Character Creation Analysis

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Hey everyone, this is a thread meant to discuss the principles of making characters, and what all is involved with the "Snowflake" trope we all know and... love? Anyways discuss away!

 

[Teh Frixz]

Why hello there. Time for rannnnts.

 

[Ignitedstar]

So let's start here with what I said in the shoutbox: "I don't understand. Isn't every character a special snowflake?"

 

[Teh Frixz]

Every character is in a sense, special from the start. Especially in anything 'Fandom' related. By creating the character, it is an acknowledgement of pulling them out onto a pedestal to look at and breakdown. It's enjoyable, it's challenging and shouldn't be boring. A Special Snowflake though is say, a snowflake that has purple and yellow crystals in the shape of hearts and skulls with dead parents and somehow amazingly good luck and likability.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Well Ignited. Yes and No, in my opinion. Like Frixz said "Every character is essentially placed on a pedestal" regardless of trope-version, snowflake-esque backstory/personality or not. Also as I said, the deepest and most emotionally diverse people ARE ones that have troubled pasts/present and so on. However, I share Frixz sentiment, in a way, in that most people who portray such a character often-times do so incorrectly in varying ways.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Because they do it at onset. Such things should be buried and well hidden gems to be uncovered in writing. Shown, not told.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Essentially, from what Frxz says, and I concur, is that people often make their "deep-rooted secrets" blatantly obvious and hyper-speed the "healing process" of opening up to someone.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Also. wtf is with this sexual orientation crud in CS's. Honestly, I'm so done with this pansexual omnisexual breadsexual stuff, especially in fandom games. I don't like my writing exercises becoming a playground for that sort of nonsense. If anything, that's the kind of stuff that should make for rich RP opportunity. I feel a lot of this snowflake stuff comes from an urge to make a character and be done, with no intention of development.


A ton of the stuff people want in characters could be obtained over time easily if they lay the groundwork. I need a chart to display like...time vs characterizations.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Well Frixz, that leads to the person making the roleplay having to put in extra work to make a character creation process that would allow people to reveal just the right amount of information. As well as a way of keeping the things NOT shown to everyone in line so people can't change character traits on a whim.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Not to toot my own horn here but I obviously love synthetics and androids. Go figure right? So I had the oppertunity to play in an Aliens (movie) type game. I adored the horror at finding out Ash was a synthetic in the first movie and wanted to capture that feeling in game. I didn't then just come right out and scream look at me, I'm an android too! We went and made two character sheets with an interesting human character worked out and a hidden second one just for the GM. I feel like the effort that was put out by the GM to allow that and the work we put into backstories that linked all our characters isn't seen as much and I feel some people are being pushed aside for these one shot sues.


t's that payoff reward thing that makes characters interesting and there has to be a certain element of knowing what makes for interesting reading. A lot of characters I see now are so self serving that they could have been written just for solo adventures.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Oh dear Frixz I know this. Actually if you'd like, I cans end you a character creation process (A proto-version mind you) I spent 3 whole hours on alone xP For your review and approval.

 

[Teh Frixz]

xD see! This is why I worry, I think I come off snotty after reading new player CS's

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Haha I know you're not being snotty Frixz. That was mostly in a childishly-teasing, finger-wagging way. xD Believe me, tone of voice in text-based conversations is an adversary to roleplaying and online communication everywhere. But yes, could I trouble you for your opinion on this piece of writing of mine?

 

[Teh Frixz]

I'd love to look it over, though I can tell you right now I'm sure it will be above the standard I'm starting to see more and more of

 

[Ignitedstar]

You'll have to forgive me. I'm not particularly into meta-writing topics like this kind of stuff. At least, what I think to be meta-writing topics.


Usually when I write characters, I start out with something very simple and let the rest figure itself out on its own, but only if deemed necessary. I guess one could say that it's just me pulling things out of thin air or I'm building the bridge as I'm walking on it, whatever expression have you. I realize that this probably only works for me, it's how I write most comfortably... although that tempts me heavily into going back and re-writing those stories. The work of an artist is never finished. >_>


In my own experience I have found that characters sheets are... well, they're not very helpful. I don't like going back to a character sheet to look back onto to something I might've written and will later regret. Also, I have been called out once or twice for my characters acting out of character, because they were acting in such a way that was not part of their character sheet. For tabletop games and stuff where you've got stats and dice rolls that affect what characters can and can't do, yes, I can see why a character sheet is very important. When there's solely a narrative, the best thing I've got is a synopsis of who a character is, then they get launched into the story from there.


I've tried to GM roleplays with character sheets like this, where all you have is a name, a picture, and a brief description of their life as it is the instant the story starts. I know that in doing so, I'm keeping the bar very low, but I have VERY high expectations, so it's... almost ironic. I expect more work in the long run than for people to get worked up at the very beginning and thin out later.

 

[Teh Frixz]

I think you hit the nail on the head with sheets. I'm a staunch supporter of more is less and when there is information, it should be well researched and planned out. A character sheet to me is a starting point, not an end. It's a rough idea transcribed into a concept given a name. It should be an experiment and an oppertunity to see the world from a new perspective. Not the same tired old, I'm a rich kid with evil parents, I'm an orphan dude with suicidal history, I'm a twelve year old bisexual with dyed blue blonde hair and a half sister. That always sets me off.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Thank you Frixz xP Honeyed words will get you gold stars!!


*chuckles* Anyways it's a rather precarious balance between laying out EVERYTHING, or making a Gary/Mary-Stu as simple as bringing up new skills/abilities whenever you want because you have no solid definition of their feats.


Ah! And I sent you BOTH the Proto-version of Erva's character creation. Opinions and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! :3

 

[Teh Frixz]

Honestly, it should just be a person. A good character doesn't need literary crutches.

 

[Ignitedstar]

What I would like to see more often in such characters, is such characters relieving themselves of said crutches. I think it's called character development.

 

[Teh Frixz]

The problem with that is, that never happens. Especially with certain crutches like dead parents / abused backstories.

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Indeed Ignited. The entire reason of problems existing, is to overcome them, not revolve your life around them. That being said for you to overcome them, if they are to large for yourself, other people DO have to recognize them and help. As I said, the "healing process", though this can't happen in the span of ten minutes unless someone is clinically mentally ill, in which case they couldn't likely function properly.

 

[Teh Frixz]

" I was prisoner at my mansion house wiht my ipod and dog and my dad scared me and said i was ugly"


"It's okay, you are beautiful no matter what he say"


I lean on shoulder and kiss "I love you I'm okay now"

 

[Mad Prince of Sanity]

Please... Please tell me this was not an actual series of "posts". I put posts in quotes because.. no... just no xD

 

[Teh Frixz]

I've seen it.

 

[AlexSilverX]

Personally, I always try to make the character profile itself as complex and as thorough as possible, taking for granted that nobody will meta-game.


From that point on, I RP under the assumption that my characters knows nothing about the other characters and they - likewise - know nothing about him/her (unless their mutual background stories imply otherwise as per a previous OoC agreement).


Likewise, I see the character sheet as a "starting point" not a "consistency guideline". If the character develops over the course of the story, causing his character sheet to become irrelevant in one way or another, I'll edit it (with the GMs permission if necessary) to fit the current status of the character as opposed to trying to have my character go back to his original state. If I can't do that, then "character sheet be damned, I say!"


With that out of the way...

As far as I'm concerned, I consider a "special snowflake" to be a character who's unique "for the sake of being unique" or has Mary Sue-esque characteristics. I mean by that that their unique traits serve the plot in no way, that their tragic past only serves to create sympathy for the character, or that they lack any real flaw either in terms of physique or personality.


In other words, to me, Michael - a character driven by a desire to avenge his parents who were killed by the RPs main villain, has a blue and cyan eye (the latter turning out to be a glass eye, giving him a blindspot and - thus - a weakness) - is not a "special snowflake".


However, Jim - a character rendered anti-social as a result of some BSPTSD following the death of his parents in a car crash he himself caused, causing him to inherit all their wealth and who manages a career as a model due to how beautiful he is, somehow making profit in spite of the fact he donates most of his money to the poor - is a "special snowflake".


To avoid SSS (Special Snowflake Syndrome) quick guidelines would simply be;

1. Ensure your character has at least one solid flaw at the start of the story he won't just magically overcome over less than 100 posts of development.
   
2. Ensure your character has a legitimate reason for any and all very unusual features (a birthmark with an unusual shape? That happens. A third eye that shoots laser beams? Not so much).
   
3. Follow the rules of the universe you are in. If - say - you're RPing medieval fantasy, having a laser-guided rocket launcher doesn't make much sense for your character.
   
4. When it comes to your character's positive traits; SHOW, don't TELL. No need to hype yourself. If your character is as good as you think they are, people will do that for you.
   
5. Gloomy is a perfectly fine character trait to have, constantly moping about your dead parents instead of contributing to the plot or even participating in dialogue isn't. Matter of fact? As a rule of thumb, don't bring up your background story ever unless it's relevant to the plot at hand or another character directly asks you about it. "If they want to know, they'll ask." is usually a safe assumption.