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Old 09-06-2002, 10:11 AM   #6
Sapphar
 
Posts: n/a
95% of the time, I begin with a history that is a minimum of 2 pages or so in a word document. It is almost never “exceptional” in that the character has lead a fairly normal life. However, even normal lives have important moments, memories, and people, so I try to figure out all those for my character. It provides her a frame of reference, things to speak about that slip into conversation and remain consistent. It also lets me understand why her personality is what it is when I start her out. By keeping tragedy out of her background, I give her tons of room to grow and develop as she lives in the world of the game.

From there, my characters always change. I give them a goal, or a few goals, when they arrive in game. But those are my -characters- goals. As a player, I love watching my characters fail in goals or find new goals as they change in response to events around them. I try not to have too many player driven goals (and they tend to revolve around wanting to master skills), as those can be harder to get rid of when they are no longer appropriate for the character.

Finally, as I stated earlier, my character will change in response to what happens to her in game. Which doesn’t always mean I, the player, like who she becomes. Sometimes I dump characters after I’ve played them a long time, not because it isn’t a great character, but because the events of her life have led her to become someone who is interesting, but just not who I want to play.

Sapphar
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