Character Theory Using one character

[thorsayingyeet]

Alright, this question has been bugging me for a while. I haven't bothered to ask anyone (I'm a bit shy when it come to this kind of question lmao) but I need to put it out there if anyone hasn't asked this question:


Is it okay to use one character for most (if not all) of the roleplays you're currently participating in or not?


Feel free to leave your opinions down belowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

[Idea]

I mean, is it allowed? If yes, then I'd say it can be ok. Of course, one should account for whether it makes sense. If a setting is very generic yeah make use of your OC but if it is a more detailed and specific setting with rich lore and such I'd argue you're wasting a lot by not making a new OC that fits into that setting specifically.

But beyond cases where you're doing so against the rules or where there is already enough support to create an integrated character, I say it's alright to use a single OC.

Now, on a more personal level, I AM a little upset when I find someone re-used an OC but that's just personal matters steeming from a bit of a distrust I am starting to shave off and from the fact I really pour my heart and soul into making my characters so I feel a little cheated when my partner or another player just grabs one from Stock.

And of course, you need to be pretty careful. No OC is as easy to fall into typical traps of overcaring for them, Mary Sueness and the like than an OC one plans to use as a "main"

 

[thorsayingyeet]

I mean, is it allowed? If yes, then I'd say it can be ok. Of course, one should account for whether it makes sense. If a setting is very generic yeah make use of your OC but if it is a more detailed and specific setting with rich lore and such I'd argue you're wasting a lot by not making a new OC that fits into that setting specifically.

But beyond cases where you're doing so against the rules or where there is already enough support to create an integrated character, I say it's alright to use a single OC.

Now, on a more personal level, I AM a little upset when I find someone re-used an OC but that's just personal matters steeming from a bit of a distrust I am starting to shave off and from the fact I really pour my heart and soul into making my characters so I feel a little cheated when my partner or another player just grabs one from Stock.

And of course, you need to be pretty careful. No OC is as easy to fall into typical traps of overcaring for them, Mary Sueness and the like than an OC one plans to use as a "main"

Oooooh, I see. Before I used to kind of use one character for some of the roleplays I used to be a part of. I still use him today but now it's for mainly one genre of roleplay, as opposed to using him in any roleplay I could find. I do have other characters but I haven't used them in a while or have created some and don't use to at all. I guess it could be due to laziness, otherwise it sometimes feels like I can't connect with my character because they aren't properly developed or whatever.

 

[Idea]

Oooooh, I see. Before I used to kind of use one character for some of the roleplays I used to be a part of. I still use him today but now it's for mainly one genre of roleplay, as opposed to using him in any roleplay I could find. I do have other characters but I haven't used them in a while or have created some and don't use to at all. I guess it could be due to laziness, otherwise it sometimes feels like I can't connect with my character because they aren't properly developed or whatever.

I don't know. With exception of very few, I am almost a 100% "make a new character for each RP" type, and I typically hope my partners are the same.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah I agree with Idea if it's not against the rules and the person fits into the setting of the roleplay I don't see any problem with it.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

In all honesty, I have characters that I played in several roleplays over the years, and also in live over the table RPGs. Heck I only had two different characters in all my steampunk games in the past, one of them has already been in two table top RPGs, three online games AND is also in a book I'm writing. I also play some canon characters from fandoms I'm in, and those I naturally use multiple times.
Reason for this? It is not because I'm lazy, it's because I love those characters and if given a choice, I will ALWAYS choose to write for someone I already love than a new person with a clean slate, who I'm not attached to. Yes folks, I get attached to my characters a lot, so if the RP they've been in has ended and I miss them, I want to re-use them even more. I don't feel guilty about this, even if my RP partner might want me to "create something only for them", because hey I RP mainly for my own good feeling - and of course I'm gonna give them commited replies and build the world with them, but I wanna write what I love to write.
That said, I don't have one character that I circulate everywhere. I have two for Star Trek setting, three for viking type setting, two steampunk, about 8 for fantasy RPs and 3 for sci-fi + 1 apocalyptic setting, cause I only played that once. And I circulate those + am not opposed to making a new one say, once per year XD

 

[thorsayingyeet]

Idea rae2nerdy MechanicalSnake

Honestly you guys, thanks for your opinions about this kind of question. Like I mentioned earlier, it has been something that's been bugging for quite some time. I wasn't really sure if it was a good thing having one character at hand all the time. The above comment has also given me some insight as well; it's not laziness if you choose to use a character that you love and treasure the most, even though you have used them in another roleplay(s).

I mentioned laziness in my previous comment because lately, when it comes to creating brand-spanking new characters, I get an idea of what I want my next character to be like, but I end up getting writer's block, and I soon end up forgetting about them and continue to use the one character that I'm attached to the most (I'm not sure if it does count as laziness, but I'm sure you'll catch my drift. If this confuses or irritates you in any way, I apologise for that).

Another reason involves a new character that has been created, but I'm too shy to play that character in case that character begins to act similar to one of my characters, or I stall my mind, thinking "this isn't the best time for me to introduce that character", then slowly begin to forget that I have another character until months later.

Again, thanks so much. If there's more you want to add or to give advice or anything, feel free to.

 

[Onmyoji]

Yes, as long as you adjust your character to make sense in each specific rp, as in, if you don't do things like having a character with cat ears in a rp that is not supposed to have people with cat ears, you should be fine.

I usually create a new character for every rp, but I have a certain archetype that I like to rp more than others so if I don't feel like challenging myself too much I may create a character based on that archetype.

 

[peritwinkle]

I mean, is it allowed? If yes, then I'd say it can be ok. Of course, one should account for whether it makes sense. If a setting is very generic yeah make use of your OC but if it is a more detailed and specific setting with rich lore and such I'd argue you're wasting a lot by not making a new OC that fits into that setting specifically.

But beyond cases where you're doing so against the rules or where there is already enough support to create an integrated character, I say it's alright to use a single OC.

Now, on a more personal level, I AM a little upset when I find someone re-used an OC but that's just personal matters steeming from a bit of a distrust I am starting to shave off and from the fact I really pour my heart and soul into making my characters so I feel a little cheated when my partner or another player just grabs one from Stock.

And of course, you need to be pretty careful. No OC is as easy to fall into typical traps of overcaring for them, Mary Sueness and the like than an OC one plans to use as a "main"

Your replies are always my own thoughts put into words.

 

[Idea]

Idea rae2nerdy MechanicalSnake

Honestly you guys, thanks for your opinions about this kind of question. Like I mentioned earlier, it has been something that's been bugging for quite some time. I wasn't really sure if it was a good thing having one character at hand all the time. The above comment has also given me some insight as well; it's not laziness if you choose to use a character that you love and treasure the most, even though you have used them in another roleplay(s).

I mentioned laziness in my previous comment because lately, when it comes to creating brand-spanking new characters, I get an idea of what I want my next character to be like, but I end up getting writer's block, and I soon end up forgetting about them and continue to use the one character that I'm attached to the most (I'm not sure if it does count as laziness, but I'm sure you'll catch my drift. If this confuses or irritates you in any way, I apologise for that).

Another reason involves a new character that has been created, but I'm too shy to play that character in case that character begins to act similar to one of my characters, or I stall my mind, thinking "this isn't the best time for me to introduce that character", then slowly begin to forget that I have another character until months later.

Again, thanks so much. If there's more you want to add or to give advice or anything, feel free to.

As I mentioned previously, I don't know if it is laziness, wouldn't be able to say.

That said, I usual I can't recommend falling in line with writing block so easily. From what I can tell there is nothing particularly wrong with using the character you cherish the most, but if the reason you are doing so is that you are giving up on another project due to writer's block then it's not healthy for you to do that. The more you get used to giving up due to writer's block the worst you will get. It's something that can only really be combated by building good writing habits against it.

 

[Psyche]

Depends on if it fits or not. For example, if you have a character that is from Fantasyland101 with magical powers who has a pet dragon or some crap like that, probably won’t do well in a typical high school roleplay. But if it’s another fantasy world and it fits the world, don’t see a reason why not too. Although as people previously stated, you might have to adjust him/he accordingly.

I used have an issue of using similar characters, but not the same. I used to play strictly female characters for my first 5~ months, but when my old partner complained, so then I started branching out and playing different genders, pairings, archetypes etc. I do favor playing specific characters, but I found trying new things made it a lot more enjoyable and I have no problem with it. I also beleive it did improve my writing skill, and after I started looking past my narrow view, I got a lot more enraptured in the different possibilities.

Moral of the story- Nothing wrong with using one character if it fits, yet it might be more interesting/entertaining trying new things from time to time. Or well, for a more clean cut version- sometimes it’s for the best to stand out of your comfort zone? I don’t know to be honest, there’s a lesson in it somewhere. Hopefully I made sense, I’m half asleep right now so apologies in advance if anything is a bit unclear or vague.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Idea rae2nerdy MechanicalSnake

Honestly you guys, thanks for your opinions about this kind of question. Like I mentioned earlier, it has been something that's been bugging for quite some time. I wasn't really sure if it was a good thing having one character at hand all the time. The above comment has also given me some insight as well; it's not laziness if you choose to use a character that you love and treasure the most, even though you have used them in another roleplay(s).

I mentioned laziness in my previous comment because lately, when it comes to creating brand-spanking new characters, I get an idea of what I want my next character to be like, but I end up getting writer's block, and I soon end up forgetting about them and continue to use the one character that I'm attached to the most (I'm not sure if it does count as laziness, but I'm sure you'll catch my drift. If this confuses or irritates you in any way, I apologise for that).

Another reason involves a new character that has been created, but I'm too shy to play that character in case that character begins to act similar to one of my characters, or I stall my mind, thinking "this isn't the best time for me to introduce that character", then slowly begin to forget that I have another character until months later.

Again, thanks so much. If there's more you want to add or to give advice or anything, feel free to.

I find basing your characters on either people you know IRL OR estabilished characters your familiar with helps with keeping them distinct and also helps you flesh them out. Now obviously don't just put your mom or some other person's character in a roleplay with no changes. That's a little awkward.

But say you can borrow the appearance of your favorite character but the personality of your mom. Or vise versa, the appearance of IRL friend but the backstory of a favorite character (edited to fit the setting of course).

I do this a lot with my own siblings and coworkers when I'm pressed for time and don't have any inspiration to make a whole new character for a roleplay.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Honestly, I always used to create a different OC for each RP I was in, but I'm doing that less and less. What I'll do is create a variety of OCs that can fit into multiple plots (like, I'll create OCs that are good for medieval fantasy and OCs that are good for urban fantasy and etc), then I'll kinda just use those and maybe edit certain details about them to fit the specific RP better.

Why do I do this? People drop RPs a lot. I'm the type of person that pours a lot of time into my OCs (I ponder for days on their personality, their backstory, their strengths and weaknesses, their magical abilities, and I also draw them myself, so that takes a decent chunk of time too). It's not only exhausting, but flat out disheartening when I spend so much of my time, energy, and love to create a new OC... and then my RP partner drops the RP before it can really start getting interesting.

What am I supposed to do with my OC then? Just leave them to die and never be used again before they could really start to shine? And then I have to go off and spend lots of time making a brand new OC, only for the cycle to repeat itself. It's tiring. It got to the point that I stopped RPing for a while because I was so discouraged. I've noticed it's a lot less taxing for me and a lot more enjoyable to just create a few OCs I like and then repurpose them for various RPs.

So yeah, I think depending on the situation, it's fine to use the same OC for multiple things. But I do think there comes a point where it might be a good idea to start making some new OCs. That's entirely up to the individual though.

 

[Onmyoji]

People drop RPs a lot. I'm the type of person that pours a lot of time into my OCs (I ponder for days on their personality, their backstory, their strengths and weaknesses, their magical abilities, and I also draw them myself, so that takes a decent chunk of time too). It's not only exhausting, but flat out disheartening when I spend so much of my time, energy, and love to create a new OC... and then my RP partner drops the RP before it can really start getting interesting.

This is actually a good point and I totally agree that re-using a character from a dropped rp is not a bad thing at all, and I wouldn't call it lazyness either. If you spent time on making a character it would be nice to actually play it somewhere, as long as it it's adjusted to new rp.

I'm heartless and I abandon my OCs from dropped rp XD But as I said earlier, I sometimes resort to specific archetype that I like to play so it's not too hard for me to build a new character based on the same archetype. Which is essentially (almost) the same as using the old character in new setting.

 

[Idea]

Regarding the new theme that kind of arose my personal philosophy towards RPs dying is to make what I do be worthwhile regardless of the RP surviving. I want to look back at posts and characters I made without regretting having made them, by making them have value outside of the context of that one RP.

As such, my general approach is to make the best characters I can come up with, and if the RP dies I usually store them in a thread. Rarely do I re-use a character given positions I already mentioned, though it's not like it's never happened, but I am usually quite content with just having this "mini hall of fame" of sorts for my past creations XD

 

[PhoenixMire]

Regarding the new theme that kind of arose my personal philosophy towards RPs dying is to make what I do be worthwhile regardless of the RP surviving. I want to look back at posts and characters I made without regretting having made them, by making them have value outside of the context of that one RP.

As such, my general approach is to make the best characters I can come up with, and if the RP dies I usually store them in a thread. Rarely do I re-use a character given positions I already mentioned, though it's not like it's never happened, but I am usually quite content with just having this "mini hall of fame" of sorts for my past creations XD

Which is awesome, but that's just wayyyyy too exhausting for me. :') I have multiple characters I've used for RPs that have died right after the first post, or even before the first post, and I just... want to be able to use that character that I never got a chance to develop

 

[Zeev]

The answer is yes and no.

taking an objective stance, it depends on a few factors, if you're Rping with the same people a lot I'd say unless you've all agreed across your several RPs that s ok, sure, otherwise, t might grow bland for those around you.

a way around this is tweaking your character from RP to RP, setting to setting, even if that requires an overall of them or AU versions, whatever works, but new characters are preferable.

and this is coming from a guy who has one main character they use, but I'm always willing to do something different if the story is furthered from or if the RP is very focused on one thing.

 

[Shuusuke]

I've a bunch of OCs that I've imagined in many different scenarios. Their core personality remains, I just change some factors to fit the current setting. So I definitely do what this thread is asking.

Even for those that I created for one specific setting, going to be blunt here, I feel like it's no one's business whether I've played as them before or not. I like to make the RP experiences accumulate on a character (in a meta way, not like they'd remember it), so I know I've written the same one in different scenarios. Having only been in RPs that went inactive in the first pages, it's all the more reason to want to give my characters the proper experience they deserve, not just skipping to creating a new one, because then I'd end up with even more undeveloped characters.

But you never know, maybe the GM has something against non-"original" characters for some reason, so I always ask them when I'm planning on using one. If they do, it's a big difference in mindset. I'd much rather take a character that the creator's used for a while and is more likely to have seen development, than one made specifically (and possibly hapharzadly and begrudgingly as well) for the RP, because the writer may not be as confident and/or competent at portraying them.

Anyway, I personally see no reason why it wouldn't be fine if the other specifications are met. But it doesn't hurt to ask, even if they probably would never know if you didn't ask.

 

[AndPeggy]

I don't think that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't think I'd be able to do it. Making new characters is fun! It's much less of a headache for me to create a new character that stems from the created world than to change one of my old characters to fit in it.

 

[BasiliskVeranda]

Nothing wrong with it. Sometimes your character's story isn't over yet, or they're fun to write as in many different scenarios. Maybe you never got to complete what you felt was an important milestone in exploring their personality, disposition, personal quirks, beliefs, etc.

That's how I am. I keep lugging around the same 5 characters, maybe branching off to create similar types but mostly having the same core personalities, simply because their stories have not been told fully. There is still so much to love about them. Still so many fun adventures to have.