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Old 02-21-2003, 04:57 AM   #4
Kallekins
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 48
Kallekins is on a distinguished road
I start with a general idea what type of personality I want, then I twist it up a little, giving my char some internal conflict, or two traits that don't fit very well. Then I set about resolving this, sometimes with things from their background, sometimes just a complex way they see the world.
It doesn't matter to me how complex and unique a char is if it is all internal. The purpose of all that internal junk is to drive the actions. So to "flesh out" a char, I add in things that they do: nervous habits (or things to show if they are more relaxed), how and how often they speak, how they sit, stand, fight, smile, laugh...Anything I like and expect the char to do often gets aliased. I'm a slow typist.
The background I keep simple, and usually within the normal, like growing up on a farm, or the daughter of a craftsman. I put in those elements of the background that explain how my char got to be as she is. It doesn't have to be anything profound or melodramatic, because small things do shape us. For example, being an only child, or the oldest kid who had to take care of the younger ones, being picked on in school, an illness, a domineering father, etc. Then I add in something, or a story, to explain why she left that old life and started adventuring, or in one of those muds that make you choose a class at char creation, why she decided to become a mage, thief, whatever.
I like to develop my characters, so the good stories and traumatic events are all what happen within the game. You'll get a more captive audience if you tell how you hate mages because "this (pc) mage, who you may have the misfortune of meeting, once called me names and cast a fireball at me...", than because "My father was killed by this (npc) mage." So as my chars get older, they grow a lot more complex and interesting to play.
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