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Character Creation and You:
The New Guide to Not Making Crappy Characters
The New Guide to Not Making Crappy Characters
Whether you're a novice RPer or you've had twenty odd years of experience, creating an effective, fluent and interesting character is one of the trickiest, yet most interesting processes of the RP experience. Unfortunately, more often than not, people muddle it up, and it results in a lot of problems later on.
A poorly designed character profile will often result in a poorly portrayed character that ends up being dropped within two weeks of the character's conceptualization. So, this whole post is all about decreasing the amount of dropped characters, as well as helping you create more interesting characters that will help contribute to the RP world of SWRP.com.
Considerations
Creating a character concept is far deeper than, 'I'm making a Jedi', or, 'A Sith would be a cool character.' Faction should not define character, but if you wish to create a character for a particular faction, you need to keep in mind realism towards that profile. For example, you would not have a trained Jedi fighting with the Mandalorians, so keep universe 'realism' in mind while you start developing your character.
Motive
Now, don't bother with appearance, inventory, even history until you have a motive for your character. Someone without motive really isn't that impressive to RP with, as they tend to amble through aimlessly, and this can be quite dull. Ask yourselves, 'Why is my character doing this? Why do they not just stay at home and let the world pass them by?' THIS is where motive comes into play.
To explain this better, I'll create a Sith Lord, Darth Examplus.
Without motive, Darth Examplus is an all powerful Sith Lord, who can hold the galaxy by its throat with a single thought. But if he doesn't have motive, as a writer it's difficult to gauge how he would become involved in an RP - if he is involved, he just seems to be there for no apparent reason, and often winds up being inconsequential to the story. As a result, noone remembers him, noone really recognizes the point of his presence, and so he's neither taken seriously, nor is writing with you remembered as a fun and involved experience.
Another pitfall many writers fall into is not fleshing out their motive enough. Let's say we've taken Darth Examplus back to the drawing board and decided that he's after power. While that's better motive then having none at all, it's a very simplistic motivation that doesn't make him any different then his peers in the Sith, and he will often come across as one-dimensional. Even worse, having such a simple motivation could result in his presence in threads being reduced to annoying boasting and displays of power and strength, which neither aid his own personal plot, nor add to the story or level of involvement with other characters.
So we take Darth Examplus back to the story board again. What if, for example, he was seeking to elevate his status in the Sith by overthrowing his Master, thereby becoming more powerful in the Sith ranks? This fills even a typical bar/cantina thread with all sorts of potential. Examplus could be seeking to hire mercenaries, bounty hunters or Dark Jedi to aid his cause, spy on his Master, or hope to capture agents of the Alliance or the Jedi to corrupt to increase his following. He could talk assassination tactics, try to discover where his Master would most likely be at a given time, and so on. Suddenly he has a reason to be involved in the thread and to interact with other players. See the difference?
Other examples of motive could be a desire to bring glory to a fallen Mandalorian clan, to restore order and law in the galaxy, or to find the truth of the war regardless of all consequences. A character could be searching for a lost love, trying to find their family, or be searching for a missing treasure trove or artifact. The potential is limitless, and often new motives will crop up in the RP - if you take the time to make your character involved with the story, they may suddenly find themselves distracted by the stories of others, leading them onto new adventures you did't originally plan on...and sometimes, treading blindly into the unknown makes the RP all the more thrilling.
Personality: Beginning
Alright, now we have an anomaly of a character, but with a purpose. Motive also helps you in personality creation. By looking into a character's motive, you can begin to understand the base and core values this character holds. I'll stick with Darth Examplus throughout this piece, in order to give you the full example of one character creation process.
Darth Examplus is a powerful Sith Lord who seeks to overthrow his Master and thereby elevate his status in the Sith, thereby increasing his power and influence. Based on that statement alone, we can begin to understand the Examplus is obviously a motivated and ambitious character, probably with a fair portion of cunning as well. You can also take these base qualities and begin to consider how they may work against him - for example, his ambition may in fact blind him to the scheming of others, or make his movements against his Master that little bit more obvious, so there is a danger of him being caught flatfooted by one of his peers, or his Master may even discover his plans, all which open up new and interesting opportunities for side stories. As a result, we're beginning to get a basic idea of Examplus' demeanor, motivations, and a glimpse into his personality, as well as several opportunities for side stories as well as a main personal plotline. Before we delve any deeper into his personality, though, it's time to consider backstory.
Historical notes
To help continue to develop a sense of motive, as well as flesh out the personality more, now is a good time to start coming up with ideas of why the character acts the way they do, why they are motivated to such actions and so forth. Putting down small dot points at this stage is really all you need to do in order to get the basics down, and then you can come back and flesh out their history more once the conceptual process is complete. I've personally found that keeping this as a reference sheet and adding to it as a character's history progresses only helps flesh out the character more and more, and it's a handy reference point if you ever get stuck not knowing how your character would respond to a given situation.
Anyway, historical notes. Ask yourself what has happened in your character's life to make them drive towards their goal, what has happened that has motivated them. It's best to make this more than a single event - personalities aren't built that way, and to have a complete turnaround due to a single event is difficult for most people to find plausible. In addition, it can actually harm your chances of RPing with others, as more experienced writers may believe that your character lacks depth. However, this isn't a hard guideline - I've seen some very well written characters defined by a single turning point in their life. The important thing is to not make this single event the be all and end all for a character - even minor events, failing a test, falling out of friendship with a childhood companion or losing a treasured item all help to develop a character further, both in motivation and personality. The more you explain what a character has gone through to become the person they are today, the easier you will find tapping into their psyche and being able to write for them accordingly. I don't think this section requires an example, but if it is requested, I'll add one.
It's also important to note that there are a lot of clichés out there that don't work, or aren't developed enough, or lack original motive in the first place. A popular backstory for Sith involves the death of their parents - what I like to call Batman syndrome - or, occasionally the murder of the parents by the character's hand. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad backstory in itself if it is developed correctly. Still, you have to remember your character has a mind and will of their own, and turning to the Dark Side because their parents died needs to have a cause and effect relationship in order to work. Why did these deaths influence your character so much, or why were they driven to something as extreme as murder. Think of it from your own perspective, and think logically about what it would take for you to want to kill someone. If murder is a part of your backstory, the reason for said murder needs to have that same extreme, desperate mentality behind it, and the same emotional response from after the deed is done. Also, don't fall into the trap of the idea of 'not feeling anything' from witnessing or being involved in a first murder - you can take the time to develop your character so much more in such a pivotal situation, and I feel it's often such a wasted opportunity. Anyway, just something to keep in mind.
Personality: Polishing it off
Now we have a distinct feel of motive, the beginning of a history, and the outline of a personality, it's time to go back flesh it out your character's behavioural patterns even more. Personality isn't just about what a character acts like, or how they will likely react to a random encounter. Personality is about personal preference. What does your character like? What do they dislike? How will they behave if x happens? If given the choice between x and y which will your character choose? This portion is as crucial to a good profile as motive is. The more solid your understanding of your character's behavioral patterns, the better you will be able to respond to situations, even strange ones. If, for example, a character were to describe a spider hanging from a low branch on the path nearby, and your character had a fear of spiders, you can then take that into account on how your character will behave. Take that fear, compare it with your character's personality and behavioral patterns, and from that, you can respond accordingly to what would otherwise be a mundane walk down a forest path. Knowing what and how your character responds to things is vital to a fun and interesting character to roleplay.
Also, if you are considering a race that is not human, now is the time you need to research that race, and make an understanding of how they commonly behave, and use that in your profile as well. Also, as tempting as it is to make a maverick character who goes against social norms, you also have to be careful to avoid excessive clichés, and you need to thoroughly research the likelihood of your character existing if they behave as such.
As a side-note, I would strongly recommend against cross-breeding alien races, or trying to. In my experience, ninety percent of the time cross-breeds are made just to make your character more powerful. In freeform RP, giving your character a natural advantage doesn't really amount to anything meaningful beyond the profile itself, as combat skills rely solely on writing ability. Furthermore, this can have disastrous effects on personality conceptualization, as often dominant personality characteristics in alien species conflict with each other and muddy up the waters, making creating a personality much more difficult for what is essentially a pointless natural advantage.
The Personality Quirk
The difference between a good an an amazing character concept is the amount of thought gone into the character. Not appearance or stat-wise, but again, personality-wise. An excellent way of developing personality further is the Personality Quirk. These are little oddities in the way a character behaves, their use of mannerisms, weaknesses etc. Personality quirks make your character more tangible. For example, a phobia towards certain alien lifeforms, or maybe a peculiar way one shakes another's hand makes them more interesting to roleplay, as these minor points add interest and flavour to your posts. Even a speech impediment or alien speech pattern can make your character that much more interesting to play, though this can have an effect on how easy it is to write for a character. Personality Quirks are more about making your character deeper and more unique, and help you stand out from a crowd. Ideally, every character should have quirks, if only to make them more interesting to read, and to roleplay.
Appearance
Only now, when you have the idea of how your character behaves, and why they behave in such a manner, should you really delve into appearance. If you can't find an image that matches your character, then don't bother - a little image isn't going to make your profile amazing, but the content will. Also, remember that what may appear aesthetically pleasing and ideal also may not work for your character. Female warriors in skimpy outfits look good, but as soon as the blasters start firing, they really don't have much protection. Also, keep in mind that many factions may have a commonly accepted way of dressing or a uniform of sorts. Changing this may seem a good idea, but it really isn't very necessary - if you've written your profile correctly, you won't need them to dress differently to make an impact. That being said, by making personal alterations to a faction's uniform or acceptable way of dress may in fact make your character more interesting, as it shows they reflect on the outside what drives them on the inside. Tattoos or other bodily marks are also a nice way to do this, especially for example with a Jedi. This allows them to wear their traditional garb, but these markings show an individual and personal streak, and make your character again, a little deeper and more interesting to communicate with.
Biography
Finally,and only once all of the above sections are complete, should you write up the biography and history of your character in full. Use the plot points you wrote up earlier to explain your character's drives and desires, and any points of interest you may have come up with while you were developing the idea of your character. Biography doesn't mean write down everything that happened in your life, from the length of the labour to the number of times they had to go to hospital, but it does mean that most points of interest in your character's life up until 'present day' should be at least noted.
Major contributions towards motives and values in life should be more detailed than minor points, but other details, such as their first crush, maybe, or a childhood injury, should also be added to create a sense of tangibility. Again, don't write down every detail. You do have to make the profile interesting as well as detailed, though that's a fine line which takes time and experience to master properly.
If you can't write the whole biography in one sitting, then don't do it. Pace yourself, and take your time. You may find your bio easier to write once you've started RPing with your character, so don't set everything in concrete. More times then not, you'll find your character changes slightly once you take them off the drawing board and start interacting with others - don't see this as a bad thing, but go back and adjust your character profile accordingly.
By following these points, you can help yourself in creating a lastable, tangible and interesting character. If you need any help, or a second opinion on a profile, feel free to PM me, and i'll be more than happy to review on request. Good luck, and happy creating!
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