How do you go about establishing the character you want to roleplay?

[migo444]

Hey y'all, so I've always been fascinated by how people creatively establish their characters, especially seasoned veterans. It's almost as if they cross their t's and dot their i's before anything else.

So my questions are, do you burn your eyebrows researching the concepts, backgrounds, and history of your character? Do you pick a general concept, let it fly off the handle, and go with the flow regarding your character's story? Or do you just pick a certain character that will easily fit into the faction you want to join?

I understand that we all have our own personal touches and write brief character backgrounds before we begin with our characters, however, there are smaller details that add up to our overall roleplaying experience.

This could also help other RP'ers build their character stories and improve everyone's RP'ing skills.

Thank you!

[FatBoyTrell]

I mostly roleplay in illegal factions like street gangs. What I like to do every time is do a bit of research about the gang before I join the faction. I then read through the Discord channels to see what kinds of characters other people have. From there, I come up with some small quirks and traits my character might have, but I never choose anything that would define my character's development. I usually go for things like 'is a weed addict' or having a money-oriented mindset. I feel like these are like small 'slates' that provide my character with some background that can lead it down various paths during roleplay. Then I jump into the game and go with the flow when roleplaying. 

[CowboyYoda22]

4 hours ago, migo444 said:

Hey y'all, so I've always been fascinated by how people creatively establish their characters, especially seasoned veterans. It's almost as if they cross their t's and dot their i's before anything else.

So my questions are, do you burn your eyebrows researching the concepts, backgrounds, and history of your character? Do you pick a general concept, let it fly off the handle, and go with the flow regarding your character's story? Or do you just pick a certain character that will easily fit into the faction you want to join?

I understand that we all have our own personal touches and write brief character backgrounds before we begin with our characters, however, there are smaller details that add up to our overall roleplaying experience.

This could also help other RP'ers build their character stories and improve everyone's RP'ing skills.

Thank you!

It all depends on what you want to do. Generally premade characters fit better for street gang rp, as you'll most likely want your character to be growing up in the area that the gang is located. You'll generally start out as a minor a majority of the time in factions like this. If you want to play something a bit more organized, you can always reach out to a faction that catches your interest or you can make a character that you feel would fit those particular factions and then start independent. If this is the style of criminal that you want to play then I recommend you do things this way, as it'll force you to go out and generate RP yourself and build up contacts that aren't in your own faction.

The big reason people that stand out in the illegal scene do is just how they can often have RP that rounds them out as a character, that isn't completely focused on just getting RP from their faction. They're easily able to give RP as much as they can take, and that's what makes people want to RP with them. The biggest ways you can do this is by getting involved around a particular business / hobby group that you're interested or attend an open business and actually go up and approach characters. You'll find it hard to get RP if you make your character just a passive entity in RP. 

A lot of this goes for legal characters as well. I've never played a completely legal character, but if you have several different interests that your character could be interested in, you increase your chances to be able to go out and RP regardless if your faction and or business you work for is even open. As for the background, I generally have a vague idea of what my character was before I start RPing. But, this is generally one sentence or two. I tend to discover more about the character as I write them out, but I generally don't want to pigeon hole myself into a defined backstory until I really figure out what I want to accomplish with the character. I hope that helps.

Edited September 29, 2023 by CowboyYoda22

[Jolagh]

My focus has been predominantly legal characters. I initially start with thinking about my characters back story. Where are they from? What was their childhood like? Education? Early Jobs? Parental relationships? Spousa relationships? Do they have kids? Communication style, likes, dislikes and hobbies. I tend to write it all down and then think about how does all of that impact who they are in current times?

 

Then have a brief think about how does it impact their future choices? Career? Relationships?

 

After that I allow the rp to organically grow and develop my character and flesh it out, using the above as the foundation.

 

Eventually after I have played  the character long enough, the back story is memorised and the work I did at the start can be binned and the rp can just flow.

 

Hope that helps 🙂

[Coni]

I usually start with a rough outline based on what I want to rp as. What faction roleplay I intend to participate in. This usually determines the ethnicity I portray.

 

I personally found that I enjoy challenging myself by trying to join factions as a non-prefered ethnicity or with a twist like an accent as it provides a unique experience.

 

The finer details like childhood, experiences, etc. usually come while I play the character and the need for an answer comes up for the first time. I then come up with what I feel is authentic for how I roleplayed my character so far and then make it canon. I rarely sit down and try to fully develop a character's history on paper beforehand. 

 

 

[Mór-Ríoghain]

I wing it and "yes, and" a lot of shit.

[Stanty]

Pick a concept you find interesting & fun. You can do some research too if you wish, depending on a concept.

 

Create a new character with said concept, try to remain IC at all times as much as you can. And have fun. Most of the time, the understanding of your character will come naturally.

 

This may not apply to all concepts, some are harder to portray than the others. But don't forget to have fun.

[Late]

I logged in game and played. I did not over think anything. 

[Barbary]

I'm a writer at heart. I write backstories and personalities, then act'em out in game. Gives me mental stuff to fall back on and work with when I have my characters interact with others, and let their experiences shape them from there.

 

'Men are born, then they are formed' and all of that. Nature and nurture hand in hand.

[rainbowlarva]

i make everything up on the spot because i couldnt care less about writing a backstory or whatever for a character. i just let the shit that happens to me ingame be the backstory

i dont put any thought into a character as im making it, i just do whatever sounds fun to me at that current second