Libk
Spaceballs: The Mafia Player
The basic application provided by the hosts of an rp are a great way to start on your character but are really just a summary of who your character is to give other players an idea of what they'll be writing with or what roles may need to be filled in the group. While a good overall look at the character, it doesn't let you, the writer, get into the nitty gritty parts of your character. I'm creating this guide as a resource to maybe help you give more development to your character outside of the basic application.
Family History
Every character has a family. Even if your character never sees their family anymore (which could be for various reasons we'll get into later) their family is an important part of who your character is. Who were your character's parents? Do they have any siblings? How wealthy is the family? These questions help you find your character's place in the world. Perhaps your characters parents both work for a company that makes car parts. As such, maybe your character would have some knowledge about making cars. If your character has siblings, are they the oldest? youngest? middle child? What do those siblings do? Do they still live with your character? Does the family have a lot of wealth? are they just barely scraping by? There are even more questions you can ask yourself when it comes to your character's family and the more you decide to ask, the more you know about your character. And sometimes this will inspire new characters for other rps.
As an example, one of my characters ever for an RP was a character named James Xylander. when I made him, I asked myself these questions and today there are now 4 member of the Xylander family, each with their own histories and statuses in the various worlds they're in. When I first made James, The rest of the family was known, He had a mother and sister, deceased, and a father, an evil man who killed all members in his family but was unable to kill James. Just this small bit of information gives a lot of things to your character. It gives him motivation, a goal, a past, it can give fears and determine strengths. It creates an antagonist for the character that you can bring up in the rp later. And all this information came from asking "Who are his parents?" "Are they alive?" "Does he have any siblings?"
Important Events
Each character goes through big events in their life. These events can have a positive impact on your character or even a negative impact on your character. These aren't so much questions to ask, but choices to make about your character before the RP starts. Graduating from a school could be a big event. The death of a family member could be a big event. Determining events that make an impact in your character's life can help you determine your character's personality and outlook on life. Does the death of James' family make him seclude himself from people in depression? Does he motivate himself to do better himself to one day kill the man who killed his mother and sister? there are many different ways your character can react to an event, and no one character has to react the same way as another. Perhaps high school was an awful experience for a character and when they graduated they decided to avoid further schooling. Similarly your character may have enjoyed school and went on to college after they graduated. The event is graduating high School. It's up to you to determine how they react. The following are good ideas for major events in a character's life.
I'll be adding more to this thread as I write more posts for it.
Family History
Every character has a family. Even if your character never sees their family anymore (which could be for various reasons we'll get into later) their family is an important part of who your character is. Who were your character's parents? Do they have any siblings? How wealthy is the family? These questions help you find your character's place in the world. Perhaps your characters parents both work for a company that makes car parts. As such, maybe your character would have some knowledge about making cars. If your character has siblings, are they the oldest? youngest? middle child? What do those siblings do? Do they still live with your character? Does the family have a lot of wealth? are they just barely scraping by? There are even more questions you can ask yourself when it comes to your character's family and the more you decide to ask, the more you know about your character. And sometimes this will inspire new characters for other rps.
As an example, one of my characters ever for an RP was a character named James Xylander. when I made him, I asked myself these questions and today there are now 4 member of the Xylander family, each with their own histories and statuses in the various worlds they're in. When I first made James, The rest of the family was known, He had a mother and sister, deceased, and a father, an evil man who killed all members in his family but was unable to kill James. Just this small bit of information gives a lot of things to your character. It gives him motivation, a goal, a past, it can give fears and determine strengths. It creates an antagonist for the character that you can bring up in the rp later. And all this information came from asking "Who are his parents?" "Are they alive?" "Does he have any siblings?"
Important Events
Each character goes through big events in their life. These events can have a positive impact on your character or even a negative impact on your character. These aren't so much questions to ask, but choices to make about your character before the RP starts. Graduating from a school could be a big event. The death of a family member could be a big event. Determining events that make an impact in your character's life can help you determine your character's personality and outlook on life. Does the death of James' family make him seclude himself from people in depression? Does he motivate himself to do better himself to one day kill the man who killed his mother and sister? there are many different ways your character can react to an event, and no one character has to react the same way as another. Perhaps high school was an awful experience for a character and when they graduated they decided to avoid further schooling. Similarly your character may have enjoyed school and went on to college after they graduated. The event is graduating high School. It's up to you to determine how they react. The following are good ideas for major events in a character's life.
- Graduation
- A death in the family
- Making a new friend
- Getting a pet
- Moving
- Getting a job
- Losing a job
- Acquiring a new skill
- etc.
I'll be adding more to this thread as I write more posts for it.