Post by Numa on Aug 8, 2006 16:30:49 GMT -5
Things to think about:
- Do you really want another character? Don't just run about making them up willy nilly. Stop and think about it first. Do you have enough time to rp another creature? Do you really know what you want to happen to this new character? Will you be able to keep up with what happens? Really stop and think of the consequences before you give the green light.
- What does my character mean? What part of myself does he/she represent? Every character you create is a symbol or a window, it should represent something to you. Don't just watch a movie, say I liked that guy and now I'm going to turn into a dog/wolf/werewolf/etc and rp him. That's not how it works. Those are usually the characters that you loose muse with so don't bother with that. Make up your own character, get a good mental picture in your head, put him into some situations and think about how he'll act. imagine that you're watching him in a movie and see what he does. Then, if you like it, summarize those situations in his personality...
- Definitely think about breed/species and what it means to your character. Don't try and make your character "the best". Nobody is the best in role-playing, that's usually what makes it fun. Just because your character is mean doesn't mean he has to be a rottweiler or a wolf. Mean corgis are just as fun, if not more. Also, do not base your entire character around a picture you found. Then it's not really a character, just a picture...
- Try to stray away from stereotypes. Though they are the easiest to play with, not everyone is like that. Every dog in the city can't be "Kind and caring but a good fighter". Branch out a little and be specific. The way you loose muse with a character is by forgetting his personality. That's what your bio is supposed to be for, so you can look back, read it and get your mental picture back. But if your bio is too vague, you won't get any picture and the character is lost. Use details wherever possible. Is she more kind and caring to males? To children? If so, why? How did she become a good fighter? What does she think about fighting?
- Quirks make a character fun and interesting to both play and to rp with, if they are done right. Don't just put something random in there and call it a quirk. Think about it. I have a werewolf character on another site who is a generally all around good guy, loves to talk and makes friends very easily. But he's terrified of water, needles and really big spiders and he's easily persuaded by food. Those are quirks. They make things interesting. Give your characters some of those and use them when you rp. Don't just say he has a short temper and then never use it. If someone does something stressful to him, make him angry.
How to Play your character:
This section might sound weird to you but it's true. A lot of people don't know how to play their characters, they really don't.
- Stick to your personality! If you're playing a character with a personality that says she's "Wild, crazy and a bubbly creature", don't have her cursing someone out in rp. If she's "sad, depressed and anti-social" do not have her suddenly open up to everyone! It does not work that way. If you suddenly don't like your character's personality then you're going to have to kill them off. In rp, you don't get do overs. Do it right the first time...
- Nobody's perfect. Have your charrie make mistakes as time goes on. Have him walk down the street and trip at random because it happens. Nobody is totally flawless, particularly not a stray dog. Have him start talking to someone he loves and mess up his words so "I love you" comes out "Young caribou" or something to that extent. Be creative, throw some interesting stuff in there...
- No Mind-reading! If another character whispers something, your charrie will not be able to hear it. If someone thinks something, your character will not suddenly know what they're thinking and be able to respond to it. It does not work that way. There's really no alternative to this one. Just don't do it...
- This ties into realism. Be realistic people. This is not a fantasy rp so, again, there is no mind-reading or flying or suddenly coming back from the dead. Now, you do get some leeway for dramatic license but make it reasonable. I could understand your dog getting ill and recovering after a short time but don't have them be so weak they can't lift their head, have their breathing physically stop and have them come back to life only to jump up immediately and dance around like nothing happened. That's so far out there it's not even funny. Make a few days pass before he gets up again or something, be a little reasonable please.
- Also, your character is not going to immediately fall in love with every character they meet of the opposite sex, life is not like that. They also won't realize that's who they want to spend their life with in two seconds either. Let them get to know each other first, for heaven's sake. Don't say "Hi! Want to be my mate?" and then go on to say how much your charrie is in love. He's not in love! He said one sentence, he simply can't be. Just trust me, rping is not a race to see who can have the most puppies or have the most sex or anything like that. Take your time in finding a mate, like in real life...
- Children are characters too. Now, with them you have a lot of room for molding and remodeling and stuff because things happen as one gets older but still be reasonable. A child/pup who is born selfish and stubborn will not grow up to be a friendly, happy-go-lucky guy unless something dramatic happens to him that makes him realize that selfish is no way to live. Then it's okay to change things around...
- Be creative. Make stuff happen to your characters. It can be anything from the usual dog catcher attack or police chase to something a little more drastic. Have them get caught in a fence, stuck in a trap, tormented by others, trapped in a car, lost in a traffic jam, something. This is a creative pastime folks, time to show it...
Summary:
Think about:
-Whether or not you can afford another charrie
- What your character will mean to you, what he is a symbol of
-What species/gender/age you wish to make him
-Upon what is he based and what that thing means to you
-What stereotype is he based on and what changes have you made to that stereotype
-What quirks will you give him and how will that effect what your charrie does
-Show details wherever you can!
How to Play:
-Stick to your character's personality (which should be descriptive to make it easier for you to follow)
-Nobody's perfect. Make sure to have your charrie make mistakes, good or bad
-No mind-reading!
-Be realistic!
-Have a good sense of time. What is three days to you is two seconds in rp
-Get to know your mate before you decide your character is in love
-Children/pups are characters too and you need to stick to their personalities just as well
-Be creative!
Inspiration:
Here are some good places to find inspiration for a character...
-Favorite song:
But think about it first. What is it about the song that you like? Is it the lyrics? The overall sound and feel of it? The mental picture you form while listening to it? Then, take whatever that is and put it into your character. Magnum(my dog character on another site) is a good example. I liked the lyrics to Trust Company's Downfall, how it speaks of having two sides to yourself. So, my dog has a split personality. Now, there's more to him than that but that's the basics of it. If you're going to use a song, think along those lines. Oh, and avoid using the song title or the group or whatever as your dog's name cause that's just lame...
-TV Show/Movie/Book character:
I wouldn't recommend this one but if you think you can without plagiarizing, then go for it. But don't simply copy the character into a dog's/vampire's/anthro's body. What do you like about the character? What do you hate? What would you change if you could? Think about all of that and make what adjustments you deem necessary. Give them different quirks, make their opinion on things different, branch out a little.
-Yourself!:
This is the best place to find inspiration. Just take a particular part of yourself and make a separate character for it. Take Kuro(a dragon character of mine) for example. He's like me when I'm in a good mood, happy and clever, curious about lots of stuff but easy to loose interest in certain things... and very lazy. Now, he's not exactly like me. He's a guy for starters and a dragon but he has a quick temper sometimes and is quite outspoken and outgoing. I am not... But I am still the inspiration for that character. So experiment with this one because you will most likely get the best results.
-Mix it up:
Take parts of each of these and blend them together. take your favorite song and a part of yourself and put them both in a character. Here we use Ezhno (the werewolf I mentioned earlier). Disturbed's songs Intoxication and Hell and my general behavior and outlook on everything blend together to make Ezzy a comical, confused, stressed out creature. The song I based him on gave me the idea of confusion and betrayl, anger, like life sucks all the time. When I look at myself, it's usually something I've done to other people that makes me feel angry and irritated, stressed out by everything that seems to be happening around me. Meld these together, you get Ezzy, who is constantly beating himself up for hurting other people during the full moon and always angry at himself because of it. I hope that's a good example...
Just one more thing:
-Take all this to heart. I find that a lot of people only listen to what I say to get me to shut up but I'm not doing this for myself people, I know all this already. This if for you and I'd like you to use it. You cannot be kicked off an rp for doing this right or better than right and I'm hoping that, if this is followed correctly, everybody will do better than right...
- Do you really want another character? Don't just run about making them up willy nilly. Stop and think about it first. Do you have enough time to rp another creature? Do you really know what you want to happen to this new character? Will you be able to keep up with what happens? Really stop and think of the consequences before you give the green light.
- What does my character mean? What part of myself does he/she represent? Every character you create is a symbol or a window, it should represent something to you. Don't just watch a movie, say I liked that guy and now I'm going to turn into a dog/wolf/werewolf/etc and rp him. That's not how it works. Those are usually the characters that you loose muse with so don't bother with that. Make up your own character, get a good mental picture in your head, put him into some situations and think about how he'll act. imagine that you're watching him in a movie and see what he does. Then, if you like it, summarize those situations in his personality...
- Definitely think about breed/species and what it means to your character. Don't try and make your character "the best". Nobody is the best in role-playing, that's usually what makes it fun. Just because your character is mean doesn't mean he has to be a rottweiler or a wolf. Mean corgis are just as fun, if not more. Also, do not base your entire character around a picture you found. Then it's not really a character, just a picture...
- Try to stray away from stereotypes. Though they are the easiest to play with, not everyone is like that. Every dog in the city can't be "Kind and caring but a good fighter". Branch out a little and be specific. The way you loose muse with a character is by forgetting his personality. That's what your bio is supposed to be for, so you can look back, read it and get your mental picture back. But if your bio is too vague, you won't get any picture and the character is lost. Use details wherever possible. Is she more kind and caring to males? To children? If so, why? How did she become a good fighter? What does she think about fighting?
- Quirks make a character fun and interesting to both play and to rp with, if they are done right. Don't just put something random in there and call it a quirk. Think about it. I have a werewolf character on another site who is a generally all around good guy, loves to talk and makes friends very easily. But he's terrified of water, needles and really big spiders and he's easily persuaded by food. Those are quirks. They make things interesting. Give your characters some of those and use them when you rp. Don't just say he has a short temper and then never use it. If someone does something stressful to him, make him angry.
How to Play your character:
This section might sound weird to you but it's true. A lot of people don't know how to play their characters, they really don't.
- Stick to your personality! If you're playing a character with a personality that says she's "Wild, crazy and a bubbly creature", don't have her cursing someone out in rp. If she's "sad, depressed and anti-social" do not have her suddenly open up to everyone! It does not work that way. If you suddenly don't like your character's personality then you're going to have to kill them off. In rp, you don't get do overs. Do it right the first time...
- Nobody's perfect. Have your charrie make mistakes as time goes on. Have him walk down the street and trip at random because it happens. Nobody is totally flawless, particularly not a stray dog. Have him start talking to someone he loves and mess up his words so "I love you" comes out "Young caribou" or something to that extent. Be creative, throw some interesting stuff in there...
- No Mind-reading! If another character whispers something, your charrie will not be able to hear it. If someone thinks something, your character will not suddenly know what they're thinking and be able to respond to it. It does not work that way. There's really no alternative to this one. Just don't do it...
- This ties into realism. Be realistic people. This is not a fantasy rp so, again, there is no mind-reading or flying or suddenly coming back from the dead. Now, you do get some leeway for dramatic license but make it reasonable. I could understand your dog getting ill and recovering after a short time but don't have them be so weak they can't lift their head, have their breathing physically stop and have them come back to life only to jump up immediately and dance around like nothing happened. That's so far out there it's not even funny. Make a few days pass before he gets up again or something, be a little reasonable please.
- Also, your character is not going to immediately fall in love with every character they meet of the opposite sex, life is not like that. They also won't realize that's who they want to spend their life with in two seconds either. Let them get to know each other first, for heaven's sake. Don't say "Hi! Want to be my mate?" and then go on to say how much your charrie is in love. He's not in love! He said one sentence, he simply can't be. Just trust me, rping is not a race to see who can have the most puppies or have the most sex or anything like that. Take your time in finding a mate, like in real life...
- Children are characters too. Now, with them you have a lot of room for molding and remodeling and stuff because things happen as one gets older but still be reasonable. A child/pup who is born selfish and stubborn will not grow up to be a friendly, happy-go-lucky guy unless something dramatic happens to him that makes him realize that selfish is no way to live. Then it's okay to change things around...
- Be creative. Make stuff happen to your characters. It can be anything from the usual dog catcher attack or police chase to something a little more drastic. Have them get caught in a fence, stuck in a trap, tormented by others, trapped in a car, lost in a traffic jam, something. This is a creative pastime folks, time to show it...
Summary:
Think about:
-Whether or not you can afford another charrie
- What your character will mean to you, what he is a symbol of
-What species/gender/age you wish to make him
-Upon what is he based and what that thing means to you
-What stereotype is he based on and what changes have you made to that stereotype
-What quirks will you give him and how will that effect what your charrie does
-Show details wherever you can!
How to Play:
-Stick to your character's personality (which should be descriptive to make it easier for you to follow)
-Nobody's perfect. Make sure to have your charrie make mistakes, good or bad
-No mind-reading!
-Be realistic!
-Have a good sense of time. What is three days to you is two seconds in rp
-Get to know your mate before you decide your character is in love
-Children/pups are characters too and you need to stick to their personalities just as well
-Be creative!
Inspiration:
Here are some good places to find inspiration for a character...
-Favorite song:
But think about it first. What is it about the song that you like? Is it the lyrics? The overall sound and feel of it? The mental picture you form while listening to it? Then, take whatever that is and put it into your character. Magnum(my dog character on another site) is a good example. I liked the lyrics to Trust Company's Downfall, how it speaks of having two sides to yourself. So, my dog has a split personality. Now, there's more to him than that but that's the basics of it. If you're going to use a song, think along those lines. Oh, and avoid using the song title or the group or whatever as your dog's name cause that's just lame...
-TV Show/Movie/Book character:
I wouldn't recommend this one but if you think you can without plagiarizing, then go for it. But don't simply copy the character into a dog's/vampire's/anthro's body. What do you like about the character? What do you hate? What would you change if you could? Think about all of that and make what adjustments you deem necessary. Give them different quirks, make their opinion on things different, branch out a little.
-Yourself!:
This is the best place to find inspiration. Just take a particular part of yourself and make a separate character for it. Take Kuro(a dragon character of mine) for example. He's like me when I'm in a good mood, happy and clever, curious about lots of stuff but easy to loose interest in certain things... and very lazy. Now, he's not exactly like me. He's a guy for starters and a dragon but he has a quick temper sometimes and is quite outspoken and outgoing. I am not... But I am still the inspiration for that character. So experiment with this one because you will most likely get the best results.
-Mix it up:
Take parts of each of these and blend them together. take your favorite song and a part of yourself and put them both in a character. Here we use Ezhno (the werewolf I mentioned earlier). Disturbed's songs Intoxication and Hell and my general behavior and outlook on everything blend together to make Ezzy a comical, confused, stressed out creature. The song I based him on gave me the idea of confusion and betrayl, anger, like life sucks all the time. When I look at myself, it's usually something I've done to other people that makes me feel angry and irritated, stressed out by everything that seems to be happening around me. Meld these together, you get Ezzy, who is constantly beating himself up for hurting other people during the full moon and always angry at himself because of it. I hope that's a good example...
Just one more thing:
-Take all this to heart. I find that a lot of people only listen to what I say to get me to shut up but I'm not doing this for myself people, I know all this already. This if for you and I'd like you to use it. You cannot be kicked off an rp for doing this right or better than right and I'm hoping that, if this is followed correctly, everybody will do better than right...
