It has been far too long since I have made one of these half-hearted attempts to bring a fleeting spike of activity to the forums, so, let's get to it. This one's more of an OOC question, and probably a little more in-depth, but rules are for breaking anyway. Today's question: What does your character creation process involve? What works best for you and what do you avoid doing? How has it changed over time? Asking for a friend, of course.
my brain says "hmmm you know what would be cool." and i go "hmmmm yes this would be cool." and then i take that cool thing and figure out all the consequences of that thing (ORED lobster, has to live in an aquarium, owns a proxy to do humanoid things, is her own keeper)
new character process : rewatch Xavier renegade angel read a handful of 2011 rage comics find a dark, damp place for synthesis
I made Cosades, the original Cosades, when I was blasting out my bowels on the shitter. It was on a Friday, 5:03 PM, 2021. I don't recall the specific day. Between the agonizing contorting of my spine and suffering in general, I reminded myself of that one video of the exaggerated swagger of a black man wearing timbs, losing his shit over a computer generated rat. Approximately 23 seconds later, I reminded myself of the one song Dream uses for his speedruns. It was stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I figured that I might turn both of those pieces of media into a character. And then I figured out I could make that character broke as hell. The true fun came from making a professional in the field on a budget of a pen salesman. This, in general, taught me that the less effort I put into designing and making a character before actually playing them for the first time, the more fun I have.
-have rough character idea (species, name, appearance and base premise. “What if I made a non-evil shifter”,”I need a visitant character that isn’t an administration official”, “what if the joker could beatbox” etc) -make the character -play the character -characters personality never “takes root” in my brain -get bored -throw them out -repeat 3x -have another rough character idea -make the character -play the character -character’s personality rapidly develops in only a few RPs, base concept alters to fit this new personality, backstory gets some detail as I refine it on the fly -personality and base concept matures and solidifies, may be completely different from the original concept, character becomes consistent and easy to play -character graduates to a personal favourite and is played on the regular Examples: Dave was meant to be a normal human guy. Kerativ was supposed to be completely mute and attack and eat strangers. CE used to be much more friendly and socially awkward, etc
1. get an idea 2. scrap the idea 3. (if skipped 2) make the character 4. play the character until bored 5. repeat
I used to just slap ideas against a wall and see what sticks, and I still kind of do that, but I also build my characters now around thematic ideas that I think would be interesting for other people to interact with, as well as ones that I think are interesting and important. For example, with Aurene, I pinpointed the idea of regret. Then I think of the character’s background and subsequently race. You know what I would regret? Constantly allowing myself to be told what to do. Aurene has a history of being a doormat for people in charge, so she was a part of an authoritarian military force. Realistically, though, I know that most people wouldn't have such a very reaction to such a nagging emotion, so I also sprinkle in flaws and stuff to layer it, particularly in the lack of self-awareness in these themes for most people. These personality flaws can manifest in different ways, but I often underline the original theme with either a giving into a stereotype or trying so hard to rebel against it that it ends up circling back around. For example, with Aurene, she either comes off as a cocky asshole or a doormat depending on how a conversation with her goes, both ultimately being extremely regrettable and keeping her up at night. If I can do all those things and people tell me they like the character, I keep them around and hope people enjoy interacting with them. Along the way they tend to be fleshed out to be more like real people instead of a walking message, and that's when they flower into a main character of mine.
Step zero, become actually motivated to RP again and thus make a new character (impossible). Step one, think of an idea. This can be a specific idea for a character's actual character/identity/personality/appearance, or just a vague idea I want to express through roleplay. Make sure it isn't too generic but also too unique - almost any idea can eventually be shaped into a good character with enough time and creativity. Most of my inspirations are my favorite fiction tropes, or a character who embodies them, and then iterating on that. Step two, fill in enough blanks surrounding that starting idea so I have something I can send out to interact with other characters. Then, actually start playing them and interacting with other players' characters. Step three, adjust character based on experiences (their personal character development) and preferences (personal leaning towards keeping trait X or changing trait Y) over time. Step three-point-five, note how people OOC react to your character, what they say, do, criticize, praise, discuss, meme about, joke about, etc... and adjust character based that as well Step four, repeat steps three and three-point-five until I become bored with the character, unhappy with the character, or decide to end their story at a good or fitting point instead of risking drawing it out further for something worse out of a selfish or complacent desire to just keep playing them.
