When creating your character, how do you balance between being too boring and too snowflake?Â
I usually try to create a mundane character as defined by the game's lore for PCs, and that usually does the trick.
PCs are exceptional, so it doesn't take much to make them not boring. Personally, I find characters with significant flaws, a strong will, and room to grow especially interesting.
One thing I also try to do is stick to what my SO calls the "Three Thing Rule:" if your character has more than three key character-defining descriptors, it's probably too much of a special snowflake. By "character-defining descriptor," I mean things like creature type, profession, gender, ability set, etc. You count all things inherent to the universe that are common for PCs as one Thing (as PCs are inherently exceptional), so a "miqo'te lancer" would be one Thing. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster" would be two Things. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster expert dancer" would be three Things and about at the extent of plausibility. A "miqo'te vampire lancer spellcaster expert dancer celebrity pharmacist and banjo player" (even excluding the lore plausibility, or lack thereof, of vampires ) would be 6 Things and way out of line.
Obviously, the Three Thing Rule is just a guideline, and it doesn't really handle characters who dabble in a lot of things (though I'd argue that just being a normal dancer, for instance, instead of a world-class one doesn't count as a Thing).
When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?
Wildly overcomplicated characters with extremely tragic pasts that they constantly complain about are, IMO, relatively boring as they don't typically exhibit growth (nor are they especially realistic). Similarly, accelerating character changes to the point of inanity -- such as the "one week pregnancy" and the "soap opera childhood" -- grates on my nerves.
What bothers me most of all, though, is the Drama Generator. This character is always melodramatically flinging himself off buildings, running away, throwing himself into the maw of the enemy to "punish" himself (or everyone else) in a cry for help, whining about how terribly unfair his life is, and altogether making everyone else's life into an episode of All My Roegadyn. The problem isn't so much what's being done as the sheer volume of it.
To end on a positive note, I enjoy RPing with anyone who has a character with defined characteristics, that fits with the lore, that doesn't constantly change (or, conversely, never changes!), and has real opinions and points of view. So, that's, what, like 90%+ of everyone's characters?
Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.
Make your character imperfect and three-dimensional. Stay within the boundaries of lore (or reasonable extrapolations thereof). Keep your character simple and leave a lot of blank spots that you can explore later to add depth if desired (or ignore if they're not necessary). Keep the melodrama to a relatively low level and use it when narratively appropriate -- not all the time. Ensure that your character has room to grow and change and isn't just stuck on the same note forever, as you'll get bored with that eventually. Most of all, be considerate of others' RP by not writing characters that clobber others' ability to play with grey areas in the lore. In general, if something you've written for your background would be impossible for other characters to say if it were true for every character who said it, you've probably strayed into dangerous territory, IMO.
I usually try to create a mundane character as defined by the game's lore for PCs, and that usually does the trick.
PCs are exceptional, so it doesn't take much to make them not boring. Personally, I find characters with significant flaws, a strong will, and room to grow especially interesting.One thing I also try to do is stick to what my SO calls the "Three Thing Rule:" if your character has more than three key character-defining descriptors, it's probably too much of a special snowflake. By "character-defining descriptor," I mean things like creature type, profession, gender, ability set, etc. You count all things inherent to the universe that are common for PCs as one Thing (as PCs are inherently exceptional), so a "miqo'te lancer" would be one Thing. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster" would be two Things. A "miqo'te lancer spellcaster expert dancer" would be three Things and about at the extent of plausibility. A "miqo'te vampire lancer spellcaster expert dancer celebrity pharmacist and banjo player" (even excluding the lore plausibility, or lack thereof, of vampires
) would be 6 Things and way out of line.Obviously, the Three Thing Rule is just a guideline, and it doesn't really handle characters who dabble in a lot of things (though I'd argue that just being a normal dancer, for instance, instead of a world-class one doesn't count as a Thing).
When role-playing with others, what character traits, personalities or actions have you found to be interesting and enjoyable to RP with and/or what have you seen just not work or appear too boring to engage your character?
Wildly overcomplicated characters with extremely tragic pasts that they constantly complain about are, IMO, relatively boring as they don't typically exhibit growth (nor are they especially realistic). Similarly, accelerating character changes to the point of inanity -- such as the "one week pregnancy" and the "soap opera childhood" -- grates on my nerves.
What bothers me most of all, though, is the Drama Generator. This character is always melodramatically flinging himself off buildings, running away, throwing himself into the maw of the enemy to "punish" himself (or everyone else) in a cry for help, whining about how terribly unfair his life is, and altogether making everyone else's life into an episode of All My Roegadyn. The problem isn't so much what's being done as the sheer volume of it.
To end on a positive note, I enjoy RPing with anyone who has a character with defined characteristics, that fits with the lore, that doesn't constantly change (or, conversely, never changes!), and has real opinions and points of view. So, that's, what, like 90%+ of everyone's characters?
Where do you find the line and when do you think it can be easily crossed while still being within the lore? What kind of advice would you give given your past experience.
Make your character imperfect and three-dimensional. Stay within the boundaries of lore (or reasonable extrapolations thereof). Keep your character simple and leave a lot of blank spots that you can explore later to add depth if desired (or ignore if they're not necessary). Keep the melodrama to a relatively low level and use it when narratively appropriate -- not all the time. Ensure that your character has room to grow and change and isn't just stuck on the same note forever, as you'll get bored with that eventually. Most of all, be considerate of others' RP by not writing characters that clobber others' ability to play with grey areas in the lore. In general, if something you've written for your background would be impossible for other characters to say if it were true for every character who said it, you've probably strayed into dangerous territory, IMO.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
