Personality

[Capntastic]

One thing that sets characters apart from everyone else (No, not their dark hooded cloaks) is their personality.
A lot of people seem to think that a character is merely a vessel of skills, techs, and 'badassery', but a 'mysterious' cloaked person with an unhealthy love for fire and shadow is hardly a 'Badass' or 'Intelligently thought out' Character.
It seems that the whole 'Anti-social and mysterious' deal is usually just compensation for not having thought out a characters personality, and it just doesnt cut it. I have seen said type of character Rped well, merely because said character had a personality. Likes, dislikes, and goals make ALL the difference in the World when you are thinking out a character, so I have written out some things that would be useful to think about when working out your characters personality.

Life Goal -
Place of Birth -
Places they've been -
Favorite memories -
Important Events -
Important People -
Favorite Foods/Animals -
Standpoint on violence/killing/the law -
Standpoint on helping others that need it -
Current Occupation/Home -
Plans for reaching their life goal -

A person without any goals except to "OMFG KILL STUFF" just doesnt work out. Not in real life, not in RPs. So please, keep in mind that a character with a well thought (And RPed) personality is a lot better then any dark cloak.

Edit: Angelfire can go eat a brick. Also, more new people should read this.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=capntastic>Capntastic</A]&nbsp; at: 5/10/04 12:36 am

[Wishbone Ash]

Yeah. What he said.

Why do I suddenly have the urge to RP as Vash the Stampede?

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

No matter how many times this is brought up I will still approve of it happening, because it can never be mentioned enough times.

In my time at RPGWW I have come to respect that if there is one thing that the community as a whole has quite high standards on, it is the general quality of a person's roleplaying ability, and a roleplayer's characters are a good measure of this.

A character should not be brought in without at least some thought being put into why the character is who he is and why he does what he does. They shouldn't go around wearing a mysterious cloak just to make them cool - if they have a genuine reason to be wearing it, on the other hand, then fair enough.

The above list is pretty good. What I would do personally is convert the points to question form and then think about what the character's answer to each question would be. The answers then collectively form a good framework to base the character's persona on.

Well done Capntastic for bringing this up and well done whoever stickied the topic. <p>Best Quote Ever: The treat of Keet grabbing his crotch worked last time, but... *shrugs*

Fiddle Reject:         ...Shini?
Fiddle Reject:         Your future sex life is none of your business.</p>

[RagingLeprechuan]

Hey thats a really good point Kyle! See if you'd only put this much thought into school, you'd be Aceing every class...but then again I don't have much room to talk.

But anyways, *Hands Kyle some good old fashion Irish uped Cocoa*

P.S. Other Chris told me about the snake-oil bid. You sneaky Charlatan you! Also it's been 217 days since that mexican kid fell outta his chair. <p>When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let's all get drunk, and go to heaven! - Old Irish Toast</p>

[JoshuaDurron]

A few other ways to make an engaging character:

1. Give him a bizzare quirk (like being soda-phobic, or something)
2. Create a number of weird hi-jinks based on situations said phobia has gotten him into
3. Mention how he deals with said phobia (like biting his nails whenever it comes up, or singing his favorite drinking song)

OR

1. Mention a traumatic incident in the person's past
2. Mention how said incident continues to affect the person today
3. Mention how the person might react if they came upon a similar situation as they are now

OR

1. Mention what kind of pranks the person likes to pull (trust me, this one works real good.)

All of the above may be used together if you so desire. <p>

---

Victory to the strong of will
Death to pretenders</p>

[Spleen]

Seryntas, a.k.a. "The Spleen"

Life Goal - Killing his twin brother Sarakir to avenge the deaths of his parents and fulfill the oath he took upon himself. Also, spreading the worship of the Elemaeran Gods to Gaera.
Place of Birth - Farm in central Doma
Places they've been - Doma, Earth Kingdom, Elemaer
Favorite memories - Learning to plow from his father, meeting Tasi for the first time, getting completely shit-faced off strong dwarven ale and wandering the streets drunkenly "prophesizing", and winning his first arena bout.
Important events - Death of his parents, the day he took an oath of vengeance on his twin brother, first time he was transported to Elemaer, day he met Tasi.
Important people - Sarakir, Tasi, Andy Fireblade
Favorite Foods/Animals - Foods: Ale, steak, ale, bacon, pie, ale, and ale. Animals: Not a big animal lover, but likes big fighting dogs.
Standpoint on violence/killing/the law - Condones non-lethal violence, and killing for the sake of justice (including and especially bounty-hunting). Believes that without the law, we'd all be barbarians, and there wouldn't be any bounties for him to collect, which would in turn keep him from being able to drink ale. So you see, the law is a good thing.
Standpoint on helping others that need it - Fends for himself and expects others to do so as well. Will not accept charity, especially from people smaller than him.
Current Occupation/Home - Bounty hunter. Lives in Earth Kingdom with his fiance Tasi.
Plans for reaching their life goal - Searching for Sarakir's secret hidden sanctuary. Currently waiting for some cue from Krad as to how to spread the worship of the Elemaeran Gods to Gaera. <p>_________________
FEEL MY WRATH!
...it's very fuzzy.

"And he made...BEAST JERKY!"
-Aku, Samurai Jack</p>

[Uncle Pervy]

No need to start littering this thread with Sheets now, Spleen. Let's just keep it questions an RPer should be able to answer.

[Ash Fanrico]

Since a very apparently annoyed DWSage sent me here... I've got to ask a question now.

What if said character were a big monster, or psychopathic killer, etc.? Or for that matter hasn't have much a brain left (bad experiments, birth defects, mentally impaired, etc.)?

Like, the character DW has a problem with, Harbinger (my big, murderous, not to mention, almost mindless serial killer character in the Dark Future world), he doesn't have much of a mind left after a botched experiment was performed on him. The experiment was to make in all practical purposes, "The perfect soldier", by giving the subject advanced genetic healing abilities (aka: His wounds regenrate).

Note- He's by no means a zombie, as some would tell you.

All it really is is a character with not much of a mind, running mostly on instinct (need for survival) and an almost bottomless lust for blood and killing. Though he does display on some points a decided learning curve.

Two things to keep in mind, 1) This is the DF world, where lotsa weird shit happens, and 2) this character was inspired by the horror movie icon Jason Voorhees.

But back to the question at hand, what if said character were a big wild monster or an almost mindless psychopathic killer? <p>"Well What do you know. Alcohol does burn, and here I thought they said that just to keep flame throwers out of the hands of drunks."</p>Edited by: Ash Fanrico&nbsp; at: 7/24/03 5:58 pm

[Uncle Pervy]

Then it is totally unsuitable as a normal character.

You should save it for plotted stuff, and keep it out of CI. And by save it for plotted stuff, I don't mean use it as a character in some else's plot without discussing it and getting explicit permission.

[SALSAlys]

Well, here's a list of questions I drummed up and stuff... it's a lot, so I skim through it, but I should prob'ly end up typing up most of what this is for my chars... except I tend to be lazy. These are good starting points, though, and very loosely grouped.

Relationships:
What is their ideal date? The scenery, location, etc?

What is their ideal boyfriend/girlfriend?

What's their sexuality?

How fast do they think a relationship should go? Opinions on premarital sex?

What's their opinion on other sexualities?

Childhood:
What was their family life like? Brothers, sisters, etc.?

What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to them?

What was their worst nightmare?

Any odd birthmarks? Stories behind them? (Like when I was little, my mom used to say the dark mark on my arm was a dragon bite...)

Any childhood sweethearts?

Are they ticklish? (If so, was it ruthlessly exploited?)

Stuff I can't figure goes anywhere else:
Would they sacrifice themselves for loved ones? People they barely know? A good cause?

What would their D&D alignment be? (Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, etc..)

What's their favorite outfit and accessories?

Any special keepsakes they have?

Any physical gestures/movements/body language they use when happy? Sad? Worried? Angry? Frustrated?

Can they speak foreign languages? What languages? To what extent? How/why did they learn this?

[Ash Fanrico]

Thanks for answering my question Pervy and I shall from now on keep Harbinger out of CI. <p>"Well What do you know. Alcohol does burn, and here I thought they said that just to keep flame throwers out of the hands of drunks."</p>

[Capntastic]

Those are spiffy suggestions Lys :D!

Also - More Info

This list isnt meant to be like a stat sheet, with 100% solid answers for you to refer to. That would make for a very stiff character. These are just supposed to be a few fluid things that define your character, but not so much as to have them TOTALLY developed in their first RP, leaving no room for growth. This list is also good, because characters have lives before their RP debut, and this should help give them some things to talk about, or effect their choices in certain situations.

I think I'm rambling, but this makes snersne to me.

[Capntastic]

THIS JUST IN!

What a character should NOT be:

Personality-less vessels of over-badass-ification.
Over-powered because it seems cool.
Having all sorts of 'mysterious' powers, that allow for you to make stuff up when the time comes for it.
Being a total master at everything from magic to swordsmanship to disco dancing to punching through walls.
Having all sorts of really cool special attacks just for the sake of having really cool special attacks.
A super powerful godlike character from the future/past/Outer regions of Existence that just sort of shows up in the RP setting to show off their powers and get XP.

And now, reasoning for all of this.

When you know your characters personality, skills, talents and other stuff, they are a lot spiffier and challenging to roleplay well. A totally anti-social character that can punch through solid brick walls, shoot lasers hot enough to melt the Sun, and an endless list of skills/spells/attacks/powers (That is often updated as the need calls for it) may seem TOTALLY RADICOOL to play, but since they can basically overcome every obstacle with no trouble, has no personality, and is anti-social...it becomes painful for other people to put up with it.

IN SUMMARY

A well refined character is totally spiffy, and a sign of quality roleplaying.

A set of badassed clothes with super mysterious special powers isn't.



Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=capntastic>Capntastic</A]&nbsp; at: 7/28/03 6:01 am

[Spleen]

Sorry, Pervy. Misunderstood the point of the thread. I assumed I was supposed to actually answer the questions asked. <p>_________________
FEEL MY WRATH!
...it's very fuzzy.

"Samurai, samurai, why won't you DIE?!"
-Aku, Samurai Jack</p>

[Koneko]

Some other random things about the character that you might want to be aware of, some significant and some not.

IQ:
Brain Dominance:
Lefty, righty or ambi:
Personality type (often taking quizzes as your character will help here):
Introverted or Extroverted:
Look before they leap, or leap before they look:
Head over heart, or heart over head: <p>

---

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.</p>

[Just Damn Evil]

SALS, I have to disagree with your choice of starting points in character developement. First of all, a lot of your main points aren't applicable to a wide variety of characters - for instance, what would Shinji Ikari write for the entire "Relationships" section?

My experience with character developement has told me that the characters themselves aren't nearly as important as the character's ability to play off of the storyline or other characters in the medium.

Even if your character's personality runs down to the simplest of levels, he can still be made interesting by juxtaposing him with interesting scenarios - even the simplest of characters can have dilemmas and feel the most complex of emotions.

My point: spend less energy trying to make an interesting character and more trying to make your character interesting.

[Capntastic]

The goal here is to make characters that don't show up "Just 'cuz" and don't have all sorts of rad powers "Just 'cuz"
and can actually have interesting conversations, what with a semi-beleivable personality that is more than "Yo, I like (One thing) and I can (Lots of things) because (Dum reason) and I had no childhood, or interesting experiences in all of my life!"

Because those sorts of conversations are un-spiffy :D

[Knuckles30000]

Hello, I have nothing to say. Let me talk about this at length.

-Lil' Gamestar-

Edited by: pd Rydia&nbsp; at: 10/27/03 8:16 pm

[Banjooie]

I demand to know what he said. I will ask when I come home. I EXPECT TEH RESPONSES :(

[Uncle Pervy]

Sis wins for that Edit. ^^ <p>------------------
Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.
</p>

[PriamNevhausten]

Two points.

Point the first.

Point the second: Unknown Armies has a system of Stimuli for each character, which is quite useful for characterbuilding purposes in general.

The three stimuli:
Rage. This is what makes your character abandon all logical thought in favor of sheer, carnal, utter animosity.
Fear. This stimulus will cause your character to try to find a way to escape, except in extreme cases, where the character will curl up into a ball and quiver.
Noble. This is often the hardest one to pin down. When a character's Noble stimulus is triggered, the character will behave in a completely altruistic sense, going the extra distance for others' benefit with relation to the stimulus itself. Librarians might have a soft spot for illiterate folk who want to learn; brawler characters might act nobly if they see a woman being harassed or victimized; planetary destroyers might take students under their wings, to hopefully take over when they are dead.

Be creative with all of these, they can drive what the rest of your character is.

Maybe later I'll make mention of the Stresses... <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Choark]

I'll also say my bit:

If ya new to RPing, or just not confident in it, don't Bog yourself down too much with worrying about preplanning all your characters personality traits, it can be a lot of hassel for something thats meant to be fun. Yes you need to have a basic personaility set in there but you don't have to try and do anything overly complex right away. Instead grow the character out as you Roleplay them with others - sometimes you can bring in certain traits just because certain circumstances call for it - or whatever.

Personally that's how a lot of my characters personalities develop - I certainly don't preplan everything - nor would I ever want to. Give yourself room to breath and have fun with the character - that's my advice.

[RydWolf]

As far as I can tell if you make even the slightest effort any character can have a personality, even if that personality just makes everyone want to punch him in the face.

I find that a personality can be worked out by simply asking "why?" for every aspect of the character.

"Why does he use a crossbow?"
"It was his fathers."
"Why does he use his fathers crossbow?"
"It's all he has to remember him by."
"Why? What happened?"
And so forth, and so forth.

Dang distractions, now let's take a 'brief' look at Harbinger.

Ash Fanricos character Harbinger doesn't have much of a mind left after a botched experiment was performed on him.

Now as this experiment was to create the perfect soldier, then the makers would have filled his head with all sorts of military propaganda and tactics/strategy. Therefore Harbinger would probably speak in military terms, would refer to people with military titles and get confused when things don't "fit the scenario."

If his brain is so completely screwed up that he views everyone as an enemy then he'd be constantly threatening those around him or testing their loyalties.

Or if he just attacks everything that moves without concious thought then the proper military or police would swiftly act to trap him in a vault of some kind as a decoy would be easy to arrange. Because if Harbinger had enough mind to avoid traps and plan things out then most likely he'd be able to realise that he didn't really need to kill everything.

And all of that without ever having read a single roleplay involving Harbinger. My apologies if I've offended you Ash.

[FlamingDeth]

I suggest that someone compile this and repost it in a new thread, so that we can get rid of the "HI ANGELFIRE SUCKS" image on the first page. <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>This month's "Transformer of the Month" is Pipes! He turns into a truck, and his primary function is not taking out the trash.</center></p>

[Capntastic]

The revised Personality thread has been in the works for a month or so now :0 But shh-- It's a secret!

[FlamingDeth]

Oh dear! I'll try not to "blow your cover" or let the "cat" out of the "bag". <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>This month's "Transformer of the Month" is Pipes! He turns into a truck, and his primary function is not taking out the trash.</center></p>

[NebulaQueen]

Until the thread is rebuilt, however, I shall add in my two cents!

Anyways, in my lit class, we're working on the Canterbury tales. As a project, we have to complete templates for all the people appearing in the prologue. The template is shown below.

Appearance/Clothing:
Manner/Personality:
Tastes:
Life Experiences:

After looking at that, I realised that it's also a pretty good template for RP characters, too (and it's pretty much the same as most people use, anyhow.) Fleshing these out helps to flesh out the character.

And that's it. Yay for rehashing old information. :D <p>

---

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">
*Megaman sounds like a little girl*-Uncle Pervy, on the Voice Acting in MM8</span></p>