Having trouble getting into character

[Mallus]

Developing a character background is good, but what I try to do is find a single hook or concept for the character and the rest tends to grow from there.

Exactly! All the great backstory in the world amounts to nothing more than words on paper. The only way to define a character is to play. Start simple. The character is reckless/cowardly/drunk/fond of the color purple/etc. Something that makes an immediate impression on the other players and on yourself [my old Creative Writing prof in college called this "giving the character a limp". Try an accent. Many great characters I've seen in play arose out of a bad accent...

Once you have something to glom onto, you can fill out the rest.

 

[iwatt]

I find that focusing on one attribute/defining characteristic works very well:

i.e: War God cleric: He really just wanted to be a fighter, but his parents put him through War-Cleric school. He's got a huge mean streak and a temper to match.
i.e: Dwarf Pladin: His grandpappy was a hero, his GreatGrandpappay was an even greater hero. His father betrayed his clan. Now it's up to Young Mored Coldhammer (love dwarf cliche names) to bring back honour to the family.
i.e: Gnome Illusionist: He's greedy. Very greedy. The only creature greedier than him are som breeds of dragon's and his twin brother (another PC going for the Dungeon Delver Prestige Class).

When you fix this single characteristic, it's pretty easy to decide what your character will do in front of each possibilities. Unless your'e playing WOD, don't create a whole personality full with angst, paranoia, old flames etc. This takes a lot of your time, tends to force you to steal the spotlight (not cool) and is just plain anoying to a DnD DM to have you take 10 minutes to decide what is in characetr for you.

 

[Kranton Zo`erth]

Don't let the man fool you. He does have skills at roleplaying. I play with him regularly. The only thing I would mention possibly changing would be....variety. He does well with the gruff warrior decided on his goal, and he does the protector well.....just seems like he limits himself....of course you need to realize.....the character of the GM will notably be more in the bavckground so as not to dominate the game from the players. I think maybe if he got to play more often the problems that seem to plague him would be much less. Besides TW....not expecting as much out of NPC party member when you are busy playing everyone else that the PCs interact with. In htis case i feel you are being a little harsh on yourself.

But the most important thing about roleplaying.....HAVE FUN
enjoy yourself......it's what i do....have fun and let a personality develop over a level or so.....

I swear I am the only player I know that plays a mage that will jump out of the window at a moments notice to avoid a bad situation.....(of course I am not so familiar with 3.5....and several of the spell descriptions changed from 2e.......which makes me need to sit down and read them all again)

 

[Whimsical]

Working off of Kranton's suggestion for variety is my suggestion of: don't create your own character. Have someone else create it for you with minimal prompting from you. I find that I roleplay the most when I pick up a premade character with a predefined personality and run it without modification, such as when I play RPGs at a gaming convention. I love it when the pregenerated characters not only have their personality detailed, but it also describes how he regards each of his teammates. This should definitely kick you out of your Silent Bob mode.

When I was playing Champions and I was I couldn't come up with a personality for my character, I randomly picked one out of Normals Unbound, which details non-super characters that superhero characters may interact with. So because of this, my superhero was also a senator's wife. An older lady with many social connections. A personality that I would have not come up with on my own. And it worked great.

 

[Gothmog]

Everyone has offered good advice so far (especially Whimsical's list- I use a similar list), but here is one I use in addition to what has already been detailed: when I first make a character, I write out a short journal entry, in the character's own voice or point of view, detailing an event that occurred before play began. For example, a cleric might give his views on the event that made him a true believer in his deity, or a warrior might describe how he defeated/killed his first enemy. When writing these, try to describe what happened in the character's own words, as well as what he felt, and thoughts that went through his head at the time. While it might seem daunting at first, once you have done it once or twice, its an invaluable RP tool that really helps to flesh out a character's personality, beliefs, perceptions, and goals. If you feel so inclined, write out several events- the more you do, the better defined and more "real" the character becomes.

Note: I'm not an English major or literary person- in fact I'm a PhD neuroscientist who can't write fiction worth a crap. So if I can do this, anyone can.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

I'm wondering if you might share the same problem I have: I just don't "get" fantasy settings. Not well enough to be able to jump right in and start playing a fully self-directed character right off the bat, anyway. If my character isn't being asked to do something, he doesn't really have anything to do but wait until someone DOES ask.

But in a modern-day or science fiction setting, I don't have that problem at all. I can start off doing things with a character in the first session, no problem. And really, I think this is because I "get" those settings. I know what people do in the modern world and what people do in a science fiction setting, I understand how those worlds work, I can easily relate to their hobbies and their activities and their responsibilities. I don't have any difficulty relating to a character in those settings, so it seems I don't have any difficulty making a nice, well-rounded, self-directed character.

And I just don't have that with a fantasy setting. It's like a weird mental block: I can read the campaign setting notes over and over again, I can fill out character questionnaires all day, I can grit my teeth and really make a valiant effort, but it doesn't go anywhere. At the end of it, I'm still playing a character in a fantasy setting who doesn't really come alive until someone (a PC, NPC, or the plot) sets a problem in front of him for him to deal with, until I've been playing that character for a long, long time.

In our last Scarred Lands game, I didn't actually start enjoying my character until about the twelfth time we played, and I wasn't able to really play him well (with full motivations and goals and independent activities and all that fun stuff) until about twelve sessions after THAT.

I've basically resigned myself to it, now. If it's a straight-up pseudomedieval fantasy game, I'm just not going to be able to really get into character until we've logged at least a dozen sessions, and probably more.

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fortunately, we don't play many fantasy settings in our group
ryan