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Roleplaying Realistic Flaws


Missi

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Character Flaws


Note: I created this guide for the LSPD, so most of the things mentioned are centered around being a cop. You can take and choose this, and apply it to your character as needed, for what they are- whether it be a sheriff, a drug dealer, a club-goer, a financial guru, or whatever you may be. Be creative, and use this as a guideline.

 

Quote

Perfection itself is imperfection. - Vladimir Horowitz

 

*    Flaws are the imperfections that make a person that person. None of us are perfect, even in real life. Flaws can range from emotional dependency, self doubt, all the way to full blown addiction. You don't have to be extreme, either. Not every cop has to go as extreme as to stealing cocaine from the suspect to fuel their coke addiction. In fact, most, realistically, would not go as far as that. Most probably would suffer from a small addiction, such as a cigarette addiction. Taking a large amount of breaks to smoke behind buildings to fuel their crippling addiction. And it's important to keep these up and roleplay them on a regular basis, not just when it seems fit, and it doesn't even have to be around other people. You'll discover that new opportunities arise when you do something different. Take a smoke break behind the resturant in Rodeo, meet a mobster who shares a story and bums a smoke off of you. I'm going to give you a list of a few possibilities that could be used and a brief description, which could be interesting life flaws.

 

 

-Substance addiction - As stated, you can take smoke breaks and find roleplay based upon that. You could even pick it up as a hobby unintentionally, and try to hide it from your IC partner. Roleplay coming home from work smelling like cigarettes, and try to blame it on the suspect. Anything really works. This can be an interesting subplot of your characters life. 


-Emotional Dependency - Your character could be a wreck without their partner. Constantly going on ADAM patrol, because they crave the attention and the affection of others. They could even go as far to have sexual dependency, to go out to a club every other night to pick up a man or a woman to take home, because they hate the feeling of being alone in their bed with their thoughts. Constantly posting on tracebook with their significant other in the posts, because they love the thrill of having another with them. Or pining after another member of the department, constantly trying to show up at scenes that they are at. This can be a really interesting aspect of roleplay, because of how it involves others in it. When your character is a wreck, it shows that you can roleplay a loss, and not always win. Imperfections are what makes someone human.

 
-Emotional Instability - Roleplay suffering from mild depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, ADHD, anxiety ETC. Your characters dog dies in the middle of the night suddenly, but you still have to go on duty. You can roleplay going on the side of the road every so often and having a good cry because they see something that triggers a sad memory, still trying not to be seen so you don't get in trouble. Depression could be role played as this, or even as simple as letting out a random sigh. You can involve others in this as well. Express stories to others while on patrol. Tell them stories about your characters childhood. Not everything you talk about has to have happened on here. Make up a story of your character getting picked last in the kids soccer team, and how they were so pissed and discouraged. Alternatively, with obsessive compulsive disorder, you could roleplay having to open and close the cruiser door several times, and trying to pass it off as normal to other characters whom see this. It can create an interesting curiosity about your character, because they do something interesting and not so much just /me locks the car door. /me drives off. I highly recommend reading some articles about these mental disorders, and even YouTube videos, because you can emulate what you see and give an element of uniqueness to your character. I realize that most people don't want to roleplay having something that makes their character less capable of doing their job, but everyone realistically has something that sets them back. It'll change your roleplaying experience from a stream line 'I must do everything right to get promoted. Show no weakness.' To a 'How can I make this into a colorful, interesting experience?' Tons of people that hold important positions suffer from mental illnesses. Anxiety and Depression are rampant in our society, and it adds an interesting hue to your characters personality.


-Incompatibilities with the modern world - Your character could be an older character that hasn't quite caught up to the modern world. Posting things on FaceBrowser that you'd typically see an older person post such as pics of their grand children and such. Or reposting chain letters that you might see on your grandmas Facebook IRL. They might even use the status bar as a search bar and type in 'good chicken casserole recipes' and embarrass themselves in front of everyone. Or maybe they have a little more trouble with the MDC, fumbling with it when trying to write an arrest record, and having to ask for help. This is especially fun RP with the older generation. Not everyone is nerdy with technology like many of us are in real life. 


-Physical Imperfections - Lets be honest. Nobody wants to roleplay a butt ugly character. And many people refuse to roleplay anything but a super smoking hot '/me big boobs big butt blonde hair 10/10 looks 21 years old'. And that's fine, if they want to do that, but it makes for a city of supermodels with very little substance behind them. For instance, I roleplay that my character has crooked teeth, and has trouble putting on weight, so she doesn't have many curves and is rather tall/lanky and awkward looking. You can even go the opposite of this, and roleplay being a bit on the chunky side. Make it slow you down a little bit in foot pursuits, because you're no longer the track athlete you used to be. You might have a little tummy pooch and that's fair, especially if you're a more seasoned officer. You can also roleplay having things like moles, scars, things that tell a story and make your character specifically your character. You can even make the physical aspects of your character effect their mental state. Maybe your short officer is a little bit more testy, especially dealing with big suspects, because they have to work a bit harder to make themselves seem like the one in charge, simply because of the differences in physical size. The world is your oyster; Go crazy and make something new.

 

 

 

Remember. You're roleplaying a character. Not an avatar of yourself.  You might want to make a new character even, if you feel like you want a fresh slate. Spend some time planning out your character, listing out their likes and dislikes, physical attributes, and other intricacies. Don't waste your chance or get discouraged because of others; you do you, and make something special. Hopefully this guide gives you something to start at.

 

Edited by Missi
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Really good stuff, it's important to remember that if you roleplay no flaws, you barely roleplay. I've had amazing roleplay from just roleplaying being saddened from a scene, helping a victim etc. IRL these people often 'take home' their patients, victims or suspects in terms of feeling for them, being angry, seeking revenge or feeling sorry for them, you'll actually have a decent roleplay story if you roleplay flaws.

 

You don't have to be a 7 foot military guy from the warzone because you think you're not going to get promoted for IC flaws, in actual fact it's quite the opposite, it will just reflect poorly on your roleplaying abilities.

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This was a pretty good read, great job @Missi

I always felt that previous RP communities felt too idealistic, most people RPed perfect people living in Utopia they had no flaws or weaknesses whatsoever.

abiding by this guidelines would certainly give characters depth and make them much more realistic.

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Very good ideas out there, I totally support this and hope people would put more passion into roleplaying their characters as human beings, with feelings, fears, joys that could be or not based on any events happened to them in the past, or whatever. I'm going to roleplay my character as a person who cares more about others than himself due to fact his mother never cared about him and he doesn't want others to feel that way. This also brings the weakness in his personality that might make people take advantage of his good will, and use it to their benefit. Just sharing my concept, not very special, but it's something though, people could improve and use it as they wish.

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"Remember. You're roleplaying a character. Not an avatar of yourself."

 

I love this line. Too common in roleplay to find indoviduals who want to I roleplay an exaggerated, flawless version of their real life persona. I honestly cant see what would even be enjoyable in doing so  I roleplay to create a life like character with their own unique personality so that I can experience a situation in a way that I wouldn't in reality. 

 

Plan something different, have interesting flaws, and maybe learn a thing or two about a different culture. That's the beauty of roleplay.

Edited by Chef
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51 minutes ago, Chef said:

 

Plan something different, have interesting flaws, and maybe learn a thing or two about a different culture. That's the beauty of roleplay.

 

100% agree with this. When I roleplayed a female character for the first time, I did it because I knew I would force myself to not roleplay me IG, and this was the easiest way. Roleplaying another culture is really great because you actually end up learning stuff about it. When I decided to roleplay a Mexican I ended up searching for gastronomy, drinks, and even slang, that made me learn some words trust me xd

 

Btw good guide even that I've read it before on that faction that shall not be named.

Edited by kilerbite
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