded concept or culture.
2. I suppose the concept will guide my decisions regards class, skills, feats, equipment - both "crunch" and "colour" will be influenced to varying degrees. That can [has] been problematic [ie: brainfreeze] when the concept doesn't quite fit and that can niggle me to the point of inertia [or asking for feedback on the boards lol]
3. Mmmm. Depends. Sometimes the backstory comes first - once made up a cleric of Hextor for an old greyhawk campaign that was based on the idea that he was a guard who'd survived a Hextorite raid [was pierced by six arrows and lived] and was considered "blessed" etc. Just liked the idea of six arrow wounds on the character - then came his personality... Other times I've seen the character's "character" form - again inspired by someone/something and the backstory builds from there. Have to say it tends to be the former [backstory] first for me though.
4. If they have a developed personality I'll try and inject some of that as I act out the characters responses/actions/thoughts etc. I'll often change up body position if I'm playing multiple characters - give them a physicality at the table if you will. Normally use little idiosyncrasies to help me and others [a nobleman rake I played always took a shot of snuff from his sleevebox whenever he was accepted a challenge combat/verbal/negotiations etc] - was a cue to other characters that the proverbial could hit the fan. Was also fun to act out and helped me "stay in character". Case in point - I love planning strategies, but my half-orc barbarian is a man of action, so will huff, stalk and tense up at the table when the others "jabber and think too much".
This the kinda stuff you meant?
BD
|
Being a big fan of (and somtimes creator) of artwork I'll often times find myself developing a complete personality and backstory to the characters I see depicted also when dealing with NPCs I tend to focus on some part of their backstory that may shape their current personality, for example Kendra Deverin since she was used earlier.
I see that five yrs ago she lost her lover so the way I see her is as a somewhat saddend woman who although her life is scared strives to protect the people she governs. She is a bright, strong woman who despite being hurt lives her life for her people following in her father and brothers footsteps, her happiness comes from the happiness of those around her and she feels the need to know everyone in town and deal with their life problems as best as possible. Using this aproach my players have "fallen in love" with her and would die in her service.
Using this aproach my players have "fallen in love" with her and would die in her service.
That is quite an accomplishment. Well done sir.
This the kinda stuff you meant?
Spot on.
Do you guys think that serious roleplaying is more common with an older crowd? The guys I gamed with in high-school were never really into it. Never talk in character, their characters never seemed like a different person than themselves, etc.
Another question along these lines, do you guys have any players that have typecast themselves? William H Macy as the "sad sack", AKA "Dammit Bill, why do you always have to play a rogue?"
|
I tend to get my inspirations from all over the place, and most of my characters end up with a two page backstory that sort of writes itself in my head. Sometimes I later recognize a snippet from a TV show I saw 20 years ago or something, but usually I can't even tell where the ideas were pillaged from.
As I often play Clerics, I find write-ups of the dieties to be very inspiring, and, something that Monte Cook once mentioned in his write-up of a Rage Mage PrC, where he read that one couldn't cast spells while in a rage and thought, 'well, what if I want to make a class that does that exact thing?' I have a tendency to go against the grain and make stuff like a Druid of Asmodeus or a Cleric who adopts a lesser used domain / sphere of influence as his cause celebre.
|
|
This the kinda stuff you meant?Spot on.
Do you guys think that serious roleplaying is more common with an older crowd? The guys I gamed with in high-school were never really into it. Never talk in character, their characters never seemed like a different person than themselves, etc.
I would probably say yes with my group, all (semi-)mature adults we enjoy the roleplaying from encounters with NPCs to negotiating in character. The local game shop however is filled with a younger crowd and all they seem to talk about is how their PC can kick Thors ass.
It's not wrong... heck when I was a kid thats how I played, It's just that I've noticed most of the gamers I've that seen are more into killing the monster with their personal terminator than creating a heroic alter ego are in the 15-20ish range.
Do you guys think that serious roleplaying is more common with an older crowd?
While I do think it is more common in older crowds I think it would be a mistake to look at it as a maturity of gaming on some sort of spectrum.
The conventional wisdom seems to be on this spectrum:
- Just interested in killing things
- Power Gaming / Min-Maxing
- Some Role-Playing
- Deep Role-Playing / System not important in light of story
However, I don't really think that is the case at all, though it certainly is not an uncommon story.
For me, for example, I started very young, about 8. My brother who was 11 got the Star Frontiers box set and very much wanted to play. After reading it all and learning the rules he sat me to play and I immediately asked, "ok, what are the rules?"
A little flummoxed by this as he had spent weeks learning all the rules and just wanted to play not teach me them all, he answered "You can do anything you think you could do in real life... I will let you know what to roll."
From there it was all about the story. Sure they weren't as deep as what I play now, but they sure weren't rules lawyering behemoths either.
As I got older I would say that I got as much into a deeper more vibrant story with shades of gray as I did learning the rules systems and what I could do with them.
Interestingly enough I find that an ill defined rule set really pulls away from the story as I am so often distracted by trying to figure the darn thing out or feel jipped when some rule is ruled to be completely different than I thought. By knowing the rules well I feel freed up to actually enjoy the game and play a good story.
Sean Mahoney
Another question along these lines, do you guys have any players that have typecast themselves? William H Macy as the "sad sack", AKA "Dammit Bill, why do you always have to play a rogue?"
I am a new comer to my gaming group. They had played for a few years before I came along as a new player. I played in 2 sessions with them when their DM announced that he was not able to DM anymore due to demands at school. At that point I stepped up and became DM (started and subsequently finished the Shackled City Adventure Path and we are now starting Rise of the Rune Lords).
It is my understanding that they all very much had the classes that they always played up to that point. However, they all unanimously decided to play something different than their normal for my campaign just to try something new.
The guy who always plays the rogue was a cleric of St. Cuthbert. The normal cleric was the Paladin. The wizard a rogue. The Ranger was a sorcerer.
The interesting part is that after a little over two years of them playing those characters in my game I think of them as being used to playing those classes and it odd for them to play what they consider normal for most of their D&D careers.
Sean Mahoney
|
|
Music. Always music. Since I'm a huge fan of it, and will listen to almost anything, for example, a single playlist of mine may include Ace of Base, Bob Marley, Vivaldi, Pizzicatto Five, London After Midnight, TVXQ, Café Tacvba, Versailles and Naio Ssaion. My inspiration relies in music.
When I sit down and start thinking about making a new character, I think what do I need for that character. If I can't think of anything, I skip to the next song / melody. When I find what I was looking for, I stop. I feel the music and jot down everything. I created my most beloved character, Kiioro, I didn't know what was I looking for, except that I wanted a tiefling. I had no ideas until I stumbled upon Utada Hikaru's "Making Love".
It was a changing song. It started with piano, then a bit happy, something you might hum when feeling pleased, then I listened to a verse that said "Enkyori nante kowaku mo nantomo nai". I thought that was the one. After playing with the sounds, Enkyori became Kiioro. And I roleplayed him through with the feel that I got from the song:
He was a happy guy, a scout that was very honest with his feelings and sometimes went postal due to the strange rhythm at the middle of the song. Chaotic Neutral, he wanted to feel good. That didn't stop him from being a really nice guy if he could be so. The title of the song gave him a finishing touch: he'd be a tiefling descended from a succubus, making him a lascivious guy, but quite bearable due to his other traits.
That's how I make characters, DMing or playing. I listen to music and let myself go with the feel.
Physicality and facial expressions are key. In my Crimson Throne campaign, whenever I would roleplay Cressida Croft, I would sag my shoulders slightly (from the burden of running the security for an entire city), but still maintain a controlled, commanding posture as befitting an individual who spent her entire life in Her Majesty's armed forces. Eyes are really important. I would squint slightly to give her a focused look, but at the same time, try to move my eyebrows down to give her a compassionate, caring side as well.
Her voice I kept relatively low and strong. I think back to and try to imitate some of the inflection used by most female officers I served under.
By taking care of things like physicality and voice, I find that I get into character much easier. Cressida Croft is the number one most popular NPC right now. Because they consider her their boss and surrogate mother/older sister, my group is considering putting her name somewhere in their official party name if they ever get around to it.
As for groups that I game with, I often find that women gamers seem to get involved in the 'story' aspect of gameplay much easier than male gamers do. The males in my group tend to be more tactically minded and proficient, but the females in my group generally tend to drive the storyline and roleplay better. That has just been my experience after gaming for 15+ years.
My current group consists of 3 males and 3 females and it is by far the best group I have DM'ed for.
For instance, if a character is know for his foul temper and drunken brawls, I am happy to give him a level of barbarian to provide a mechanicial outlet for a core element of his concept.I'm not understanding why that would be necessary. That's one way to do it, but why should we as roleplayers rely on one of the classes to define who we are. You could make any class with that same personality trait. It may not fit the typical archetype of that class, but that's where the fun is.
But I guess, that's the difficulty of the discussion. My real question is, where do you get your character concepts and how do you create the character?
In this specific case, I think the temper is reflected in either the Charisma score or in the Diplomacy skill score. One can make reasonable argument that someone with a high Charisma (defined as "force of personality" here) could also be very unlikable or have a short temper, and thus perhaps a -2 or -4 on Diplomacy would define the mechanic for this well. Barbarian could work too, depending on the backstory of the character, but for a more general "drunken brawler" tendancy, a level of Fighter is perfect - after all, that's what they're doing: fighting.
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
For point #3, I usually start with the backstory to try to understand what forces have shaped the personality of the character. I have a several page write-up for my personal campaign's player's guide that discusses this in depth. While it's far too long to post here (Veector, you already have a copy of it... ) here's an excerpt from it that starts the discussion for my players:
"Where did Your Character Come From?
What race is your character? What kind of person is
she? What culture did your character grow up in? What
experiences did she have when she was young that shaped her
into the person she is at the beginning of the DM’s story? It’s
useful to start by thinking of the parents of your character first,
and what kind of family life they provided for her when she was
a child. Were they an overbearing lot that forced their children
to submit to their will? Perhaps your character found solace and
safety from them in the caring halls of the Holy Order? Maybe
her parents were generous and kind, community minded and
socially conscious, providing her with a sense of idealism and
duty? Or perhaps she was orphaned as a young child and her
social values and world view were shaped by a hard youth of
surviving on the city streets in poverty and among strong-arm
gangs of hoodlums? Determining the environment and
conditions of your character’s youth will really help to reveal
the foundation of her personality."
|
|
For grins&giggles I once played a PC who (after the best rolls I've ever had at creation) had STR 18,Dex 12,CON 16,INT 18,WIS 9,CHR 15.
His name was Cort Lathenmire(son of Cora from the SCAP)so here we had a 6'8" wizard who was physicly powerful,lovable and goofy,but I also roleplayed him to be savagly and violently protective. His temper when looking out for his friends became legendary in game(if I remember correctly he once crushed a mans head with his bare hands for aluding to raping the teams cleric of Sune)...so I guess the point is their was no real "mechanic" behind this trait just RPed him that way...
wich was a LOT of fun!
Do you guys think that serious roleplaying is more common with an older crowd? The guys I gamed with in high-school were never really into it. Never talk in character, their characters never seemed like a different person than themselves, etc.
Definately - I've lost count of the times I played a "kick the door down" head-taker in my youth... and while I still enjoy that type of character I do inject them with a large chuck of pathos or character nowadays.
I think you've hit the nail on the head, in that most young players are still developing their own persona and views [I say most as I don't want to sound condescending or anything] - as you get older and more comfortable with the system, the idea of roleplaying and what you want to get out of sessions, you're much more likely to invest more of yourself and your imagination into character generation and playing.
That being said some people are born entertainers and see the session as a performance, others will be very subtle and subdued in what they do/how they play... bottom line if the roleplaying adds to the game then its no bad thing.
[Really enjoying this thread btw folks - interesting stuff]
BD
I've seen the same thing in my experience. Older gamers are more interested in intriguing roleplaying opportunities. Young gamers go for the more simplistic and direct sort of conflict-resolution scenarios.
I think the more we experience in life, it builds up neuroses, feelings, and an aggregate of emotions that we've stored over the years. Roleplaying helps (in some strange way) work through those experiences. Now I've seen some guys who are too guarded in their emotions that they can't let their guard down and access that part of themselves. I think they're really missing out.
I think the more we experience in life, it builds up neuroses, feelings, and an aggregate of emotions that we've stored over the years. Roleplaying helps (in some strange way) work through those experiences. Now I've seen some guys who are too guarded in their emotions that they can't let their guard down and access that part of themselves. I think they're really missing out.
I'm sorry if I take your meaning all wrong here, but that sounds elitist to me. Missing out? Hardley.
Not all problems can be solved by working through them, some you just have to distance yourself from, perhaps by having a good romp through a dungeon with some friends. Smashing goblin heads and making out of character comments. It doesn't mean they are missing out, it just mean that they play another way than you do.
I have played in both serious and comic campaigns, and find both good and bad with both of them. But usually I play a more lightharted "just playing a game" sort of game, and it leaves me feeling very happy and fulfilled.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
From real life, books, TV, movies, the news, etc. Sometimes a character just pops up in my mind. Sometimes the idea comes from the adventure or campaign situation.
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
First I check which race and class/classes best fits the character. Then I throw the dice and choose the abilities which best fit the class and the character (so it is possible that I make a rogue with high intelligence instead of dexterity), then I look for skills, feats, deities, spells, etc. fitting the character, and finally items (mundane and magic) and props.
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
It depends on the character. Sometimes the one, sometimes the other, sometimes both at once. In my current campaign I created some NPCs who were related to other NPCs in the previous campaign, but I wanted them to have some character traits the previous NPCs did not have. In this case the backstory came first and the personality second. Most of the time it is the other way round.
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
I am not really good at doing voices and accents, so my repertoire of voices is limited. Sometimes I describe what the person looks like, how he or she reacts to the situation, etc. If I do a voice, I try to modify the speech pattern, such as talking slower or quicker, adding extra pauses, using long and difficult words or short words/sentences, etc. Sometimes I use gestures to emphasize ideas and emotions. Sometimes I use recurring words or gimmicks like a person who is always singing, etc. I have just introduced a character who talks about himself in the third person, thus creating distance and objectivity.
|
|
We discussed something similar in this thread. As I said there, I often draw on real world experiences, usually with individuals or experiences that are quirky or memorable in someway, to create my characters and NPCs.
I think the more we experience in life, it builds up neuroses, feelings, and an aggregate of emotions that we've stored over the years. Roleplaying helps (in some strange way) work through those experiences. Now I've seen some guys who are too guarded in their emotions that they can't let their guard down and access that part of themselves. I think they're really missing out.I'm sorry if I take your meaning all wrong here, but that sounds elitist to me. Missing out? Hardley.
Not all problems can be solved by working through them, some you just have to distance yourself from, perhaps by having a good romp through a dungeon with some friends. Smashing goblin heads and making out of character comments. It doesn't mean they are missing out, it just mean that they play another way than you do.
I have played in both serious and comic campaigns, and find both good and bad with both of them. But usually I play a more lightharted "just playing a game" sort of game, and it leaves me feeling very happy and fulfilled.
I think you're taking what I said more seriously than I took it. I'm saying that I enjoy roleplaying. I think it's a great part of the game. I'm also saying that if you don't do any roleplaying, you're missing out on something that is a lot of fun if you give it a try. I'm certainly not trying to force my idea of fun on anyone.
I'm also not suggesting that roleplaying is the only fun aspect of problem solving. Sometimes the combat is awesome and sometimes the roleplaying is awesome. I just don't enjoy games where it's all one or the other.
We discussed something similar in this thread. As I said there, I often draw on real world experiences, usually with individuals or experiences that are quirky or memorable in someway, to create my characters and NPCs.
Great thread.
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
#1-#3: I almost always start with the character class first. Then I try to think of what kind of person would be a member of that class, how they got there, etc. I don't usually model a character after a specific movie/TV/book character, but I'm sure those all influence me.
#4: If I have a character that has a strong central driving force (e.g. revenge or devotion to a deity), it usually straightforward. If not, I usually get lazy and default to my own personality. ;-)
|
|
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
For #3, it's a bit of both.
I made a character named Mordecai who was going to be a Bard, and came from Geb and had this 'fed on by vampires' backstory, but then decided that I wanted to play a Cleric instead, and he changed class, but not much at all in personality or backstory. This happens quite a lot, and I'll end up playing a character named Max Caldwell who is a surf-punk superhero in one game, and a Nosferatu 'cleopatra' actor in another, and a GURPS horror werewolf 'gentleman adventurer' in a third. He'll have different tweaks to his personality (penitent animal-rights activist as a Nosferatu, rich boisterous upper-class twit as the GURPS character, frat boy with powers as the superhero), and certain characteristics will remain in each incarnation (attention-hog, full of himself).
Other times, I'll decide 'I'm playing a Cleric,' and then decide 'hey, Calistria looks cool, and I haven't played a female character for awhile.' Next thing you know, I'm writing up an attractive young woman who was raised in a house of prostitution by the priesthood of the goddess of lust, with +7 in Perform (naughty dancing) who remains a virgin, because she's not ready to fully explore the 'mysteries of the goddess' quite yet. Another favorite thing, to take something that doesn't immediately make sense, and make sense of it. When I first read the character creation document for Pathfinder Society, I began to wonder how certain classes would 'feel' when combined with certain factions, which led to my first character being a devil-worshipping Chelaxian Druid, because it just sounded wrong, which meant that I had to try it out!
Then I whipped up an Egyptian-style 'desertwalker' Druid from Osirion, who worshipped Nethys, who, again, doesn't have 'Druid god' written all over him like Gozreh does. Combining the various factions with the various classes leads to all sorts of role-playing choices. A Qadiran Wizard could be a 'sellspell,' and study spells that he is most likely to be able to use to make some coin, such as Mount and Floating Disc, and not concentrate as quickly on the usual suspects of Mage Armor and Sleep, which leads to finding clever ways to make those spell choices useful in a game, and not just 'RP fodder.' Other choices might derives from rules mechanics. If the Chelaxian summoning feat is the bee's knees, and it's already established that Conjurors are the Big Men on Campus in Korvosa, then it's not just 'power gaming' to make a Chelaxian Conjuror, but actually *fits the setting,* as the Chelaxian mage academies show a strong bias in favor of Conjuration specialists!
Adding faction to the race / class dynamic, and you get an entirely different set of factors to design the personality of the character, either to 'fit' the faction, or to play against it (a Qadiran Monk who loathes his nations obsession with wealth and materialism, an Andoran who belives that her nation could benefit from the strong hand of monarchy, instead of everyone running around like children shouting about how 'free' they are and getting nothing done, etc.).
Every setting has a *ton* of material that can be used this way. The 'serious' Krynn gnome, who is played as quiet, intelligent and effective, instead of as a joke, would be one example of playing against a strongly reinforced stereotype that Gnomes (and Kender, and Gully Dwarves, each seemingly more of a joke than the last) are 'joke' characters more disruptive to team play than cooperative. Sometimes it's fun to draw inside the lines, and make a very typical 'surly but loyal Dwarf fighter,' and other times it's fun to take the road less travelled and make a very serious three foot tall Paladin of Avoreen.
|
|
Let me phrase this whole discussion another way since some of my first post seemed to have been missed.
#1 How do you get ideas for characters?
#2 What decisions do you make during character creation to have the character fit that idea?
#3 Do you think of character backstory first and personality second, or vice versa?
#4 When playing characters, what emotional things do you draw upon to act out your character's personality?
#1 - hard to say...they all come from various locations. I start with some kernal from god knows where, that evolves and mutates in my mind. I have a word doc I often use called "20 questions" that helps flesh the character out more, and then write a backstory based on that. Often this is all done in whole or part before a single die is rolled.
#2 - relates back to #1. The backstory and 20 Qs are the idea, I then roll the stats and try to mesh the two. If some stat comes in significantly higher or lower than what would make sense in the story, I make adjustments as necessary.
#3 - inseperable to me. personality and backstory develop together, sometimes changing as I write.
#4 - usually the backstory brings those things into focus, and that requires certain adjustments. Sometimes they develop a specific accent, sometimes I use minimal props.
I had a somewhat insane character that I used "mood dice" for - before major decisions he'd roll and it would say "sad" or "angry" or "elated" or whatever. He was an evoker mage too, so people really didn't like him when he was angry. :) I also had a prop for him - a stuffed animal weasel that was his familiar...usually sat on my shoulder. I would ask for his opinion sometimes. :)