Doug McCrae
Legend
I often find myself picturing a PC being similar to the player. Surprisingly, much of the time this matches the character's physical description.
How you imagine physical features of OTHER player characters
Like rossik, I have the players come up with artwork depicting their PCs, and I use that to make initiative cards for the characters, so everyone at the table knows what each PC looks like. Some use sample PC artwork from the Wizards site, some draw their own pictures, and in one case I took a photo of the player and grafted his face onto a PC drawing from the Wizards site. 
Johnathan
Johnathan
The Green Adam
First Post
Every major character, culture, item, vehicle, locale and creature in my campaigns receives a detailed description and/or a full color illustration. Now it may take some time to get to everything but that's half the fun. There's always something to draw.
AD
AD
Asmor
First Post
I chose option 6.
There's two things that might happen.
1: I don't imagine what they look like at all. This is the most common occurrence, and typically it happens with characters who just don't get sold well by their players.
2: I get some visualization stuck in my head, and there's no changing it. For example, in the last campaign I ran, there was a gargoyle druid who work bone armor and wielded a glaive. I always pictured him as his mini, though, which was a gargoyle in leather armor and wielding a bow. In the same campaign, there was a barbarian who had a full head of hair and wore various trophies (such as a mantle made of a bulette's skull). When he first came up with the character, I pictured the barbarian from Diablo II, and that's always how I saw his character despite the fact that it really looks nothing like what he described.
In either case, it's not conscious. I don't make an effort to visualize other peoples' characters... Either it happens or it doesn't.
There's two things that might happen.
1: I don't imagine what they look like at all. This is the most common occurrence, and typically it happens with characters who just don't get sold well by their players.
2: I get some visualization stuck in my head, and there's no changing it. For example, in the last campaign I ran, there was a gargoyle druid who work bone armor and wielded a glaive. I always pictured him as his mini, though, which was a gargoyle in leather armor and wielding a bow. In the same campaign, there was a barbarian who had a full head of hair and wore various trophies (such as a mantle made of a bulette's skull). When he first came up with the character, I pictured the barbarian from Diablo II, and that's always how I saw his character despite the fact that it really looks nothing like what he described.
In either case, it's not conscious. I don't make an effort to visualize other peoples' characters... Either it happens or it doesn't.
Somewhere between option 1 and 2. I imagine other players' characters in more detail than a two-word description, but I rarely if ever think about someone's eye shape or similar minor traits.
In most cases, people who I play with either use a picture/photo to visualize their character or describe them with a few evocative traits that are easy to remember and imagine. The funny thing is that the characters described most extensively are most nebulous in my imagination - there's to many details to get a strong impression.
In most cases, people who I play with either use a picture/photo to visualize their character or describe them with a few evocative traits that are easy to remember and imagine. The funny thing is that the characters described most extensively are most nebulous in my imagination - there's to many details to get a strong impression.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
We can spend a session doing nothing but RP, often much of it just with each other, so details of the characters are important.
That said, more than half of my gaming friends (myself included) find artwork. Especially true for a FLGS game - I'll have a paper folded to stand up with my character name and a picture.
That said, more than half of my gaming friends (myself included) find artwork. Especially true for a FLGS game - I'll have a paper folded to stand up with my character name and a picture.
SwivSnapshot
First Post
As background actors from Order of the Stick.
S
Sunseeker
Guest
Usually no more detailed than the player wants to present their character. If the description isn't detailed, or they don't provide a picture, I usually mash up whatever details I have with how the player themselves looks in my head.
ccs
41st lv DM
#2 - at least as often as possible.
Myself, I ALWAYS have a very definite description of my characters. Sometimes even matching minis/art. What my characters look like is as important as any other detail.
Others I play with aren't as specific. So I'll start by imagining whatever they initially provide. From there I'll keep asking questions until I have a good mental image of the other characters.
I'm pretty sure this annoys one of the guys. Left to his own devices he's way down at about 2/10 on the character description scale. Ex: male elf. Ranger. From the woods. Fights with a bow.
I'm fairly certain he actually pictures an elf as "list of mechanical features. And pointed ears." (And he never has a matching mini or art)
But that doesn't make for a good description for one of the primary characters of a story! My mind just won't plug in a blank mana quin with pointy ears & bow. Nor is the player particularly elf-like.
Myself, I ALWAYS have a very definite description of my characters. Sometimes even matching minis/art. What my characters look like is as important as any other detail.
Others I play with aren't as specific. So I'll start by imagining whatever they initially provide. From there I'll keep asking questions until I have a good mental image of the other characters.
I'm pretty sure this annoys one of the guys. Left to his own devices he's way down at about 2/10 on the character description scale. Ex: male elf. Ranger. From the woods. Fights with a bow.
I'm fairly certain he actually pictures an elf as "list of mechanical features. And pointed ears." (And he never has a matching mini or art)
But that doesn't make for a good description for one of the primary characters of a story! My mind just won't plug in a blank mana quin with pointy ears & bow. Nor is the player particularly elf-like.
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