Who in the Hell Was THAT?

Ah, the character. The basis for all role-playing and dueling. The foundation that we build our skills upon. Weak or bad, flawed or clichéd, our characters only perform as well as we write them to, and often-times, those characters are so completely horrible in their own right that even considering them should be grounds for being slapped in the face. Some of my own are like that. But sometimes, our characters are works of art, unique and alive in their own way.

If you look around the site Juryrigged, you'll find in the RPG section a sub-section of dueling/role playing guides. Some of those guys are meant for character creation. We talk about the importance of names, of powers, of traits and abilities; in fact, we stress so much about the value of these abilities, powers and traits that we forget a key concept--the importance of the characters' character; or even yet, the importance of their name.

Ooh! Maybe I got your attention with that one, didn't I?

When a character lacks, well, character, they're less real to us--like 2D animations on a piece of paper. They don't have meaning, they don't have depth, and we don't empathize with them. If they suffer, are joyful, exuberant, stuck in a rut or anything else, we don't care. We need to make these characters feel, and the only way to do it is through our writing, and if the writing lacks, the character lacks. It's a two way road. We build on the character with our writing, but both need to improve in their own right.

But what of names? Names make up an important part of the character, and we must choose a name that thoroughly fits the character. But a question: do you pick a name then created a character to match the name, or create a character then pick a name to match the character? A name can make or break a character. Sure, you wouldn't see a medieval knight with the greatest sword skills you have ever seen being named Bob. But why not? Isn't Bob a good name for a knight of unsurpassed prowess?

But what happens when we can't even get past the name part, let alone choose a name altogether? Some people want dearly to role play, but lack the ability (or haven't developed one) to create and fine tune characters. In which case, it might be useful to use this scenario.

Pretend for posterity's sake, that the character in question has committed a crime. We don't have a name yet, but we can still move forward with the creation of the character. Now, you saw this character commit the crime. In fact, you saw it in all its gruesome detail. You now stand behind a one-way mirror looking onto a police line-up with the character in question standing in the line up. Describe him to the police. Everything you could recall. Height, build, eyes, hair. You name it. In fact, include what he's wearing, and how he committed the crime, and what kind of weapon he used.

To me, this is a good way to begin development on a character when you normally can't seem to do it. Probably not the best, but still a useful idea. Another good idea is to ask yourself questions like: if I were a superhero, what kind of super-power would I want? You could ask yourself other questions along similar lines. Each one helps further define your character and give them substance.

Does my character have family? If so, what kind of a family? These questions and more should be asked. The sky's the limit really when coming up with a character.

 

- W. Visarett