Advice/Help Picking up a Character from Someone Else

[Dalamus Ulom]

So recently, I agreed to join an rp and take up the mantle of a character made by someone else who had left the roleplay. Normally, I don't play pre-made characters(let alone ones that are already established), and I was wondering if anyone who's done something like this before could give me pointers, or at the very least, tell me how well they did when they did so. Would help me immensely.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

I would disadvise from this, because people will always compare you. Thus, you have to be better than your predecesor.
In my early days, we had a roleplay for Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. It also worked as a forum for fans, while the "vampires" acted as if they were real, lead discussions with their fans and answered questions. There was also a section for personal diaries. My point: due to the nature of the site, the roles were always secretely recast when someone left, you had to write several samples and go through a secret audition. The regular people were not to know that someone was replaced. It was awfully challenging. I recall I really wanted it back then, evn if it caused me stress. Looking back, I would never do it again. Though I lived vicariously through Marius for years.

 

[Idea]

There was only one instance where I had to do this. You see my group roleplays have this special rule where if the players leave or vanish without properly setting a way out, their characters become NPCs of the RP until such time as they can be moved out, and the GM is the one that runs them. So I've had to roleplay characters from other players.

That said, the only advise I can give you is to really look at the overall sheet and at the posts the player did previously. Research/study basically. That said, I do understand not all CSs are required to be up to par with basic standards of, say, establishing the character's actual personality, plus your own mindset may not really process it (like if you are someone that doesn't usually use personalities in CSs).

In either case, I wish you the best of luck with your endeavor and happy RPing!

 

[Dreamscape]

On the other end of the spectrum, I was once running a small d&d game with only 2 players, so I was playing a 3rd for balance reasons. Along the way, one of the party members was knocked out and dragged off. I had him take over my character for the time being and I can tell you it was awful. Basically, try your best to think as the character and not yourself. Otherwise, all of the characters you play will be the same and you'll never be able to successfully take over a character.

 

[MikaboshiEinst]

So recently, I agreed to join an rp and take up the mantle of a character made by someone else who had left the roleplay. Normally, I don't play pre-made characters(let alone ones that are already established), and I was wondering if anyone who's done something like this before could give me pointers, or at the very least, tell me how well they did when they did so. Would help me immensely.

always read the previous rp post and characters first before making a post... You would need to study how the character is molded by the creator..

sometimes the only way you can accurately portray a pre made character is by his/her previous scenes (both IC and OC) since sometime creators tend to not fully expound some of the finer points of a character when asked to describe them..

 

[Bone2pick]

Though I've never taken over an abandoned character I do hope to do it in the future. I look forward to certain writing challenges. As for my approach I would maintain important character elements and backstory foundations, but after that point I would put my own spin on them. Much of their personality would likely be reworked, as well as their long term goals.

Honestly, I can't imagine it being too different from writing canon fandom characters - which I roleplay regularly.