Giving Characters Character

[Dannyalcatraz]

There have been a lot of threads here in which people have asked about how to make their characters less stereotypical and "cookie cutter."

Instead of just linking them all together, I thought it might be nice for ENWorlders to post afresh their tips & tricks of PC design that help them avoid that sense of "sameness" when playing their fifth Dwarven warrior, human space marine, etc.

So, whatever your game or genre, show us your tips!

1) play with the stereotype. Perhaps the PC behaves & acts a certain way in public because that is expected, but privately, is very different. His or her sameness is a facade.

Or perhaps the PC was adopted into the culture. Terry Pratchett's character Carrot from his Diskworld novels is a human who was adopted by Dwarves. He is a stereotypical dwarf in so many ways...except he's over 6' tall...

2) play against the stereotype. Make your dwarf use a longbow. Make your big, muscular PC prefer cerebral pursuits- he's a spellcaster or computer whiz.

3) choose some unusual gear for the PC to favor. An unusual weapon is a good place to start- but make sure the character has a REASON for using it as opposed to those that may be mechanically & objectively " better". But it need not even be functional, it could merely be a prop- think of Jean Reno's character in The Professional who always had his potted plant to go home to and care for.

4) personality quirks can help a character stand out. A character who has verbal ticks, catch phrases, behavioral issues, etc., can be a lot of fun to play.

5) base the PC on something not necessarily in the game books. Obvious choices would be the literature & art related to the game or genre the game is in, or the game minis, if there are some. But a more mainstream piece of art or music can be just as inspirational. Perhaps the character is inspired (in world) by a certain musician or artist, and can't get enough Beethoven or Gustav Klimt.

6) Borrowing from movies, TV & computer games, choose a theme song for the PC. Have it playing when you make the PC, and it will be running in your head when he does kewl stuff. You might even record a snippet to play on a mobile device, when appropriate, if your game group is amenable.

Currently, I'd love to use Budos Band's "Chicago Falcon" or "Scorpion" for this, but haven't found the right PC...yet.

[video=youtube;NuOKhfNq-lE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuOKhfNq-lE&sns=em[/video]
[video=youtube;5fsNFQArMwo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fsNFQArMwo&sns=em[/video]

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

7) re skinning abilities is your friend, and it has a great history. After all, the character Murlynd ran on reskinned magic missiles that burst forth from his twin six-guns. In the same vein, you could easily transform a warlock's Eldritch blast into a firearm...or a glowing disc of energy. And the mystic energies wielded by Hexblades or Soulknives could resemble a Gibson SG.

8) re skinning works for races, too. A little reworking, and the semi-subterranean Dwarves typical of fantasy become a race of anthropomorphic snapping turtles reknown for their prowess as warriors and their skill as riverboat merchants. Greys can become the Elves of Underhill...or vice versa.

9) with the permission of the game master, cultural alchemy can work, too. In a 2Ed campaign, I ran a Minotaur from a Plains Indian style culture, nomadic and masters of archery. That same culture became the basis for a tribe that used large flightless predatory birds instead of horses. In a 4Ed campaign, the shadow-walking class feature of warlocks was the kernel from which grew my Dwarven Starlock who practiced capoiera...and whose clan favored steel drums.