How you imagine physical features of OTHER player characters

[Mad_Jack]

My mind just won't plug in a blank mana quin with pointy ears & bow. Nor is the player particularly elf-like.

I now find myself with a nagging compulsion to make a miniature or npc character in a game that is simply a blank faceless figure dressed as a ranger with a bow, whose only feature on their entire head is a set of pointy ears...
(Perhaps not coincidentally, I've also just played through the part in Planescape : Torment where the modrons have constructed the "dungeon" as a sociological experiment, lol)

For myself, I generally only imagine other player's characters as a generic-looking amalgamation of their race, sex and equipment, unless the player has described their character's physical appearance in greater detail or has chosen a particular miniature to represent them. (Sometimes if the player has just grabbed a random miniature to use it can get annoying as the figure's appearance tends to intrude on the visualization of the character.) Sometimes I infer certain otherwise-unspecified details from the player's roleplaying in-game, if they're the type who gets descriptive about their actions - bulging muscles, steely glare, flowing tresses, etc....

 

[MechaPilot]

I voted "option 6" because I ask other players what their characters look like. Only if the other players don't provide any real information do I start assuming the ordinary stereotypes (i.e. bulky melee types, frail casters, lithe and slippery rogues, etc). Conversely, when I play I always describe my character so others at the table can visualize her in a manner that's more consistent with what I envisioned when I created her.

Sometimes, a cool idea will come up in play that changes a character's aesthetic. For example, my asimaar light cleric has a halo while concentrating on her spells. This was brought up as a joke at the table, but the DM and I both liked it, and now that's what happens.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I ask the other players what their characters look like. I welcome them to provide me art, or even just an actor/model for reference. What miniature, if any, they say fits the character further adds detail.

But I generally have at least a slightly different version of their character in my head, which I'll sometimes draw/paint to show the other player what I am seeing and see how close they think that is to what image they had in their own mind.

And sometimes, we even commission other artists to render our characters for us.

 

[Beleriphon]

Almost invariably its the character looks like the player. Think of The Table Titans.

 

[Draegn]

I see other characters the way their players describe them.

 

[DM Howard]

I imagine details and all that. My group is pretty descriptive, so it is pretty easy to do. One player would probably fall under option one, though, as he doesn't offer as many details and deals in general features.

I'm with ccs where I'll keep asking questions, even of the general player, to get a pretty good idea of what each characters looks like so we all have a good imaginative base to start from.