Posts belonging to Category Characters in the world
Posted by Ravyn on November 7, 2011
I’ve always had a strong competitive streak: a constant drive to excel, to show the world how I measure up, particularly when I’m operating at what they consider to be a disadvantage or supposedly “can’t” do it. So something like NaNoWriMo, with its inherent scoring mechanic, is practically begging for me to turn my full [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Concepts, For Writers, Technique |
Tags: concepts, Generic Villain project, NaNoWriMo, Raven moments, Round 2, writing | 
5 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 13, 2011
This week, I’ve focused mostly on ways that a player can learn enough about a GM’s created culture to be able to at least somewhat fit in (or at the very least, mostly stay out of trouble). But in the case of characters in cultures they aren’t actually a part of, there’s one fact about [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics, The Real World |
Tags: culture acclimation, GM tips, social interaction, uncanny valley | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 12, 2011
It’s good to know what we need to know before we turn our characters loose on a new culture, and how to find it out, but sometimes knowledge just isn’t enough to keep our character’s feet safely out of their mouths. Instead, we need to figure out where the cultural traps are, and how to [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, Player Advice, Tactics |
Tags: learning cultures, player tips, roleplaying | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on October 10, 2011
One of the side effects of dealing with worlds not our own is that we’re likely to be dealing with cultures not our own as well (and if we aren’t, why in blazes not?). From a player standpoint, or from the standpoint of a writer trying to deal with a culture not her own, this [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Cultures, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Plot, Technique, World-building |
Tags: Characterization, foreknowledge, plot, roleplaying, Things You Might Want To Know When…, writing | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on September 21, 2011
Every now and then, you just need a character(s) from a certain group. Such and such a cult. Such and such a location. Such and such an army. The personalities don’t matter as much, just as long as the characters have the appropriate background and will deal with the group in a certain way. Sure, [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Secondary characters, Tactics |
Tags: quick character use, roleplaying, secondary characters, semi-generic characters, writing | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on August 30, 2011
One of the most important parts of creating a warrior culture is coming up with the standards to which its warriors are held. Without standards, after all, what is to set a warrior apart from a non-warrior in his culture, or a person who fights from that group of people over there? How is he [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Cultures, For Roleplayers, For Writers, World-building |
Tags: Characterization, cultures, role-playing, warrior cultures, World-building, writing | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on August 18, 2011
Tonight’s post is brought to us by regular commenter Shinali, lady of the prolific (and hilarious) IC journals; she kindly offered this one to me after my request for guest posts a while back.
Sometimes your character’s views on things matter, but there is no way she would share them publicly. Other times you [...]
Categories: Backstory, Characterization, Characters in the world, Exercises, For Roleplayers, Player Advice |
Tags: guest posts, in-character journaling, roleplaying, voice | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on August 9, 2011
Sometimes, it can be hard to tell how much of a character’s personality is her and how much is her surroundings. Hopefully, a character’s personality will be independent of her role in the narrative she’s involved in, whether it’s a tabletop game or some sort of fiction. But what better way to check than to [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Exercises, For Roleplayers, For Writers, Plot, Technique |
Tags: Characterization, Exercises, plot, roleplaying, switching characters, writing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on June 15, 2011
When we’re dealing with characterization, most of us have a tendency to write what we know—we’re used to the things we prioritize, and often figure out our characters based on “accepts this premise—rejects that one—ignores that one entirely….” Sometimes, though, we see characters who operate on a principle that just doesn’t resonate with our audience, [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Dialogue, Exposition, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Technique, Voice and Style |
Tags: alien mindsets, Characterization, cultural differences, roleplaying, writing | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on June 8, 2011
One of the toughest things about a relatively new character can be figuring out where their boundaries and obligations lie—which is a pity, because those can be the fastest way of making a character interesting. Shinali recently poked me with a solution, based on her regular quoting of Gibbs’s Rules: write the character up a [...]
Categories: Character image, Characterization, Characters in the world, Exercises, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: characterization exercise, code of conduct, roleplaying, writing | 2 Comments »