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My own method is effectively the following:
Most of my characters have a single keystone idea at their heart. James was "Crafter", Kit was "Spymaster", Janice was "The damned best crossbow marksman in the hemisphere", one was "Blackguard of Helm", my druid boiled down to "I want to walk around as a fire elemental and NGAF". Basically a concept -either mechanical, emotional, or personal- that serves as a solid and tangible anchor for the rest of what the character is.
Next comes fluff; attaching stuff to the character to make them more than a one-dimensional entity. What sort of origin would make sence (racial, national, occupational, etc.) , what religion seems appropriate (if any), why is their motivation for being in Sundren given the lethal and violent wars, etc. This step is actually kinda low priority, but tends to be a good idea to get settled at least a few points before dropping into RP for step #3, so at least a few answers are known before I start fumbling to the RNG of my brain.
I like to think that I don't play my chars, so much as give them a means to express themselves. I've usually found that this is most effective when having lengthy RP sessions at 3 AM and tired enough that my RP is mostly on autopilot - being playable in that state is more or less a requirement for all my character personalities, because it WILL happen eventually. Some of you might have noticed that James is more inclined to wax theoretical during the early morning PST hours than the afternoon; now you know why. You learn a lot, both in now you incline your chars to reacting to people, and how other people react to your character. If I'm not getting the responses I was intending, tweak the playstyle a bit. If a pattern becomes noticeable, it can be internalized into a facet of the character. As RP progresses, details that had not been previously considered are asked and answers given: hopefully they remain consistent, but if not then the character just might be evasive, or have bad memory.
Which brings us to flaws. None of my characters started with an intended flaw, but all of my character have at minimum a single defining quirk - for those of you familiar with the Fate system, consider the RP utility of a reliable Compel. It may not be a weakness, and it certainly isn't a strength all the time, but it gives additional depth to an otherwise archetypal dime-a-dozen fighter, mage, or whoever. Even Kurai Sasayaki, AKA Araman the Mute didn't start off mute. However, after a session or two of play, he just felt a lot more comfortable emoting everything rather than talking and using the ambiguity of the language barrier as a clear indication of his naturally insular personality. So it became a historical fact that his throat was slashed, and its worked since.
One of the lovely things I've noticed about this type of community is that character's aren't constrained by the limitations and choices you made for them before you actually started playing. If, after a couple play sessions, you notice that some facet of a char just isn't meshing and is making you considering hitting a reset button for your char, just continue on without it or change it into something workable: a server of strong RP-worthy characters that we are all happy to play is better for everyone. As SuaL points out, "you may have some 'splainin' to do", but I've yet to see anyone have minor low-level choices held over their heads for all eternity, letalone a week. Take the time to learn the character from their perspective, rather than just OOC player view, and add or change details as required to become a more comprehensive and congruous individual.
And, lastly, after a few days, months, or years of playing a char, look back. Does the current character still align with that keystone declared at the beginning? If so, congratulations, but is said character better for staying true? If not, what went wrong and how might we get back there, what went right and do we even want to? Playing an RPG is a constant process, full of gains and losses, relaxation and tension, friends and foes. People grow from experience and exposure so the only way to go wrong is by having exactly what was started with and nothing to show for it other than a few bigger numbers.
You might notice that due to how I describe playing and listening to charachters, that list can basically be boiled down to:
This isn't incorrect: Once that keystone is enough to actually get a char into RP, the rest is basically grown from there.
Cheers,
Kit
1: Choose keystone idea
2: Develop supporting details
3: Observe reactions
4: Develop flaws
5: Refine details
6: Compare keystone
2: Develop supporting details
3: Observe reactions
4: Develop flaws
5: Refine details
6: Compare keystone
Next comes fluff; attaching stuff to the character to make them more than a one-dimensional entity. What sort of origin would make sence (racial, national, occupational, etc.) , what religion seems appropriate (if any), why is their motivation for being in Sundren given the lethal and violent wars, etc. This step is actually kinda low priority, but tends to be a good idea to get settled at least a few points before dropping into RP for step #3, so at least a few answers are known before I start fumbling to the RNG of my brain.
I like to think that I don't play my chars, so much as give them a means to express themselves. I've usually found that this is most effective when having lengthy RP sessions at 3 AM and tired enough that my RP is mostly on autopilot - being playable in that state is more or less a requirement for all my character personalities, because it WILL happen eventually. Some of you might have noticed that James is more inclined to wax theoretical during the early morning PST hours than the afternoon; now you know why. You learn a lot, both in now you incline your chars to reacting to people, and how other people react to your character. If I'm not getting the responses I was intending, tweak the playstyle a bit. If a pattern becomes noticeable, it can be internalized into a facet of the character. As RP progresses, details that had not been previously considered are asked and answers given: hopefully they remain consistent, but if not then the character just might be evasive, or have bad memory.
Which brings us to flaws. None of my characters started with an intended flaw, but all of my character have at minimum a single defining quirk - for those of you familiar with the Fate system, consider the RP utility of a reliable Compel. It may not be a weakness, and it certainly isn't a strength all the time, but it gives additional depth to an otherwise archetypal dime-a-dozen fighter, mage, or whoever. Even Kurai Sasayaki, AKA Araman the Mute didn't start off mute. However, after a session or two of play, he just felt a lot more comfortable emoting everything rather than talking and using the ambiguity of the language barrier as a clear indication of his naturally insular personality. So it became a historical fact that his throat was slashed, and its worked since.
One of the lovely things I've noticed about this type of community is that character's aren't constrained by the limitations and choices you made for them before you actually started playing. If, after a couple play sessions, you notice that some facet of a char just isn't meshing and is making you considering hitting a reset button for your char, just continue on without it or change it into something workable: a server of strong RP-worthy characters that we are all happy to play is better for everyone. As SuaL points out, "you may have some 'splainin' to do", but I've yet to see anyone have minor low-level choices held over their heads for all eternity, letalone a week. Take the time to learn the character from their perspective, rather than just OOC player view, and add or change details as required to become a more comprehensive and congruous individual.
And, lastly, after a few days, months, or years of playing a char, look back. Does the current character still align with that keystone declared at the beginning? If so, congratulations, but is said character better for staying true? If not, what went wrong and how might we get back there, what went right and do we even want to? Playing an RPG is a constant process, full of gains and losses, relaxation and tension, friends and foes. People grow from experience and exposure so the only way to go wrong is by having exactly what was started with and nothing to show for it other than a few bigger numbers.
You might notice that due to how I describe playing and listening to charachters, that list can basically be boiled down to:
1: Choose keystone idea
2: Start playing charachter
3: learn your char
4: goto 2
2: Start playing charachter
3: learn your char
4: goto 2
Cheers,
Kit
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