Character Theory How do you build your characters?

[BananaMuffin]

I don't plan on participating in an RP anything soon since I'll be going back to work soon, but I do want to explore the complexities of an oc I return to everytime I re-enter the roleplaying scene. A rational, mature, cool-headed character trying to live a civil, impactful life despite being a full-time lycanthrope. I've envisioned her in three settings so far, her home setting in a dark fantasy world suddenly devoid of people, in a weird western setting and in a near future setting. In the first two, she doubled as a miner and a self-builder, and in the last one she was a therapist.

I wish could do her justice, but she never really got a chance to shine. She deserves the chance to be cool and complex, without wangst. She deserves to have grounded, valid reasons behind her emotions. She deserves to have her trauma deconstructed in a respectful way and reveal why she has become a responsible person in spite of it, to have self-regulation methods that don't suppress her emotions but addresses them directly. I just don't know how to go about that yet. My problem is that I tend to base my characters actions off of how I'm feeling at the time and not what they would actually do. I'm horrible at improv and the softest bit of conflict in a roleplay locks my brain up if it isn't planned out ahead of time. I know this is more of a personal problem, but I can only chip away at this aspect of myself until I can do better, and that won't be anytime soon.

Right now, I'm just wondering how people execute their characters well enough that they would be engaging to them and other players in a group, even when they're feeling iffy at the time. Any ideas on how to not make a character so personal that your ideals and personality start to bleed into them, yet still cultivate that sense of character that keeps you interested in playing them?

 

[nerdy tangents]

So two things stand out to me right away

1. Why does she need to have trauma?

2. Why can’t she be more of a self insert with added bonus of lycanthropy?

Because it seems to me that you are putting an unnecessary burden on yourself when it comes to writing the character which is interfering with your own enjoyment.

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If you just want to try to get out of your comfort zone and write a different personality I think you might be better off by basing the character on someone you know in real life. So rather than imagining how you would act in any situation imagine how your sister, mother, best friend, whoever would act.

It’s a good technique to build confidence in writing different personalities without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.

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It’s what I do whenever I want to mix things up and play a different type of character. I think of someone I know in real life and build a character around them.

 

[BananaMuffin]

So two things stand out to me right away

1. Why does she need to have trauma?

2. Why can’t she be more of a self insert with added bonus of lycanthropy?

Because it seems to me that you are putting an unnecessary burden on yourself when it comes to writing the character which is interfering with your own enjoyment.

You're right, she doesn't need trauma. I've just been looking into her character history and I noticed something interesting.

In her debut story, she ended up being socially isolated in a rural area for a long period of time. Afterwards, she was reaclimated into a human society where werewolves were very rare. In a roleplay group it's not that big of a deal since the characters are often unordinary and meant to eventually become a found family, but in the context of a mundane setting where you can't see anyone else that openly looks like you, there is still that sense of isolation. It doesn't necessarily result in trauma, but prolonged isolation does leave an effect on the psyche that is hard to get rid of. I want to reflect on how these experiences shaped her as a person and how they shaped her resolve to make the world a better place on her own terms.

Edit: Forgot to answer the second question, lol

I'm trying to veer away from making her a self insert because I realized that I'm squishy XD. I do self inserts often, but they tend to be submissive, which doesn't lead to engagement most of the time. When it does, I take it personally, and when it goes in a direction I didn't predict, I don't know what to do. Now I'm trying to find a method to help in those moments.

If you just want to try to get out of your comfort zone and write a different personality I think you might be better off by basing the character on someone you know in real life. So rather than imagining how you would act in any situation imagine how your sister, mother, best friend, whoever would act.

It’s a good technique to build confidence in writing different personalities without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.

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It’s what I do whenever I want to mix things up and play a different type of character. I think of someone I know in real life and build a character around them.

That's a good way to approach it. I tend to avoid basing characters off of real people because I usually don't like using other people's likeness, but I'll try to see if it helps. Thank you for responding!

 

[k0arr]

I accidentally hit enter too early but here we are again!

Echoing the above advice- I try not to base my characters on my own emotions and perceptions for the very reasons you’ve mentioned where it becomes difficult to traverse written situations outside of your own perspective. I don’t think there’s anything inherently bad about identifying with a character and using your own thought process to guide them but it can be limiting and as you mentioned, sometimes it can lead to feeling hurt by another characters actions and/or event that takes place if the line between you and your character is too thin.

Self insert is great and a lot of people like it, but if you don’t wish to go down that path then perhaps practicing that boundary between you and your character might help. I try to see my characters as their own people and sometimes it takes a bit of time to settle into their varied head spaces. I usually sit down and think about their lives and the morals they’ve built based on their individual histories. I approach rp less of a “how would I react” and more “how would this person, living in this world, having gone through x,y, and z feel”. I like to use the moral alignment chart, often used in DND, to gently outline a character’s moral compass and approach. Sometimes I google random oc questions (what would your characters favorite video game be, what’s their favorite childhood memory etc) to get my brain thinking too.

Character identity takes time and patience and a lot of fumbling. It’s okay to feel stuck. RP can be vulnerable, especially if you relate to your own character. Writing solo might help to assert what you want and need as well.

This is a lot of unrefined ramble but!! those are my loose thoughts. Your character sounds really cool and def deserves the story arc you feel is best for her.

 

[BuggaBoo]

Right now, I'm just wondering how people execute their characters well enough that they would be engaging to them and other players in a group, even when they're feeling iffy at the time. Any ideas on how to not make a character so personal that your ideals and personality start to bleed into them, yet still cultivate that sense of character that keeps you interested in playing them?

Hi!!

Vibing offa another poster, I like the idea of the Venn diagram when discussing my OC's persona's:
All my OCs are some form of inserts in my Venn diagram: 'people I know and love', 'people I know that annoy me', 'me turned up to 11'

Obv me turned up to 11 is defo self insert. But the other 2 i think could help you separate yourself from fictional charrie and confront conflict. Cuz I don't like conflict but in rp it's easier if you portrayed someone you know that could stand up to conflict.

For me i base fighter charries on 3 people I know and love. For asshole charries I base them on 2 people that annoy me and every other person that just pisses me off.

The other thing I do is create sub plots of drama as I go. Irl drama sucks but rp drama is queen lol. And I don't mean start shit with other charries but with your own. Like snippets of leaked text here and there hinting at drama unfolding behind the scenes. Just keep it in the back of your mind and soon enough you have a tangled web of subplot drama that will keep you interested in playing them lol

Like k for example. I know of 2 people that were doing not such nice things and wondered what it would be like if I got involved in it. Well wonder no longer cuz I made my self insert have a subplot with some bad people in the bg and extended it thru the rp lol.

Anyways yeah ya girl is weird but like hope you got something outta that that helps.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

When I make characters, I usually consider two things: core concept and role

The core concept is basically what summarized them as individual, and what I'm aiming to potray as their first impression whenever another character meet them. Meanwhile the role is what would be their role narratively in a group setting, what the character can contribute to the group's dynamic.

As an example, I have a char named Gion. He's a skeleton bard that is over the top cheerful even at the face of overwhelming adversaries, he also likes bone puns. His core concept is 'the liveliest undead' and his role in a group is mostly comic relief, but his non-serious attitude can be a great foil to edgier character if they mesh well.

Another example. Eeriel is my other character, her core concept is 'talking sassy cat'. She like teasing and probing people and I found her to be great at poking into strict character's mind as she would intentionally try to agitate them and then criticize their values, for funsies.

 

[Sagey]

Interesting topic.

I build mine through writing...

My characters tend to come to me with a name and basic personality and then it's a lot of day dreaming and jotting down whatever it is they tell me and that's how I pick up on who they are and what they like. Everything else falls into place as I write them.

One of my current characters is Sage (my main toon on FFXIV) and he only started with a name and location of where he was from. I didn't get a damn thing else from this loud dumb rabbit until I threw him into RP and he just info dumped on me.

This is p much how every character I have starts; a name and either a location or a major personality trait.

Man I hope that makes sense to others.

 

[Jet]

One overlooked quality is entertainment value. There's an attitude about writing that characters should be complex and unique and deep and etc etc etc. Yet mention entertainment and people turn up their noses, how dare entertainment value be a prime factor in character quality, in a medium centered around entertaining the reader. If your character is entertaining you've made a good character. If your character is entertaining and complex, you've made a great character. If you make a complex character that puts people to sleep, you've made a bad character that nobody cares about.

The hierarchy is backwards for many people. They worry about how smart their writing looks because we get our egos involved, instead of focusing on what the reader actually wants, which is a fun engaging time.

So most of my characters have some kind of trait that makes them fun to read, whether it's dry humor or bad luck that strikes when it would be funny, or an energetic character that lights up the room. I want people to like reading my characters. If they don't like reading them, my deeper ideas will never get any attention, nobody will care about their backstory, and nobody will care how smart my character writing is. You should focus on making her fun to read and then explore those deeper ideas, show the inner layers once they've been hooked by the fun outer layers, and fun comes in many forms. You can have a ponderous character who talks about interesting, thought provoking things. You can have a slapstick moron who trips when donning their pants. You just need to make it interesting to your demographic of reader.

I'm currently writing a plethora of character types in my RP, over a dozen because I'm the GM. I have a blockhead honorable knight with absolutely zero sense of humor. I have an Australian nihilist who really hates God. I have a sarcastic monster hunter who's running gag is "This reminds me of a monster I once took down." He's borderline autistic when it comes to his hyperfixation. Those traits give them something for my readers to smile about, before engaging with the deeper ideas beneath them. Like the reasons why the nihilist despises God. The reason why the monster hunter is so obsessed with his quarry.

So to summarize my thoughts, focus more on what they do and what they say, and slowly work into exploring their personality. Make them entertaining and once people care, make them more interesting.