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<blockquote data-quote="Afrodyte" data-source="post: 2068163" data-attributes="member: 8713">When it comes to creating and playing campaigns, there are a lot of threads about setting, mechanics, and player dynamics, but relatively few dedicated to what is supposed to be the focus of the campaign: characters.&nbsp; I suppose it's because so much of what's offered in gaming materials is so elementary.&nbsp; The things that are not remedial and pedantic tend to be too academic to be useful in actual play.&nbsp; I created this thread to try to rectify that.&nbsp; This thread is not about easy answers or quick fixes.&nbsp; I am interested in developing tools and techniques to expand and enrich player and GM understanding and portrayal of character.The general trend I noticed is that character creation methods in D&amp;D (and most RPGs) mirrors the bottom-up method of world creation.&nbsp; You figure out all the little details (attributes, class, skills, feats, alignment, deities, history, personality, etc.) of your character and then try to determine what the true essence of the character is.Here on <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122587" target="_blank">this thread</a> I bring up an idea that is more like the top-down approach to world creation.&nbsp; First determine what really makes a character tick and develop everything else from there.&nbsp; One of the things I found that players and GMs can do to make this clear is to answer three questions for their characters: What, How, and Why.&nbsp; What does the character want?&nbsp; How did this desire come into being?&nbsp; Why does the character feel s/he needs the thing sought?&nbsp; Figuring out these things provides the following: a goal, essential backstory, and emotional stakes.Rather than trying to discuss the merits of this method, I'm interested in talking about how it affects the portrayal of characters.&nbsp; Specifically, I'm intrigued by the possibilities of using this method to develop strategies of character portrayal.&nbsp; How would or do you use the information provided from the inside-out method to portray (not just create) a character? What are some examples of how you would or have done this?&nbsp; Does creating a character inside-out (goals, significant events, needs then backstory, personality, stats) have an effect on the portrayal of character?&nbsp; If so, what is it?&nbsp; How does this differ in short-term and long-term play from doing things outside-in?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Afrodyte, post: 2068163, member: 8713"] When it comes to creating and playing campaigns, there are a lot of threads about setting, mechanics, and player dynamics, but relatively few dedicated to what is supposed to be the focus of the campaign: characters. I suppose it's because so much of what's offered in gaming materials is so elementary. The things that are not remedial and pedantic tend to be too academic to be useful in actual play. I created this thread to try to rectify that. This thread is not about easy answers or quick fixes. I am interested in developing tools and techniques to expand and enrich player and GM understanding and portrayal of character. The general trend I noticed is that character creation methods in D&D (and most RPGs) mirrors the bottom-up method of world creation. You figure out all the little details (attributes, class, skills, feats, alignment, deities, history, personality, etc.) of your character and then try to determine what the true essence of the character is. Here on [url=http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122587]this thread[/url] I bring up an idea that is more like the top-down approach to world creation. First determine what really makes a character tick and develop everything else from there. One of the things I found that players and GMs can do to make this clear is to answer three questions for their characters: What, How, and Why. What does the character want? How did this desire come into being? Why does the character feel s/he needs the thing sought? Figuring out these things provides the following: a goal, essential backstory, and emotional stakes. Rather than trying to discuss the merits of this method, I'm interested in talking about how it affects the portrayal of characters. Specifically, I'm intrigued by the possibilities of using this method to develop strategies of character portrayal. How would or do you use the information provided from the inside-out method to portray (not just create) a character? What are some examples of how you would or have done this? [b]Does creating a character inside-out (goals, significant events, needs then backstory, personality, stats) have an effect on the portrayal of character? If so, what is it? How does this differ in short-term and long-term play from doing things outside-in?[/b] [/QUOTE]

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