How does one construct an RPG/Sim character?

[Kesvirit]

posted on 4-24-2003 at 06:53 AM

How does one go about constructing an RPG character to play? Is it better to write a detailed bio to follow, or should you just start with a few basics in order to leave room to develop your character as the game progresses?

Any thoughts?

- Kesvirit

[Kapact]

posted on 4-24-2003 at 01:03 PM

I started with just a name. I have built up a family history that is tracing from Kahless to 'present day'........Better to start with just the bare minimum, and develop your character.............

IMHO anyway

Kapact

[TVala]

posted on 5-21-2003 at 08:09 PM

character description...

I worte a basic outline of a biography for T'Vala, and a detailed description of her personl habits. If yoyu want, I will show on another character I used the same building process for.
 

[Klythe]

osted on 6-1-2003 at 12:05 AM

On TFC we encourage characters to write a full bio. About a page in length is the guideline, but bios are peer-judged by content rather than length. Important things people like to present are appearance, personality and background(personal history).

I suppose to really answer the question depends on how the character is going to be used... For quick, pickup games and minor characters in involved RPs and sims, it's enough to pick a name and have a vague idea of temperament when starting... For more formal games especially if there is important competition, it should be necessary to have a complete understanding beforehand what your character is capable of and other details about personality and background that are likely to come up...

It mostly depends on the style of game and the players. Some games are more personality based, others perfer more action...

I've done it both ways... I like telling people up front if a character isn't likely to be pleasant about certain things, just so they're not surprised and think I as a player object to them as a player... But there is something to say for retroconning your character to fit into the story better... So leaving some space is a good idea. Besides for most people their lives are not so full tilt that there isn't any extra time that you couldn't add something into their past without distrubing something else.

Personally, I write the minimum history that is rellevant to thier position. If more is needed later on then there is enough personality and background established so that making stuff up isn't that tough...

*wonders how he missed this thread for a month*

[Kesvirit]

posted on 6-21-2003 at 10:33 AM

quoth T'Vala
 I worte a basic outline of a biography for T'Vala, and a detailed description of her personl habits. If yoyu want, I will show on another character I used the same building process for.

This would be appreciated if the one has the time and attention to put towards it. I am interested as to the thoughts and processes that go into creating characters. Some sort of tutorial would be most welcome, and perhaps be helpful to those interested in or just beginning a sim.

quoth Klythe
On TFC we encourage characters to write a full bio. About a page in length is the guideline, but bios are peer-judged by content rather than length. Important things people like to present are appearance, personality and background(personal history).The one's previous post was most informative. As with any good answer it creates more questions. (A decidedly mixed blessing. I find that it stimulates the mind, but is usually of little help in solving difficulties while under the gun. :angry:  Both literally and figuratively speaking.)

In what way are bios "peer-judged"? To what extent do players have to know other characters' bios, and how much of them do they have to incorporate them into their own posts?

Some games are more personality based, others perfer more action...

Are these styles established at the beginning of the game along with the regulations of format and conduct, or do they develop on their own as the game progresses in accordance with the personalities and tastes of the players?

I like telling people up front if a character isn't likely to be pleasant about certain things,

This is so that they will play their characters consistently as written in the bio, and not act "out of character" and mess up the flow of the game? Are issuing such warnings the duty and privilige of the Moderator/GM, or may any player do so?

But there is something to say for retroconning your character to fit into the story better...

Retconning? You actually ENCOURAGE RETCONNING?!! *sound of blade being drawn from sheath accompanied by a low growl*

Personally, I write the minimum history that is rellevant to thier position. If more is needed later on then there is enough personality and background established so that making stuff up isn't that tough...

Though I have never RP'd, this strikes me as an excellent approach. In setting up characteristics and bios for my fictives I find I tend to write myself into a corner. Especially with the story arcs. Though now that I think further the situations are not analogous: a story is a single-player format requiring some semblance of flow and beginning-middle-end, while an RPG (as understood by one who has never played) is a multi-"author" story with no plot outline that is not *supposed* to have a conclusion or overarching theme.

I am of course open to correction. I hope that other players will tell of their methods of character creation. I know that there are other RPG enthusiasts on the boards. Show yourselves and speak up for your craft!

*wonders how he missed this thread for a month*

Probably because you were off simming. }};-) As linefounder you have duties elsewhere, and I am sure that your dependents require considerable attention. Aspera strikes me as one who needs advising and periodic reality checks, and Fluffy requires continual guidance and the periodic thunk to the head...

It could even be that the one is in posession of what I have referred to as "a life". An intriguing concept... I hope to acquire one myself someday.

For some reason people seem reluctant to visit those Forums located "below the fold". A pity. There are all sorts of interesting things to be found in the basement...

- Kesv

[Klythe]

posted on 8-21-2003 at 01:32 AM

In what way are bios "peer-judged"? To what extent do players have to know other characters' bios, and how much of them do they have to incorporate them into their own posts?

Bios are posted publicly to a dedicated forum. Once posted every user can read them and offer suggestions for improvement. How the character could be made more realistic, more balanced and fun or merely point out factual mistakes and oversites.

How much you have to know about another character's bio depends entirely on the nature of the game, the players and how closely you expect your caharacter to interact with each other character. You don't have to incorporate anything from the other persons bio into your posts. The bios are there in large part to limit spontaneous retcon abuse, by establishing some imprtant facts from the get go. I discourage characters from knowing what is in other characters bios, while encouraging the player to know... Some unpleasantries can be avoided this way, others can be delved into knowing ahead of time that it will be messy and that everyone can accept that level of messyness.

How much of your own bio do you have to put in your own posts? As long as none of your posts contradict your bio, you really don't need to put any of it in there. I try to put the basic world-view, principles and temprament into my best bios, with the goal that nearly all my posts reflect my bio in some way.

Are these styles established at the beginning of the game along with the regulations of format and conduct, or do they develop on their own as the game progresses in accordance with the personalities and tastes of the players?

Normally we aren't that formal, but you can generally have a pretty good idea how the game will go based on the first post and reputation(or lack there of) of the thread starter... Mostly it does as deep as the players wish to invest the effort for it to go. I probably like mine deeper than most...

I like telling people up front if a character isn't likely to be pleasant about certain things,

This is so that they will play their characters consistently as written in the bio, and not act "out of character" and mess up the flow of the game? Are issuing such warnings the duty and privilige of the Moderator/GM, or may any player do so?

     That's the purpose of the bios.    The purpose of telling people upfront what things will cause problems.   For example, most of the House of Vra'al for example have various levels of intolerance of telepaths, from disgust to paranoia to phobia.  Telling this beforehand lets the other players decide intelligently if it would be a good idea to play a telepath character in a thread where a violent telepathophobe is prominent unless they are looking to play out that conflict, and vice-versa, if telepaths are already established in a thread, I should ask before bringing in a telepath hating character as it would only cause greif and detract from where they wanted to take their story.

     Any player can demand that another should correct their turn if it is inconsistant with their bio, the overall Trek(or in our case Star Wars also) universe, or something that happened earlier in the thread...  For the vast majority of the cases, people can work it out themselves.  Otherwise, the moderators ... moderate...

But there is something to say for retroconning your character to fit into the story better...

Retconning? You actually ENCOURAGE RETCONNING?!! *sound of blade being drawn from sheath accompanied by a low growl*

    When the alternative is preventing someone from participating, where they could add something interesting, yes, I would encourage Retconning.   I haven't needed to, though, just tolerating it in certain limited curcumstances is enough.

[qoSagh]

One other option that I haven't seen listed is for games that actually have character requirements. For instance the FASA Star Trek Game had character sheets and rules for generating characters that could interact with each other. Of course this method usually does not deal much with personality. Since most of my experience has been LARP (Live Action Role Playing) I find that personality is a major part of any character.

The character I was best known for was beragha, at the time of his death he was 117 years old. He was fould-mouthed, beligerant, hated the federation, considered Gorkon and all his successors to be weaklings who sold their souls to the humans, had bad table manners, no social graces whatsoever, basically a good Klingon. I became so able to role play him, that my line brother used to refer to it as "Oh no, beragha has come out to play again".

I think the two best examples of role playing beragha were once at a convention where I was manning a recruitment table for a group of Klingon clubs, in a room full of federation clubs. The setting of course was the federation clubs all had very pretty tables, with flyers and sharp crisp uniforms. I sat behind my sparsely decorated table, a board game on one corner with a sign that read "go ahead challenge the Klingon" my boots up on the table, and every so often picking my teeth with my L'vek. Oddly enough I don't get asked to man alot of tables anymore. The other was how beragha died. In a Paintball LARP, beragha had been taken prisoner (the dishonorable feds used a long range phaser to stun him). The detention area was liberated by Klingon forces, and upon reviving beragha, and in front of the Federation commander, I calmly reached into my ammo pouch and took out a single paintball and crushed it in the middle of my gogles. The other Klingons had to explain to the feddies what had happened. They could not conceive of a warrior who could not return home after being taken prisioner. It shocked them so much that they were ill prepared for the Klingons to take them prisioner a bit later.

[qoSagh]

And another thing.....

This is probably not what you were looking for in the initial question, but it is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine. Why do we, in general, have this habbit of every character either being the founder of a house, or the best friend of the emperor, or the inventor of the disruptor, designer of the D-7, ect. I'm not saying that we should all make our characters toilet technicians third class, buit there must be plenty of honorable warriors serving the empire that have never met Kahless personally, didn't serve on a ship with Martok, or negotiate along side Worf. There must be houses out there that are so old the line founder died hundreds of years ago, but the house has kept going strong. It seems that every time a Klingon episode or book or movie plot comes out we get a sudden wave of I was there and saw it all syndrome. There must be battles we have yet to hear of, ships we haven't seen yet, stories that are well worth telling, so make them up, be creative.

For those of you who have heard the song "great historical bum" or it's irish equivilent "the liar" you'll know what I mean.

[Kesvirit]

qoSagh: This is probably not what you were looking for in the initial question, but it is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine. Why do we, in general, have this habbit of every character either being the founder of a house, or the best friend of the emperor, or the inventor of the disruptor, designer of the D-7, ect.

It pleases me to see someone else voice this opinion. For me it goes beyond being a pet peeve.  I do not have pet peeves. I have magnificent, glorious,  peeves of galactic proportions. Just ask anyone.  

The Thought Masters of Medicine have been studying the affliction you describe and designated the disorder "Linefounders' Syndrome". If all are founders, it makes one wonder what an actual line consists of. A single overly ambitious individual with delusions of grandeur?

Why not make a character a toilet technician third class?  Such a one would have an interesting perspective, viewing Klingon civilization from the bottom up.  Think of the potential "fly on the wall" stories that a socially invisible servant could tell, or the intrigue that one could unwillingly get swept up in.

I would like to see the kinds of characters who make up the backbone of the Empire. The people who keep it going while the great and mighty pursue their power games.  It is easy to create a character that is Destined for Greatness; those are a dime a dozen.  The challenge lies in creating interesting characters who serve anonymously, those who are unlikely to be acknowledged or rewarded but do what they do because they must.  It would certainly provide a welcome change of pace from the Klingon Kookie Kutter effect.

Is Mr. Bad Example intended as a sequel to or parody of The Great Historical Bum? I have only heard the former, but can arrange the words of the latter to fit its melody.

-=- Kesvirit

[qoSagh]

Great Links, I've never heard Mr. Bad Example but I suppos it could be. The Liar is a somewhat more modern version sung by Tommy Makem. I suppose it could be another example of folk music just adding new lyrics to an old tune, kind like filking.

I think it sounds grand to have magnificent, glorious, peeves of galactic proportions, and think I will have to get some for myself. As for line founders syndrome, I decided long ago that even though I was the first member of my house, that noone would ever be allowed to Role Play the Epetai, he would always remain shrouded in the mists of time. I based this on having met no less than three Epetai Reshtarc's in fandom. That noble line being created by FASA and being listed as an old line, several people still felt the need to be in charge of it.

As for that fly on the wall, In the recent IKS Gorkon books there is a servitor who cleans the food off the walls, who offers some interesting insights into a scene or two. Interesting for not only the worker bee aspect but also the non-Klingon aspect.

In the LARP I currently play in, the entire Klingon Ship is made up of misfits, in that noone wanted to be assigned to this ship, so it was crewed by those without the political power to transfer off. My character is a High placed Cleric who was found passed out from too much blood wine, on stage the morning he was supposed to preside over the naming ceremony for the Emperor's nephew. The high placement in Clerical circles made it impossible to kill me, so the Emperor did the next best thing. Assigned me a Chaplain to a ship of fools that is never on a mission close to a decent or inhabited planet.

Sometimes it is fun to play a character who isn't the top of the heap.

[qoSagh]

While I am sure that RPG's were not the subject of this quote, I found it while researching some other stuff and thought it was somehow strangely applicable to Klingon character generation.

"You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one." James A. Froude (1818 - 1894)
 

[tapez_sonof_chang]

A few thoughts on  how I create characters.

Whever you create a character, espcially a personal character you have the consider the following things.

What is the role of this character, his rank, position and heritage.

What is the theme of the Ship and where does this character  fit in the over all sotry.


All of these questions unless known already by the player (i.e  the player knows the simm and is introducing a new character)  should be done with the GM (usually the CO)

In this process the character should not have too detailed of a history. The history should be about 1-2 pages covering the basic facts.

What the character should be is a platform for expression of the players views and thoughts.  I advise against well rounded characters.  

Instead I strive for balanced characters whose strenghs are offset by  by weaknesses.

A noob might decide to create a marine that is 7 feet tall, 250 pounds and just leathal with any sort of weapon.

This soulds like a superman syndrome character.

But if we add a bad temper,  and a drinking problem, maybe tendency for insubordination then you truly develop an interesting character.

In klingon simming you have to consider one final element. Namely culture and society. This involves House politics and the issue of honor.


I cannot stress how important House politics and the focus upon those. The klingon society is very clanish and if a simm effectivly uses those then there is an opening for a great simm and a story line.


My main 1st character and now main characte is a the fruit of 5 years of work.  He started out as a houseless mongrel  on the fringe of the klingon society but in those 5 years he has become a somewhat more rounded and well developed charater.

However it's all about themes and the gradual development of  that character. For example as a mongrel and outsider to society I explored the reasoning and basic concepts of honor and the way of the warrior.

Then I moved on to things such as house politics and the like.  His association with the House of Chang or rather the remnants of it were a new theme that underlined the theme of the overall story namely what does a klingon with stained honor do to redeem himself.

A full bio can be seen at

http://mehhaj.bravohost.org/main.php?pager...ef=bio&crewid=1

So in this case the role and the character coincide. The theme of the story needs to be in line with the character. Most of the time that calls for the character to be written according to the theme and the role of that character in the overall story.

[K'Gor]

As you know, I am new to RPG, but I designed K'Gor, as an academy graduate with a natural talent for tactics and strategy. His father is a first officer on a battle cruiser, and his grandfather, now deceased is a Hero of the Empire, but no more specific than that. I purposely made him unlike Worf, and placed him in Starfleet at the request of his Grandfather, who saw the Empire's future intertwined with the Federation. He has no famous relatives, besidea his honored grandfather. I intend to really explore Klingon honor with him, and have plenty of room for growth.

[X'na]

posted on 4-24-2003 at 06:53 AM

How does one go about constructing an RPG character to play? Is it better to write a detailed bio to follow, or should you just start with a few basics in order to leave room to develop your character as the game progresses?

Any thoughts?

- Kesvirit

I personally just create a character that is basically just myself, but in another universe. I admit I am not incredibly creative, but often the joy I get from writing rpg is putting myself in worlds I can't go to otherwise. I use my own name as often as possible, my own attributes (although bumped up if I'm writing a non human character), my own values and ideals. It's only been recently where I felt the need to branch out a bit and try to be mroe creative wth my creation of a true character. It's tough trying to get everything 'right'.

When I do start out with a new character, i only have the basics, then let the character grow from there. 

[nx1701g]

In my experience with roleplaying I've learned a few tricks on how to develop a character that's both fun for you to play and fun for the people around you to interact with. It's difficult sometimes to create a good charater, but here are a few guidelines.

1.) When you design your character make sure that it's a character that you want to play or is interesting to you. Take the time to develop a strong character with many traits or characteristics that you may like to explore in a game setting. Create a biography and backstory that serves as a good introduction to you and helps to decide how your character will interact with others. And, primarily, once you write the biography be sure to keep it as a reference and don't forget your history. I've seen several players write one thing in their biographies and then forget about it over time. KEEP IT AS A REFERENCE

2.) When designing your character give him/her some sort of character trait that may be interesting to examine. What happens to a Klingon character that didn't have parents or never knew them? How are they treated? Are they allowed to serve? One potential storyline. How about "How will he be treated if he becomes a rogue Klingon?" Keep you character interesting and keep interested in the group.

3.) Research the history and be sure on anything you may not be clear on. DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS and be sure that you understand what is needed. Have an idea, feel free to bring it to the GM and see if he/she can help you. That's what they're there for.

4.) Spend time reading up on the group that you want to join and get an idea of other characters. Contact people and ask about their characters to see how you could potentially interact.

5.) Finally, be sure to explore your options when looking for a game. Don't settle on something that you're not going to be interested in. When you settle, that's when things get boring and you loose interest.

If you need any help feel free to email me at ussenterprisencc1701g@yahoo.com and I'll be more than willing to assist in any way I can.

[Kapact]

I have been guilty, to an extent, of putting Kapact and his ancestoirs close to the forefront of many major events.... but lately I've begun to create characters that I deliberately remove from the ordinary, including a Klingon who lost both legs in the war and became a teacher. Just to see what I could do with the character.

[Mortagh]

When I created Mortagh, I had been interest4ed in creating a Klingon character who, though a member of Starfleet, had taken a radically different path than  that of Worf. Mortagh started out as a member of a more-or-less-respected House, and in due time joined the Klingon Defense Force. At one point, he challenged his commanding officer, and killed him in the resulting combat, but refused to take the commander's spot, as was the custom. As a result, he became something of an enigma within the KDF. later, after the actions of the Duras sisters (as seen in "Star Trek: Generations") , the High Council determined a way to help foster more amicable relations with the Federation, with a different method of an "officer exchange". Mortagh, the resident pariah, was exchanged for a similar Starfleet representative, attended Starfleet Academy, and rose through the ranks as a normal Starfleet officer, albeit at a somewhat quicker rate, thanks to his previous KDF experience. As a member of Starfleet, he excelled in his duties, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Not long after that, however, he began to feel that he was not able to accomplish anything more in a military role, so, with his father's recommendation, he resigned from both Starfleet and the KDF, and joined the Klingon Diplomatic Corps. Thus far, the most strenuous thing he has had to deal with has been an odious Ferengi negotiator, but that will most likely change, thanks to activity in the Gamma Quadrant. And, along the way, he married a half-Klingon half-human Apache woman, and had twin children.

[Tedra_deArr]

alright, when i started with online rpg i wanted to play a klingon. as K'Ehleyr was faszinating in her battle to combine her 2 heritages and i liked her humor, i decided that Tedra would become similar in this, she became a betasoid/klingon. Beeing emphatic was a part she had to struggle most with and that as a halfbreed she was tolerated but not really welcome, both on betased (leaning how to deal with her betasoid side) and on earth. as it was a starfleet rpg, the char joined starfleet and started off academy. later the char developed depth and inner conflicts mostly regarding klingons.
At this time i wrote a background for her.: Her father is an honorable warrior, last of his small house, after tedras grandmother died. Tedra has a younger brother in starfleet engineers (shipyards), her mother has an antique shop on earth and fater is somehow involed in klingon/terran relations. When Tedra met her grandmother, she started wanting to become more klingon. she has 4 years klingon academy before starfleet (neccesary for later jobchange)

while in starfleet she met someone on a mission and acted not quite honorable, deep conflict and shame drove her from starfleet towards the klingon empire. she joined the black fleet to amend her mistake, and to get rid of her guilt.she rose through the ranks and is now XO of the IKS Ghoqon.

the mixed heritage gives her the most conflict in the character, she hates everything not klingon in her, but acknowledges the advantages sometimes.

[KoraS]

........
while in starfleet she met someone on a mission and acted not quite honorable, deep .....

KoraS was the one she met, then XO of a mercenary ship. thats how it all started, no background just the looks  .

first he was just a side character to support a story (the mission of Tedra) then he became her lover. he still didn't have any background only that he was honorable up to the extreme sometimes. he was patient but fierce, a born leader and he well deserved his possition although he got into trouble because of Tedra. (not easy to forgive and not an easy start for a relationship)  Everthing changed when the char got the positon as Chief of Security on a Black Fleet space station. the dept came from itself (really didn't think much about it) and later came a background.

(in short: he is adopted by a noble house, is the current heir, his uncle is the leader of the mercenaries group he joined before black fleet. ) This was the fist try of a character with a house, including housemembers, politics, intrigues etc.

He delvoped into a lead character which was now supported by Tedra and not vice versa. Here a picture, if you want to have a look (okay an early version, have better now, but the look in his face describes him the best)