Posts belonging to Category Character creation
Posted by Ravyn on May 7, 2010
Every now and then, you just want to play a character with a secret identity. And why not? Secret identities are fascinating; they give you a chance to play two (or more!) characters for the price of one, more art-fodder if you sketch as well as play, and they’re a fun little “this will come [...]
Categories: Character creation, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, Player Advice |
Tags: group dynamics, role-playing, secret identities | 
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Posted by Ravyn on February 25, 2010
(Warning: This is a late-night post, deals with some rather intense subjects, did not go through my editor, and as a result should probably be read as conjecture. Hopefully it’s interesting conjecture.)
One of my friends asked me today, “why do so many decent character types get outlawed in literature?” He went on to talk about [...]
Categories: Character archetypes, Character creation, Characterization, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: original posts | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on February 19, 2010
One of the things I’ve found about my characters is that I don’t really understand who they are until I’ve gotten to play them a time or two. The converse to this, unfortunately, is that the first time I play any given character, odds are she isn’t ‘complete’; I don’t have the full sense of [...]
Categories: Character creation, Characterization, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: original posts | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on January 5, 2010
Some characters have roles that encompass most of their personality. Some have traits that are supposed to set them apart from other characters. Still others can be traced pretty easily to a standard character archetype, and then there are those who sling their catch phrases whenever possible. These are all character gimmicks, and they all [...]
Categories: Character archetypes, Character creation, Character development, Character image, Characterization, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Secondary characters, Technique |
Tags: original posts | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on December 18, 2009
It’s not just what people do for most of their time that defines them; it’s also all the little things they do in whatever free time they might have. But a lot of characters—particularly the main characters of books and most RPG characters—don’t seem to have hobbies, unless those hobbies are things that in and [...]
Categories: Character creation, Character image, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: original posts | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on December 10, 2009
I had a friend once who had trouble with long-term characters. Give him the same character for too long, he’d run out of things to do—sure, the mechanics might still be fun, but the personality would go static and he’d start casting about for a new concept. When another of my friends started having the [...]
Categories: Character archetypes, Character creation, Character development, Characterization, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
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Posted by Ravyn on December 8, 2009
Some people write their scenes from big epic images, some from the demands of the plot. But some base what happens on what the characters are currently feeling, whether they actually show the feelings or not. I find emotion to be an important part of any story, cementing the characters’ role as people and not [...]
Categories: Character creation, Character development, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: original posts | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on December 4, 2009
Hoyt keeps a blue crystal ruined by the attempts at carving it in the lining of his coat, and woe betide the person who finds it and tries to take it away. Manar carries a little yarn doll, barely as long as her finger, on a string about her neck. One person might tuck a [...]
Categories: Backstory, Character creation, Character development, Characterization, Characters in the world, Description, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Technique |
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Posted by Ravyn on October 13, 2009
(More for RPG Blog Carnival: Morality.)
Creating moral codes is in and of itself an interesting process. Most of the moral codes I’ve seen have been based on an existing one (often the creator’s own), with tweaks to accommodate the world. Some people seem to make their codes out of figuring out what’s going to appeal [...]
Categories: Character creation, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
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Posted by Ravyn on June 11, 2009
A flawless character, most people will agree, is no fun at all. To really engage the audience, a character needs flaws, shortcomings—in short, weaknesses. For many creators, these tend to be pretty standard fare: cowardice, impulsiveness, stupidity, one or more of the Seven Deadly Sins, you get the [...]
Categories: Character creation, Character development, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, Player Advice |
Tags: original posts | No Comments »