Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Mar 29, 2006 4:28:21 GMT -5
Since the next saga is going to stress a lot more dialogue, history and character development, I think it'd be a good time for people to work out a few things.
Personality:Ask yourself some of these questions:
*What makes this person angry?
*How do they respond to being challenged?
*What do they do when they are angry? Nervous? Sad? Happy?
*What lets them let off steam? (See
*Are they domineering, type A individuals or relaxed, type B individuals?
*Are they sociable or lone wolves?
*Are they talkative or quiet? Are there some instances where they may be more or less talkative?
Family: Who are the character's mother and father? Do they have cousins, uncles, grandparents, etc. that they have a special connection to? Are they orphans? (Orphans are a Negative Trait).
Geography: What planet and what region was the character born at? Where has he been in his life that has been important to him?
School/Childhood: Did anything special happen as they were growing up? Maybe it's something mundane, like a incident of puppy love that had an interesting impact on the character, or maybe something far more unique, like stumbling upon an ancient artifact or having one's whole life destroyed?
Property: Does the character own houses? Cars? A special amulet or keepsake? A photo of their parents or friends? What's their apartment like: messy, clean, full of cooking utensils, what have you?
Contacts/Friends: Not all of Crashing Heavens just want to hang out with each other. Wyatt has his crazy demon and witch friends from growing up. Swaggard knows the Gemfist Pact. Who are some of their friends? What do they do? Some contacts, such as a generous CEO brother or a particularly intense scrapper friend, may require Trait points. Aside from friends, what industries or areas does the character have involvement in? This is aside from the contacts y'all have made playing.
Alternately, have they made enemies? Is there someone they particularly don't like who galls them?
Quirks: Are they messy? Ditzy? Loners? Outgoing? Gregarious? Cruel? Do they play practical jokes or are they humorless and serious? Are they more at home in the library or the boxing ring? What do they like to do besides adventuring and fighting, if anything?
Ethics: What does the character believe in? What are her political, religious and ethical predilections? Does she view doing whatever is necessary for the greater good as ethical, or does she think that some things are wrong no matter the reasoning?
Preferences: What music do they like? What kind of food? Would they prefer to go to a five star restaraunt or warm up some ramen? (In the CotG world, there's some DAMN good ramen). Do they have an opinion on art or could they not tell you the difference between surrealism and cubism if a gun was to their head?
Hobbies and Interests Here are some ideas for someone's interests.
Acting
Archaeology and history
Collecting
Baseball cards
Coins
Stamps
Gardening
Movies/Cinema
Music
Classical
Emo
Goth
Jazz
J-Pop
Pop
Punk
Rock
Painting
Cubist
Impressionist
Rock painting
Poetry
Ship-rigging and model construction
Theatre
Particularly regarding music, think:
*What genre does a character like most?
*Is there a genre, artist, etc. the character likes but hides from his or her friends and acquaintances?
*Is music a big part of their life or not?
*How tolerant are they of new types of music?
*How much do they listen to music? When the mood suits? Constantly?
Religious and Spirituality:This may be a touchy subject in some campaigns or with some GMs or players, but that shouldn't be a reson to not have some kind of notion of it. Obviously some campaigns have it more than others: In CotG it's allowed and incorporated but not a major part of many characters, while in D&D it's very much part of most character's existence. Most people will have some notion of spirituality, even if it's simply to not have very strong of an opinion or hold to some quite vague notion. Remember that the mere knowledge of the existence of an entity is not the same as faith, for campaigns where deities are known: Just because I know a person exists doesn't mean I have to like them.
Appearance: Run down this checklist and see if your written description and the one in your head has a good answer for all of these.
*Apparent Age (including ambiguities: i.e. William Shatner looks young but is bald)
*Hair Color, Amount, etc.
*Brow and Lash Color, Amount, etc.
*Shape of Eyes
*Eye Color (if any)
*Shape of limbs, fingers, etc.
*Noteworthy scars, deformities, pimples or scabs, etc.
*Position of cheekbones (if any)
*Skin color
*Apparent personality (what the person's demeanor appears to be from an initial sketch)
*Apparent ethnicity (if applicable)
Ethical Archetypes:See the rules post on this.
I'm sure you'll be able to answer some of these questions, but not all. Try to go through them to get an idea of your characters' past. If you have questions and proposals, pitch them to me. Obviously some of these things will be contingent on the universe: A Renn-Mitte would have grown up at Renn-Mitte schools (essentially scientific dormitories) and listened to Renn-Mitte music, obviously.
Personality:Ask yourself some of these questions:
*What makes this person angry?
*How do they respond to being challenged?
*What do they do when they are angry? Nervous? Sad? Happy?
*What lets them let off steam? (See
*Are they domineering, type A individuals or relaxed, type B individuals?
*Are they sociable or lone wolves?
*Are they talkative or quiet? Are there some instances where they may be more or less talkative?
Family: Who are the character's mother and father? Do they have cousins, uncles, grandparents, etc. that they have a special connection to? Are they orphans? (Orphans are a Negative Trait).
Geography: What planet and what region was the character born at? Where has he been in his life that has been important to him?
School/Childhood: Did anything special happen as they were growing up? Maybe it's something mundane, like a incident of puppy love that had an interesting impact on the character, or maybe something far more unique, like stumbling upon an ancient artifact or having one's whole life destroyed?
Property: Does the character own houses? Cars? A special amulet or keepsake? A photo of their parents or friends? What's their apartment like: messy, clean, full of cooking utensils, what have you?
Contacts/Friends: Not all of Crashing Heavens just want to hang out with each other. Wyatt has his crazy demon and witch friends from growing up. Swaggard knows the Gemfist Pact. Who are some of their friends? What do they do? Some contacts, such as a generous CEO brother or a particularly intense scrapper friend, may require Trait points. Aside from friends, what industries or areas does the character have involvement in? This is aside from the contacts y'all have made playing.
Alternately, have they made enemies? Is there someone they particularly don't like who galls them?
Quirks: Are they messy? Ditzy? Loners? Outgoing? Gregarious? Cruel? Do they play practical jokes or are they humorless and serious? Are they more at home in the library or the boxing ring? What do they like to do besides adventuring and fighting, if anything?
Ethics: What does the character believe in? What are her political, religious and ethical predilections? Does she view doing whatever is necessary for the greater good as ethical, or does she think that some things are wrong no matter the reasoning?
Preferences: What music do they like? What kind of food? Would they prefer to go to a five star restaraunt or warm up some ramen? (In the CotG world, there's some DAMN good ramen). Do they have an opinion on art or could they not tell you the difference between surrealism and cubism if a gun was to their head?
Hobbies and Interests Here are some ideas for someone's interests.
Acting
Archaeology and history
Collecting
Baseball cards
Coins
Stamps
Gardening
Movies/Cinema
Music
Classical
Emo
Goth
Jazz
J-Pop
Pop
Punk
Rock
Painting
Cubist
Impressionist
Rock painting
Poetry
Ship-rigging and model construction
Theatre
Particularly regarding music, think:
*What genre does a character like most?
*Is there a genre, artist, etc. the character likes but hides from his or her friends and acquaintances?
*Is music a big part of their life or not?
*How tolerant are they of new types of music?
*How much do they listen to music? When the mood suits? Constantly?
Religious and Spirituality:This may be a touchy subject in some campaigns or with some GMs or players, but that shouldn't be a reson to not have some kind of notion of it. Obviously some campaigns have it more than others: In CotG it's allowed and incorporated but not a major part of many characters, while in D&D it's very much part of most character's existence. Most people will have some notion of spirituality, even if it's simply to not have very strong of an opinion or hold to some quite vague notion. Remember that the mere knowledge of the existence of an entity is not the same as faith, for campaigns where deities are known: Just because I know a person exists doesn't mean I have to like them.
Appearance: Run down this checklist and see if your written description and the one in your head has a good answer for all of these.
*Apparent Age (including ambiguities: i.e. William Shatner looks young but is bald)
*Hair Color, Amount, etc.
*Brow and Lash Color, Amount, etc.
*Shape of Eyes
*Eye Color (if any)
*Shape of limbs, fingers, etc.
*Noteworthy scars, deformities, pimples or scabs, etc.
*Position of cheekbones (if any)
*Skin color
*Apparent personality (what the person's demeanor appears to be from an initial sketch)
*Apparent ethnicity (if applicable)
Ethical Archetypes:See the rules post on this.
I'm sure you'll be able to answer some of these questions, but not all. Try to go through them to get an idea of your characters' past. If you have questions and proposals, pitch them to me. Obviously some of these things will be contingent on the universe: A Renn-Mitte would have grown up at Renn-Mitte schools (essentially scientific dormitories) and listened to Renn-Mitte music, obviously.