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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jerichothebard" data-source="post: 1447800" data-attributes="member: 4705">Never - it's the cardinal rule of improv.  Always say yes.  Even better, ask a question - even in response to another question.  (This can become an improv game in its own right).  Really, that is one of the only guides to improv at all.Much of the stuff said here is really good advice.Here are my thoughts, some of which might be redundant or repetitive or redundant.  They also range from really simple to very deeply philosophical.  Your milage may vary.1) Find a drama club/improv comedy group/acting class.  ComedySportz and Theatresports are both nationwide groups of improv comedy; they both give workshops and seminars, as do many other improv groups.  I worked with comedysports for a while back in college, and it was great.  Really honed my comedic instincts and taught me to think on my feet.  I also did some acting, and some of the stuff you learn there never goes away - some of it will be in my advice below.2) Take a mime class.   Yes, you read that right.  I took one, and it has really cemented the way I visualize my character's physicality.  I find this to be one of my keys to capturing a character.  For example, I've never had a left-handed character (although a couple have been ambidextrous, not that there's anything wrong with that...) because I can't visualize it. I'm extremely right-handed, and just can't imagine myself approaching life from the other side, so to speak. 3) realize that all characters - even the most outlandish - are facets of your personality.  If you don't identify with the character, you won't be able to play him (or her).  This has led to some initially uncomfortable realizations about myself - which I am much more at peace with now.  The primary example was when I realized that I am an extremly aggresive, angry person with a very short temper.  I realized this because I was playing an extremly aggresive, angry barbarian-character... and I was relating to him very well...  then, thinking about it, all my characters were extensions of myself, or facets of myself, or wish-fulfillment...  Playing the character became sort of theraputic, for me.4) do a voice.  Two of my three favorite characters of all time had voices - the wolfen barbarian mentioned above was a really gravelly growl at the bottom of my vocal range, while a (pretty psychotic LN) fire mage had a burned whisper.5) tying in with #2, try and adopt the character's manner of moving/holding themselves/expression.  Even though I haven't played him in about five years, I can adopt the fire mage's character in a couple of seconds just by hunching over and glaring at everything with an arrogant and angst-filled sneer.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" />  Even his manner of breathing is distinctive.  Gods, I miss that character...6) Write a back-story.  Make it tragic or melodramatic or totally overblown.  Remember that adventurers are bigger-than-life characters taking all kinds of lunatic risks and confronting Horrid Dangers From Beyond Space And Time (tm).  Normal people, people with happy childhoods and families to go home to, don't do that sort of thing.7) Don't be afraid. Don't fear offending your friends, or playing a character no one likes but you.  Everybody hated my mage at first, because he was somewhat hard to get along with... but I enjoyed him so much that everyone else came to like him, just because I had such a good time making them miserable.  It's like that Vegas commercial - what happens here (in game) stays here (in game).  Note that this is an ideal that is often hard to keep.  There was a lot of intra-party combat for a while in my group, particularly when I was playing the wolf barbarian.  The extension of rule #3 is that, as your character is an reflection of yourself, the party relationship is a reflection of your gaming group's relationship.  There was a  LOT of tension in my group for a while, on totally personal non-game stuff.  The two were very related.8 ) Finally, let me leave you with this thought - something I try to keep in mind.  I have played RPGs for 17+ years.  I have made, tried, and discarded scores of characters, covering most of the classes, most of the races, and at least four different genres.I have kept and enjoyed and played and remember about ten of them.And I count myself lucky to have found each and every one.(From memory, in chronologimical order: Robin (fighter/wannabe ranger), Chuck (ninja/chosen of the rune nunchaku), Silver Arrow (ranger/wild mage), Jonathan (smuggler/nancy boy), Darius (monk/merchant), Marc (thief [no, not rogue]/abject coward), The Groob (fighter pilot), Col. Frostbyte (the barbarian mentioned earlier, sadly deceased, my only fatality), Caliban (the mage mentioned above), and Elijah Copperpot (wizard/tinker))</blockquote>

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