Guide: Developing a Character Concept (Updated June 4, 2008)
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Table of Contents
1. Preface
2. Step 1: Defining your Character
3. Step 2: Character Design
4. Step 3: Goal Setting
5. Step 4: Revisiting your Concept
6. Conclusion -
Preface
Most players have the potential to put together a great concept that's fun, dynamic, and interesting. There are some who are able to realize the whole concept in its entirety at the start, or develop it in game as time progresses and the character comes of age. Unfortunately, not all of us (including myself) are that talented, and many times a character that seemed to be fun at the start begins to lose its luster and we realize that the potential we had in the character has degraded into a rather dull shell of little quirks, gimmicks, and catch phrases or emotes. Usually, it's not because the concept was bad, or that we're bad roleplayers. It's simply because we got so excited over a few bells and whistles in the concept that we forgot to establish the core facets of the character that make it complete.
This guide is designed for players who hope to round out their characters more completely. I've written it in a way that should help most players who need help with the background and goals sections of their applications, but I believe it can be of benefit to anyone to establish a sound character concept. I've written this guide with explanations on my philosophies, but for those of you who simply want a step by step instruction, I've colored in those parts so you can easily find what you need in each step.
Please note that this is not the only correct way to create a character. There are many ways to do so, and if you find one that works for you, then by all means use it. But if you're having trouble getting a grasp on your character or need some help with the types of things DMs look for in an application, then this guide will hopefully be of great help to you.
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Step 1: Defining your Character
Defining your character is in my opinion, the most important part of building a character. We as DMs often place a heavy emphasis on goals, but it's important to realize that without a properly developed personality and background, a character probably won't have an interesting purpose. Most players who skimp out on this part of character development tend to find it hard to develop goals beyond the ones the character began with. Those who take proper care to complete this step will typically find it easier to step into their character's shoes and use the character's motivations to guide their actions, rather than their own desires as a player. This in turn allows them to roll with the punches, and take set backs, challenges, and PVP much better.
Defining your character is essentially establishing his background and personality as he enters the game world. They should help establish what goals your character pursues, how he reacts to situations, and how he behaves in game. What you establish here isn't set in stone, since your character's experiences may alter his views and personality. But fleshing out a character definition will help you determine when it is proper for your character to do so.
I like to use the beginning portion of this guide here for developing my character's persona: http://www.geocities.com/oak_thorn/char ... ation.html
The guide provides a number of questions, in a step by step fashion that should help make the development of an adequate persona simple. The questions aren't all inclusive, and there may be many others that you can think of that will help further round out your character. I also don't personally use the goals section, because I tend to follow a process that is more in line with the CoA application (goals will be covered more in depth later).
The bare minimum you should establish here are:
- Character Background: Where does your character come from? Where has he been? Good for small talk and helping establish motivations, virtues, flaws and traits. Remember to keep it in line with a level 1 character.
- Likes and Dislikes: What sorts of foods, drink, colors, etc. do your character like? This will help make your character more colorful and appear to have a greater level of personality. It's also easier to create small talk when you establish these aspects of your character.
- Character Traits: Put out a list of traits and rank your character on a scale of one to ten. These will help define your character's behavior.
- Character Motivations: What things motivate your character? This helps put your character in perspective so you know what goals he's likely to try and pursue, as well as how he would react in certain situations.
- Character Virtues: What good attributes does your character have? These are the details about why other characters will like yours. They can also help you establish your character's mechanical design later.
- Character Flaws: What flaws does your character have? These are very important to make the character interesting. Most heroes overcome their flaws with the help of those other characters that support them. These also help establish your character's mechanical design.
All six of these details intermingle amongst themselves, and their combination should establish enough detail about your character to make him interesting, and give you a good starting ground for the next steps of developing your character. Try to be creative and avoid stereotypes if possible. Don't be afraid to flesh out other character details not mentioned here, because more detail will help you further establish your character's starting point.
Most importantly, develop a character you'll have fun playing.
Side Tip: Many players often try to write an application, and then develop their character from the application. I've found it much more helpful when I first develop my character concept without looking at the application template, then answering the questions once the concept has been established.
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Step 2: Character Design
Character designing is essentially establishing all the mechanical things that create your character in game. It's more popularly known as 'character building' but I tend to differentiate the two. Whereas 'character building' is building a character based on his combination of feats, skills, attributes, etc, 'character designing' is when you select your feats, skills, attributes, etc based on your character definition (established in Step 1).
When selecting a character class, figure out which one would suit your character at level one. Most of you probably have this figured out by now anyway, but try not to set your multi-classes right now. Worry about that at your next level up, and decide what's appropriate at that point in time.
When selecting attributes, assign points based on your character's physical virtues and flaws. If you've established that your character is gimpy or ungraceful, give him below average Dexterity. If the character never liked studying, give him below average intelligence. If he did a lot of farm work as a child, give him higher strength. A lot of this is subjective, but you can use the below ranges to give you a feel for what level your character should probably be:
6 or 7 - Exceptionally low
8 or 9 - Below average
10 or 11 - Average
12 or 13 - Above average
14 or 15 - Gifted
16 or 17 - Exceptionally Gifted
18 - ProdigyWhen assigning skills, assign them based on the character definition you developed. Just because your character starts as a rogue, doesn't mean that he's the sneaky type who hides and moves silently. Or just because you're a wizard, doesn't mean you're good at concentrating. Your rogue could very well be more akin to getting out of jams by being a good talker, or your wizard could very well let his mind wander frequently. Don't feel you must take class skills, as many cross class or non class skills will often fit the character much better.
When assigning feats, similar to the above, assign them based on the character definition you developed. Has your character received any specialized training in a specific weapon? If so, take a weapon focus. Was he raised in frigid winters or scorching summers? If so, maybe toughness is most appropriate. Again, don't worry about what feats you'll take at level 3 or level 6. A character might teach yours how to use a long sword better between now and then. Or another might start teaching you how to cast spells, and you decide to multi-class into a wizard/fighter instead of being pure fighter.
You may have noticed the theme of me saying not to decide on your future feats, skills, attributes, etc. It's tough to do, but I believe it's the only way you can truly allow your character to grow with his experiences. In many cases, your character may continue to just develop what he already knows. But always leave the possibility open that a series of events will have such a profound effect on your character that he takes a different feat, class, or skill.
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Step 3: Goal Setting
You've just completed developing your character as he is. Now it's time to look toward the future, and begin fleshing out his hopes and dreams. You should always have it in mind to develop goals that others can become involved in, and ones that don't rely upon heavy DM intervention to succeed. We'll illustrate this a bit more clearly later in this section. For now, know that we'll be discussing goal setting in two steps: Main Goals and Plans. It may help to look at the Main Goals as the Ends, and the Plans as the Means to that End.
The first step in goal setting is deciding on your character's Main Goals, which are the main objectives he hopes to achieve in Arabel. These goals should be formed based upon the persona you developed earlier in Step 1, since all that background information is what likely leads him to choose to pursue such a quest. When you've identified several possible Main Goals, review each one individually and try to determine if they are truly an End, or if they are simply a Means to another End. This is an important process to undertake in order to differentiate between your Main Goals and the Plans to achieve them.
The second step in goal setting is to take each of your character's Main Goals, and begin devising your character's Plans to achieve them. You may already have identified a few Plans in the first step. For example, you may have originally had 'Joining the Watch' as a main goal, but later realized that it was simply a means to 'Securing and Protecting Arabel for Future Generations.' Remember that you are now devising your means to the end, and the steps you hope to take in order to achieve your main goals. They are your stepping stones, and should primarily focus on ideas that will involve the player base and require minimal DM intervention (we'll be happy to help, but you should never -rely- on DMs).
In following these two steps, also make sure to keep in mind what your character's attributes are. Devise Main Goals and Plans that are appropriate for his stats. Don't have a low CHA, INT, and WIS character hoping to raise an army for a rebellion. At the same time, don't have a low STR, DEX, and CON character hoping to become the physical bodyguard of a noble. Make sure what you choose is appropriate.
Some of you may be reading this and think this is too rigid. How do other characters, events, etc change your character if you have all this stuff written down like this? The answer can be summed up in the phrase: 'Main Goals are rigid, Plans are flexible.' This means that your Main Goals should only be changed in the most extreme of circumstances. Remember that they were built upon your character's very morals and personality. If an event has a great enough effect on your character that his very persona is changed (Step 1), and then he may choose to change, eliminate, or add Main Goals. On the flip-side, Plans will frequently change as a character realizes that they were ideas that weren't working. He may also experience some minor alteration in his beliefs, and also cause him to revisit his Plans.
Finally, just a word on what I meant about relying on heavy DM intervention. The DMs do realize that we need to assist in playing the rest of the world, while your character is pursuing his goals. We fully expect this, and welcome the opportunity to help supplement your character's story by doing this. However, when goal setting, you should look at your character's Main Goals and Plans and ask yourself if each step requires a DM to be looking over your shoulder. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself 'If no DM logs in for several weeks, will I still have something I can do to help achieve my Main Goal?'
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Step 4: Revisiting your Concept
This is a step a lot of people do not take, but it is one I think that is crucial for players to continue enjoying their character. It keeps them from feeling static and boring, and lets players overcome frustration of failed or slow-working plans that their characters have undertaken. The goal of revisiting is to periodically return to the sheet you've made up about your character using Steps 1-3 and asking yourself if any changes need to be made to more accurately reflect where your character is now.
Step 1 reflects the Definition of your character's state of mind. Look over what you wrote last time and ask yourself if there's anything that has changed him? Does he look at anything differently? Does he have new beliefs? Has he realized the naivety of old beliefs? Go through the entire step again, and fill in any relevant information based on what's happened in game.
Step 2 reflects the physical side of your character, and revisiting will mostly reflect whether or not your character is going to change what feats, skills, etc that he will be taking in future level ups. Has your character started training in something else that he didn't before? Are there any changes in his Definition (Step 1) that will change what he wishes to get training in? Ask yourself these sorts of questions and see if an alteration in his physical progression is warranted.
Step 3 reflects the goals and main goals, and this is the section that will most often be affected upon Revisiting your Concept. If your character has undergone great changes (based on Step 1) then will any of those changes affect his current Main Goals? If he has undergone minor changes (based on Step 1), will he change the Plans he wishes to put in motion? Are some of the Plans in motion simply not working and they need to be altered for a better chance of success? Again, ask yourself these sorts of questions, look over what your character has been doing, and see if any changes are warranted.
This process may seem lengthy and annoying, but I've found in most cases it can be completed in just ten to fifteen minutes. I've also found that regardless of the time spent, the benefits of 'refreshing' your character are well worth it.
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Conclusion
I hope this guide has been helpful in some way to those of you who chose to read it. Remember that this is not the -only- or -right- way to develop your character, but is one that I've found works well for me and encompasses many of the beliefs -I- have about roleplaying. If you find another way to develop your character that works better for you, by all means, use it.
If you've only read through the colored in sections of this guide, and are having trouble understanding the rationale behind each of my steps, I suggest reading the whole thing from start to finish. Many of the things I suggest players do are rooted in some of the philosophies I've tried to share in this guide. If you still have further trouble understanding something within the guide, by all means feel free to contact me and I will try to illustrate the point better for you.
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Again, I hope this guide is helpful to you, and your next or current character will become all the more fun when you utilize this guide.
