Note: The following post is purely based off of personal experience and perceptions. Cherry has been a role-player for 5 years though, GMing many, so do expect her to know at least some of what she's talking about.

Also, any examples that Cherry uses are just picked randomly and probably exaggerated. If one of the examples somehow match a character, it is purely coincidental and isn't meant as an attack to that character.


Intro

Our characters are one of the most important aspects in a role-play. Actually, my characters are the reason I enjoy role-playing so much. Adding layer upon layer of depth and complexity to what starts off as a simple character sheet until the story develops that character, builds them from the ground up, and in the end, you are left with a complex character. At least, this is what happens in a good role-play. That is the thrill that unfailingly attracts me back to role-playing over and over again.

Too often though, I see people using their characters flatly, with no development and nothing interesting. Just another character in another role-play. Too often I see this and I can't help but wish I could somehow tell that person the true joys of being able to create a person so fully, as close as we can to being able to create a whole person.

So here, I'll tell you about how I start off with a blank Character sheet, fill it out, then finally, do the magics that breathes the character to life.

The Very Basics

-The first thing you need is a name. When you think of a name, try to be subtle, unique if you want, but try to make it make sense.

A Canadian family living in Montreal isn't gonna name their baby girl Sakura now are they? (If your character isn't Japanese, don't give them a Japanese name.)

Now, try to think about the types of names that fit your character's background. Try as hard as you can to avoid nouns. Crystal, Raven, Claw, Angel? Sounds like good names to name my pets, but not a human. Since I'm usually role-playing in the Fantasy/Adventure genre, I have a fair amount of flexibility. In a world of Elves and Dwarves, Dragons and Griffins, weird names are perfectly acceptable.

As long as you make it the norm. Say, if your character came from a city where everyone had common English names let's say. Bobby, John, William, Patrick, Elizabeth, Nancy, ect. , then one random character born there has the name Sylviesteria Li'atri'xilk Ryofaeroien. That doesn't make much sense right? Ok, that was a bit of an extreme case, but you get the picture.

But on the other hand, if this Sylviesteria Li'atri'xilk Ryofaeroien was born an elf and every elf had names like that, then it'll be perfectly acceptable no?

Also, do keep in mind that a character is named when they are born, not after people get to know them. A name shouldn't correspond too much to the actual character. (So, let's say someone is a good artist, and they're named Cryztil just because it means 'Creative' in the drow language. Well, how did Cryztil's parents know that she'll be good at art when she was first born?)

-The next thing you need is an age. Most role-players look at the character sheet, and automatically put down an age between 10 to 25, mostly 16, 17 or 18.

You have to think about it for a moment. If this is gonna be a really good fighter, do you honestly expect someone with less then 18 years of training be able to kill an experienced soldier veteran that's guarding that character you're trying to rescue? Do you really think they could have gained enough discipline and training in order to master magic so completely that they could do things most spend a life time to learn?

The answer is a flat out no. I don't care if your character's been obsessed with training all their life, that they have a natural gift for it, or they're a fast learner. It just doesn't happen like that.

Take my Character Lina. Yes, she's 14. What does she know? About the same as me, an average 14 years old living in Canada. Yes, she's done Archery, but she's not amazing. She's good at it, perhaps about the same level as me. But the fact is, she's believable, because I know her to be a possible character. If I said that she could hit a fly from a mile away with her bow and arrow, someone needs to whack me over the head and hand me over to a mental institution.

Now let's look at my other character, Felix. He's 42. Actually, I think he's one of the only character's I've seen in a role-play over the age of 30. Not counting the people who're like 9999999999999 years old. He's skilled, and rightfully so, having so many years to hone his reflexes and train himself, body and mind. Yes, he's getting somewhat old and a bit slower, but I can rightfully justify his skill.

I just mentioned the other end of the age spectrum: if you're gonna have a character that's 100 (Or 1,000) years old or something, there better be a good reason. Like your character's an elf for example.

-Appearance--

GARGH! I don't care about every little detail on your character! I don't care if he's wearing a brown hat with a little white wing on the side and some mystical symbol on his back! I don't care what exact shade of green your character's eyes are and how you compare it to the rolling grass of a beautiful meadow after the summer's rain brushed it! (Actually, poetry like that makes me feel sick >.>) I don't care about those details! They aren't important! Your character's gonna be changing clothes regularly (At least I hope they do...) so it doesn't matter what exact thing they're wearing!

When you describe a character, I find it the most effective to talk about how that person's appearances makes one feel. Does their stance bellow calm readiness? Do they extrude an aura of alertness, or perhaps simply childish innocence? Does a sparkle in their eye show their love and anticipation for adventure? And what type of clothing do they prefer to wear -and notice I say type, and not exactly what they wear. Just general points- and what does it say about its wearer?

This is the type of thing that makes a good character appearance section. And also, those of you who can draw their characters- great. Put in the descriptions beside the picture if you really want the picture there. Believe it or not, pictures leave less of an impression then written work in the context of a role-play. If you can't draw, don't bother searching the Internet for a good picture. I find myself loose respect for those who take other people's works to stick into the appearance section just to mask their laziness and unwillingness to write out a description.

Now, after all that, I want you to know I've been trying to steer you away from a Mary Sue as well as create a good, base character. There are so many things I'd love to mention here, but this'll be three times longer if I did, so I just want you to take the Mary Sue Litmus test. Actually, I suggest you take it for your current character in all your role-plays and take it when creating a character for any future role-plays. This thing is dead useful.

Fleshing out the Character

-First thing's first, your character needs a past.

You know what the first thing I'll say is?

Leave your character's parents alive. Its not sad anymore when you go with the whole "He watched his parents and whole village slaughtered before his very eyes when he was 5, and was forced to live by himself, burning with revenge."

No, just no. Too many people do this, its just so frustrating. I find myself shaking my head helplessly when I see a profile like this. I really hope I don't have to explain myself with this one.

Now, I'll admit, my character Felix's father is dead because of a battle with a dragon. But looking at the lifestyle of a ranger, would you expect any less? I thought it would be too unrealistic to keep the whole Swift family alive. Also, Felix had just turned 18 at that time. He was an adult by Irelle's standards, and he isn't dependent on a family any more to keep himself fed. The main difference from this situation and the situation that comes up way too often is this crucial fact.

Now, another very annoying thing put into the past section is that your character's lost all of his/her memories. Well guess what? Amnesia does happen yes. Well, so your character can't remember anything, fine. You have to explain what happened though. And don't just go "He fell through a dimensional rift and woke up not remembering anything but his name" , actually explain how and why it happened!

So keep it practical and believable.

-Personalities. I hate it when there's this section on a character profile. Guess what? No matter how hard you try to write down and keep a certain personality, you'll fail miserably. This is where character development comes along. You'll find your character slowly developing a very distinct and unique personality when you don't label them beforehand. Mostly, you'll realize its because the personality you gave that character in the beginning just doesn't fit in with everything else you've put down, no matter how much you thought it made sense beforehand.

-What about battles? Most role-plays have fighting in it, at least most of the role-plays (all actually) I've ever been a part of.

Well guess what? Most characters aren't built around battle. Notice yourself talking about your character as if everything has something to do with protecting oneself? This is a classic example: (Although I do admit its somewhat exaggerated. Unfortunately, there are actually characters like this out there.)

Quote:
Name: Example name
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Weapon: Longsword
Past: Example grew up training with the sword, mastering it. He seeks to be the best in all the lands, and most think he won't fail in that quest.
Skills: He's a very good swordsman.
Weaknesses: He hates wizards, they're hard to kill.
Played by: Example user.


Ugh, so what if this guy's good with a sword? What's he like? What was his past? Family? And he has more skills then knowing how to use a sword! Is he a good swimmer? Good with the ladies? The complete opposite? Most people -in roleplays or not- do not completely exist around combat!!!!!!! This is one thing I can never stress enough >.>

Developing your character

This is the most important part of your character. The profile you had written is only about 1/10th of your character. The rest of it is in the actual role-play. Tell me the difference between these two.

Example 1
Alan walked down the street. No one even noticed him as he cut the purse of a passing man and quietly slipped away.


Example 2
A dark form blended seamlessly with the shadows, darting from one sunless spot to another. The road was busy and full of people, and even if Alan didn't bother to hide so, no one would have given him a second glance.

Alan grinned as he watched the passing crowd, eyes darting around expertly to find unguarded purses. Most of the people who lived in these areas were smart enough to keep their coins hidden, but rich travellers are rarely so wise.

Slipping from one shadow to the next, Alan kept his focus on the job he had set before him. He was running short of coins -non earned honestly mind you- and wouldn't be able to get a bite to eat that night if he failed. Alan was hardly worried though. There were few that had faster fingers then Alan Zistar.

His grin grew bigger as he saw what looked like a very well furnished man passing by, arguing with his wife. Dagger out, Alan waited silently, poised to strike, and moved so fast when the man passed by that he was just a blur. The sack of gold was severed from the belt, right into the other hand of Alan. Though the man surely felt the sudden loss of so much weight, the little thief was already long gone by then, wondering happily how he'll spend his new mini fortune.


Now, the first thing you might notice is that one of them is longer then the other. The actual size of a post doesn't matter nearly as much as what makes it so long.

The first one says everything that needs to be said in order to move the story along. The second one takes the time to put in an atmosphere, and adds a bit of humanity to the character. Though this one post won't do much to advance the development of your character, many, many like these is what will ultimately leave you with a satisfyingly complex character.

Like I mentioned before, a character's personality develops through the story and not from the character profile. Take Felix as an example.

When I was making his profile, I thought him to be a calm, stoic guy. He'll calculate everything before he moves and will do it with calm precision. But as I went through the story, he's still a very calm and controlled guy, but we can all tell he loves a good joke -perhaps at the expense of others, particularly Donald xd - and isn't as sure of himself as I originally planned. His character's started to be fleshed out seemingly with little control from me.

Now, some advice to try to do this type of development:

-Try to explain what's going through your character's head at all times. Even if their minds are wandering elsewhere, perhaps a memory, a funny notion, a serious thought. Anything that might be going through that character's head at the moment.

Quote:
Rowan tried to keep her face straight as she faced the Griffin rider, hoping that her posture didn't reveal her fear. A griffin rider would never be able to hurt her.

Well, when her own partner, Violet the Dragon was around. Unfortunately, she's gone off to hunt this day and hasn't returned yet. Oh shoot.

Rowan entertained the notion of Violet swooping down onto the scene, and the Griffin and its rider scrambling away in fear.

Rowan found it hard to contain her smile.


Actually, there isn't too much else to say about this. Getting into your characters heads is the key, although creating the right atmosphere and aura helps too.

Oh, one last note. You know how you can make your character more interesting? Add in little interesting details about them.

Remember Felix? He has a bit of a peasant accent from his father, although a few years at Disney castle's starting to erase it. And believe it or not, I think he's the first left handed character I've seen in a role-play before. Guys, there are more right handeds then left handeds, but not by that much.

Just think about yourself. What makes you you? There's some big things yes, perhaps you're really good at soccer, get good grades, things that are obvious. But maybe you like to drink an extra glass of milk before bed? Perhaps you like to sit a certain way. Pause in certain parts of a sentence, perhaps you're very good at conveying your thoughts without words. Believe it or not, its these little things and not the big things that ultimately makes us unique.

I hope the guide has helped! Post here any comments or your own little information that you'd like to share. 3nodding