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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Victor_ograygor Posted - 15 Nov 2006 : 17:27:37
I was just thinking... When all of you are going to create a new carekter, and you come to the point were you are going to creat youre personality, what do you do?

I am asking my players to creat a good personality, but they are aginst creating a long one. they say simppel knowledeg of the carekter is enough to start with (1 level). I lock like this i like that, and i dont like that. This is personality not background.

I am wondering what to say to my players.

My plan is that they start with : 20 Questions for Character Creation

And at 12 level goal for them is : How to create a role-playing character

Is this to much.

Plz see link.

http://www.123hjemmeside.dk/Drakul/3357491

My question is How do you create you´re personality and as a Dm do you set minimum expectations for 1 level carekter´s ?
30   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Zimme Posted - 03 Dec 2006 : 20:03:31
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion

quote:
Originally posted by Zimme

quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion

Victor,



And Victor, technically actors don't roleplay; they act.




To-play-a-role and acting how is that two different things? Please tell me, I genuinely would like to know?



Note that I said technically. I don't think that many actors would themselves define their work/craft as "roleplaying". Certainly, they "play roles", but it has a different meaning than "roleplaying".


the meaning of the words, ok I get you now, or rather I get your interpretation of it.
Asgetrion Posted - 02 Dec 2006 : 23:00:01
quote:
Originally posted by Zimme

quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion

Victor,



And Victor, technically actors don't roleplay; they act.




To-play-a-role and acting how is that two different things? Please tell me, I genuinely would like to know?



Note that I said technically. I don't think that many actors would themselves define their work/craft as "roleplaying". Certainly, they "play roles", but it has a different meaning than "roleplaying".
Zimme Posted - 02 Dec 2006 : 22:24:10
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion

Victor,



And Victor, technically actors don't roleplay; they act.




To-play-a-role and acting how is that two different things? Please tell me, I genuinely would like to know?
Victor_ograygor Posted - 02 Dec 2006 : 13:48:16
As i said erlyer in this thread. Sorry it wasent my intension to criticized you. My english isent good because it isent my native lanuage. I dont consider myself a better at roleplaying than anyone else here, i just wanted to hear youre opinion abot creating a personality.

Again i am sorry.
Asgetrion Posted - 02 Dec 2006 : 01:47:21
Victor,

I do not understand why you criticized others, while your own character does not appear to show any personality beyond common fantasy cliches. So your character changed his alignment, and his personality changed. What makes him so special? An ex-assassin from Zhentil Keep who is now tormented by his past and trying to redeem his soul. Hey, show me a gamer who hasn't played 'tormented souls' and 'reluctant heroes'.
Besides, I never liked D&D characters who have Real World names… Victor O'Graygor (on the basis of his name) sounds more at home in the present day anglo-american culture than the Realms.
I ask again - why is your character any better than any of mine? Or why would you think yourself better at roleplaying than anyone else?

Wooly had a great point when he said that usually we take a familiar trait or aspect for our characters - something that we can IDENTIFY with easily. Sometimes we might also use an ideal trait that we would want to possess ourselves (i.e. brave, gallant, outspoken, etc.)
Then you can start adding more 'building blocks' to his/her personality. If that is not roleplaying, what is? Even if I chose to play an exact (fantasy world) copy of myself, wouldn't that be also roleplaying?
Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think there are 'right' or 'wrong' ways to create and roleplay your character.

And Victor, technically actors don't roleplay; they act.
LucianBarasu Posted - 27 Nov 2006 : 08:08:59
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens

Alignment to me is nothing more than an aid in role playing and will be chucked out as soon as possible. The system is to narrow to really capture a personality anyway and can merely give an idea of how the person thinks.

Its not so strange to base a character on elements of one self as it is easiest to play something you understand and know. Now, if you base a character on certain aspects of your individual personality and history ( which gives one quite a few to choose from) I don't see that as something in opposition to role playing.



THis I agree with wholly. It isn't strange at all to base your character on at least part of ones self.
more to the point of your original question,

If I am ggenerally a good perosn, And I was going to play an evil character, I would take a situation and usually do the opposite of my gut instinct.
From there you get into semantics ad alot and I mean ALOT of facets of alignment/personality.. but you get the point.
Delzounblood Posted - 24 Nov 2006 : 13:16:34
quote:
Originally posted by Kaladorm

Thanks Delz, that was hilarious reading




I aim to please.

Delz
Kaladorm Posted - 24 Nov 2006 : 12:19:27
Thanks Delz, that was hilarious reading

If anyone is having trouble designing a character I can strongly recommend playing a Cleric. There are loads of character options but more importantly the dogma and attitude of a Deity can strongly affect how the character behaves, and gives you a brilliant 'framework' to base your character around. The minor details can then be put in easily to make them a bit different.
Delzounblood Posted - 24 Nov 2006 : 11:49:12
I've found the best way or at least the way that worked for my younger brothers was as follows:

Ask the player toright down what they would do if WWIII broke out.
Would they scavenge, Fight, Help others etc

I then ask what they see themselves as if FR were true life.

Based on these two answers I got a pretty good idea that my brothers like me said Sod everyone else and look after number one.

My youngest brother being very sneaky and sly said he would ambush people for food So I gave him the option of playing a Thief or an Asassin.

He after some arguing decided to play a Ninja... A sneaky sly Ninja.

My other brother is a fighter and decided very quickly to become a dour Dwarven Fighter from Ten Towns (prize to anyone who can guess why!)

My problem was how to get a ninja from Kara-tur to the Icewind dale!!!...Cheers R'kid

But the whole point was that they Role Played the characters very well for beginers right down to voices, though the ninja DID sound like the guy from our local take-away with a put-on Bad Accent.

But it worked.

Delz
Zimme Posted - 24 Nov 2006 : 03:05:32
when I create a char I start to create his/her personality when I have rolled his/her stats, I have a rather vivid emagination(as I suspect we all do), and based on those stats I cook up the personality. The chars want's, fears, desires, future goals ect. This works best when working with the DM, perhaps(if Im the player) giving me some artistic freedom with the background story :) that helps alot. it all stems from creativity, and I know that you have that in spades Victor!

Another thought, there was some talk of actors.. I remember reading a issue of dragon magazine a couple of years back, discovering an article about char's personallity.the article suggested that one could use famous(or less famous) characters from movies and tv(as Wooly did with his cleric) as inspiration. that works well too.
Mkhaiwati Posted - 19 Nov 2006 : 10:09:49
quote:
I would like to see youre personalities here just to see how you create them.


here is a previous thread that I commented on.

quote:
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7596


as to how I "created" him, I started with a class and race concept. Then what his alignment could be. (that may change, along with anything else as the process goes along.) Since I wanted a Tiefling fighter/magic-user from Mulhorand that was neutral good, or thereabouts, it came together fairly quick.

Why was he adventuring? he had to leave the country.
Why was he good instead of the typical non-good? He had many same problems as others that suffer torment as a tiefling, but he had a family that trusted him.
Why did his family trust him... because it all ties in to Isis (also why was he a mage, he developed his love of learning, land, and farming also.. well within her spheres of influence, then his family was big into Isis.)
So, family came first along with his love of Isis. His growing experiences taught him not to trust others and his loner style. His background has instilled a fear of summoning, and a hatred those who would harm the Weave, including the Shadow Weave (harm the Weave, harm Isis. Okay, actually Mystra but he doesn't know that.)

It pretty much flowed well from there. Reading those other sites I linked to helped move things along. I decided what he likes and doesn't like from his background and threw in a few emotional, non-rational responses to fill him out.

Victor_ograygor Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 21:58:26
Sorry and yes, i understand you now Wooly Rupert.

Yes youre right Mace , i just read the thread again, i did interpretet what you wrote wrongly.

Please forgive me.

I would like to see youre personalities here just to see how you create them.
Mace Hammerhand Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 17:53:06
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Is that clear now?



I somehow doubt it
Wooly Rupert Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 17:44:09
quote:
Originally posted by Victor_ograygor

Yes it is impossible, to role play without having, somthing of ourselves with us in the part, this i agrea with, but if you say to me that you are roleplaying when you play youreself.. Ahhh i dont call that roleplaying...


What part of this is not clear? Taking an entire host of personality features and making one of them the dominant one does not mean you are playing yourself!

My minotaur, for example... Because he was big and strong, I decided to focus on the tendecy to be straight-forward that I sometimes have. And that became the dominant feature of his personality. He's blunt. If there's an obstacle, regardless of what it is, he tries to deal with it with simple brute strength. He has no need of subtlety or grace.

He has a sense of humor, but it's far from refined. He loves his ale, and drinks it like water. He enjoys simple things, like raunchy songs and plays and drinking with friends. His greatest ambition is simply to own a tavern or inn. Oh, and he has a fascination with flight, ever since the first time he had a fly spell cast on him. He has little apparent interest in women, though that could be because he's not seen any female minotaurs in a long time, or because he's just not found someone that he thinks he can pursue, despite the notable physical differences.

Though I myself am occasionally blunt or straightforward, it's only when I have to be. I can almost always find a better solution than brute strength, and it's not something I rely on. I prefer some subtlety, and I've been known to manipulate people into doing what I think is necessary -- either for their own benefit, or to get something done. I rarely drink, and I do have a broad though refined sense of humor. This simple stuff works for me, but it often takes more than that to truly entertain me. I very much have an interest in women.

So, as I said earlier, I pick some familiar aspect of my personality as a starting point. It is just a starting point. That single aspect is not my entire personality, and the character's personality often goes in some wildly different directions from my own. So starting with a single aspect of myself does not result in me playing myself. Is that clear now?
Victor_ograygor Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 15:31:17
If some of you have some personalities, plz post them here.

Mace Hammerhand Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 12:48:46
quote:
Originally posted by Victor_ograygor

quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand

Indeed, Faraer, we always inject something of ourselves into the characters we play, it is impossible not to.

Unless you suffer from multiple personality disorder, in which case you should not be playing any roleplaying game.



Yes it is impossible, to role play without having, somthing of ourselves with us in the part, this i agrea with, but if you say to me that you are roleplaying when you play youreself.. Ahhh i dont call that roleplaying...





Never said that. Don't read between the lines and interpret what you read however you choose to.
Victor_ograygor Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 12:30:02
Just to show you a example of a personality in progress. As you can see the personality is not the same, it changede with the aligment shift.

I Was playing a (NE)CG thief Victor Ograygor. an x-assassin from Zhentilkeep. this charekter is 12 years old (played in 10 years) He is level 13, and on of the Heros from Waterdeep. He was in the Times of troubl, and in the war agist the Hord. He has a thief guild in some town, but cant tell u were, because ohter player´s might see this. He has a Shotsword (IMP) from Four from Cormyr, and 2 Elemntal rings Air and Earth, and a Noble djinn (Bowl) Hazim the Sorcerer
"Djinn + 4 level Sorcerer".

if u want his History and Personality read below. I am a GM now.

One can hide in the deepest of darkness,
run faster than any creature mortal or not,
or flee to worlds known to none,
but one thing you cannot escape is your past.
The master thief and x-assassin Victor O’Greygor

Appearance: Tall and skinny, narrow face with an eye-patch covering one eye. He has long curly white hair, and blue eyes. He still prefers black clothing, with various ornaments, though in these days disguises are often needed. He carries a ornamented long sword, and a short sword, named Imp, which have the habit of speaking when it wants to.

Personality: Victor O’Greygor, perhaps a tormented soul, if so it’s well deserved. Once a remorseless killer, now each pointless kill torments his already suffering soul, waking him with nightmares each night. Before Mystra made him see the light and the error of his ways, he was unable to feel anything, and now he feels it all, three-fold. He has innocent blood on his hands, and he knows it, but what he don’t know is how to handle it. It seems that helping the poor and weak, can rest his soul a short while, then his conscience will haunt him once again. Victor is a depressive figure both to look at and to be with, and he has a quite pessimistic perspective on the world, and can sometimes be self-destructive, or even aggressive toward others, though usually just depressing to be with. When others are happy Victor become even more miserable, he knows happiness is out of his reach. He has a disregard for his own life, where not for the fact that he has a duty to stay alive for sake of the others, he would properly be dead. Some would say he has a death wish, however that is not quite true he just lacks the will to live. Realising this incredible debt, makes it hard for him to keep his pride, seldom do he react to insults, or take the honour from good deeds, now he has learned to be humble.

Victor have lived a life on the run, constantly watching his back for so long it has developed into a form of paranoia. He will try to avoid crowds, marketplaces, festivals, where he can’t watch his back, if caught within one he may become panicked. He sleeps so lightly that even a nearby whisper could wake him, because of the anticipation of being killed in his sleep. Therefore he also has difficulty making new friendships, he always expect the worst from people, and will be on their back until they have proven their loyalty. He shows signs of antagonistic behaviour when his self-pity takes over, and barks at everyone(with remarks such as; did I talk to you?, or is there anything else you wish to bore me with?) who just want to make friendly conversation. Victor is an oppositionist and an loner, and prefers to follow his own nose, which sometimes leads to problems within the party(once it all culminated in Victor knocking out one of Mimer’s teeth). On the other side Victor shows tolerance with the faults of others, except for those who don’t show tolerance, or those who represent an oppressive authority(like soldiers, officials, or priests of some towns and religions).

Past: 1335 the year of the Snow Winds on a cold winter day, in the city of Zhentil Keep was day Victor O’Greygor was born, he first 3 years he don’t remember much from, but he has been told that his mother rejected him from birth. When he was 4 his mother accepted him, but his were mostly in the care of a nanny, who apparently harboured some sadistic tendencies, further the little Victor was confined to the walls of the house. So Victor have had a troubled childhood, and joins one of the youthly press-gangs, even though his is from the social upper class, and it all ends in Victor joining the Black Adder’s assassin-guild, which he betrays for a membership in Zhentil Keep’s most powerful guild, the Naug-Orls(Devil-Worms). He were sent out on mission, but took up adventuring instead to look for gold and never returned, which means the guild want him dead. Well, gold he found along with a few trustworthy companions(or fools he at the time). He met Kishna the Cat, Irivian Entyridon, Catla Sundancer(now dead like many others),Chaine Hammerhead (who killed Catla), Marisha Moranon, and soon later Jack Blackstone(a stupid farmers boy). It was in those days he was unscrupulous, stealing, betraying, killing whom he wanted, all this haunts him now, in particular the deaths of Marisha’s hole family, which he is responsible by paying assassins to do the job him. The reason; a minor dispute.
(Marisha have still not discovered this, and Victor has still not to this day told him, fearing Marisha’s reaction.)

Then the Times of Troubles struck Faeruen, and the gods walked the realms, and he was dragged in the diabolical plots of Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul, along with his companions. Then they met Midnight, Kelemvor, Adon and Cyric, and Victor helped Cyric(along with Culmaster) then betrayed them, to help Midnight become the goddess of magic, Mystra. Also, the Red Wizard, Culmaster, went from helping Cyric to helping Midnight, at the absolute last moment. It was also in that period he met the rogue Parsimon Turmercan of Waterdeep, who also helped out. After the group had participated in the destruction of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, and the arrival of Cyric as a god, they became famous, and known over most of the heartlands as the Heroes of Waterdeep. This of course lead to the churches of the dead gods sent their agents to kill them, and bounties was warranted, dead or alive. And were it not for Midnight protection, would Cyric personally tear them apart. It was in those troubled days, that Mimer Silverfist, Anakin and Aragorn joined the group to the same fate. Being hunted constantly, Heroes of Waterdeep went east to the oriental lands of Kara-Tur, they discovered the greatest barbarian horde the realms had ever seen, known as the Tuigan Horde, and it was trying to conquer Faerun, again Heroes of Waterdeep participated in war and battled along with King Azoun IV himself. Victor O’Greygor now a wealthy man, started the Guild known as the Nest and styled himself the Raven. Heroes of Waterdeep was however still hunted, and fled to the New Lands, the desert continent known as Zakhara, where he met the native Isac Ibn Abassi, who are victor’s connection to Zakhara, it is good to know a native when travelling in those lands Upon return they all assembled in Adon’s temple to Mystra where she manifested herself before them. They were each given the amulet of Mystra and some received her blessing touch as well. Also, Blackstone Castle was built and the celebrations was memorable , and now Victor O’Greygor is facing a new epoch of his life.

Pictures of Victor
http://www.123hjemmeside.dk/Drakul/3357487
Victor_ograygor Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 08:23:19
quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand

Indeed, Faraer, we always inject something of ourselves into the characters we play, it is impossible not to.

Unless you suffer from multiple personality disorder, in which case you should not be playing any roleplaying game.



Yes it is impossible, to role play without having, somthing of ourselves with us in the part, this i agrea with, but if you say to me that you are roleplaying when you play youreself.. Ahhh i dont call that roleplaying...

But i still say its posibel to Rolepalying another carekter, with a degre of youself, without suffering from multiple personality disorder. Actors moviestars roleplay when they work!
Mkhaiwati Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 04:11:25
quote:
Thanks, Mkhaiwati, I hadn't seen those.


Not a problem.

I linked the fact that he stresses emotional over rational responses. I hope you enjoy them.
Faraer Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 03:18:51
You could say there were two things you need to do to create a character:

First, you need to think about the character thoroughly. This sounds obvious, but simple focused attention is the basic method of everything from meditation to Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Lists of character traits and things to consider are helpful, or a GM can do the same thing informally by Socratic interrogation. This is particularly important when the player doesn't know much about the setting, because otherwise you're liable to get a character that feels separate and artificial.

The other thing is to be creative, or rather to not be uncreative, as creativity is the basic state. Ways to help this vary according to people, but a lot of the Surrealist methods work, the Socratic interview will prompt things you wouldn't have thought of otherwise, anything to distract people from being embarrassed and self-conscious. Keith Johnstone's book Impro is very interesting.

And of course you have to choose a character who you'll enjoy playing. How do you want to feel for 4 hours a week? And what kind of character would you like to play alongside?

Thanks, Mkhaiwati, I hadn't seen those.
Dart Ambermoon Posted - 18 Nov 2006 : 02:59:54
Well, since most of my players aren´t too high on Realmslore (which I actually like, as they literally explore the world for themselves and become captivated bit by bit), my main role as DM is helping them to choose origin, and sometimes deity or race, in adherence to the char they have in mind. Sometimes they aren´t too sure which class best fits their ideas, so I´ll give them advice/show them possibilities there, too. They usually have sound ideas of what/how/who there char should be, and I would never ever say "impossible", anyything can be weaked if need be (luckily I have neither power-gamers, nor pure hackers).

For myself, I usually develop the personality first, then try to explain why it´s there (background), choose possible origins (if important) and only then decide on class.
Mace Hammerhand Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 23:44:16
Indeed, Faraer, we always inject something of ourselves into the characters we play, it is impossible not to.

Unless you suffer from multiple personality disorder, in which case you should not be playing any roleplaying game.

Besides, victor, you cannot tell me that you would be able to really play a chaotic evil character, totally remorseless and all that. We hear about rapists, child molesters and what not every god-damned day in the news, would you be able or want to play such a person? I sure as hell ain't.

We are what we are, and the brain that controls the character's actions is still your own brain, get yourself a lobotomy, maybe then you can play someone who is not, by some margin, guided by your being.
Faraer Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 23:30:06
Talk to actors about this. All our characters are in some sense ourself; we contain multitudes.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 22:54:52
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Victor_ograygor

Okay i am a little shocked ! You are playing D&D and some of you take the "easy way out" as i see it, remember that half of D&D is roleplaying (Playing a Character).

I dont understand this.
You chose to play youre self....... and not another carekter !


My method does not result in my playing as myself. I simply focus on a personality aspect that I am familiar with, and use that as a basis. It's the starting point, not the destination.



I know what you're talking about. Besides, since we create characters, it only makes sense that just a pinch of ourselves is going to come out no matter how alien we attempt to make them.
dwarvenranger Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 19:30:33
For a staring point I like to have my character ask, "Why am I here"? It always seems to lead to other questions which works into a background.
Victor_ograygor Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 19:09:05
Ahh.. Okay Wooly Rupert sorry, but i shoud have said plz explain.

Forgive and forget........

And yes i think there is a "Dice roller" in evry groupe, one that hates roleplaying but loves roling dices.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 17:14:54
quote:
Originally posted by Victor_ograygor

Okay i am a little shocked ! You are playing D&D and some of you take the "easy way out" as i see it, remember that half of D&D is roleplaying (Playing a Character).

I dont understand this.
You chose to play youre self....... and not another carekter !


My method does not result in my playing as myself. I simply focus on a personality aspect that I am familiar with, and use that as a basis. It's the starting point, not the destination.
Marc Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 15:20:44
Well some PCs of mine like to write detailed history and character development and some don't. One player is always the same, we calls himself ''the butcher'' or ''the cutthroat'' (this is an approximative translation, such word he calls himself doesn't exist in English) and he doesn't do or care about anything except battle and cutting throats. No matter how this annoys me I don't want to force him to have more intelligent character.

I personally like (though I rarely play, have to be the DM) to develop complex characters, allways different, except I prefer a few races like elves, wild dwarves, gnomes or some halfbreeds (half-fey)
Jorkens Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 14:43:52
Alignment to me is nothing more than an aid in role playing and will be chucked out as soon as possible. The system is to narrow to really capture a personality anyway and can merely give an idea of how the person thinks.

Its not so strange to base a character on elements of one self as it is easiest to play something you understand and know. Now, if you base a character on certain aspects of your individual personality and history ( which gives one quite a few to choose from) I don't see that as something in opposition to role playing.
Victor_ograygor Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 09:53:35
Okay i am a little shocked ! You are playing D&D and some of you take the "easy way out" as i see it, remember that half of D&D is roleplaying (Playing a Character).

I dont understand this.
You chose to play youre self....... and not another carekter !
I playede this carkketer once an werey aggressive person, i am not personal aggressive This was funn, and then i learned the meaning about Playing a Character.

And the idea about taking aligennt Relaxed, i dont understand....

There is a thread : "Links related to AD&D and forgotten realms" You are all welcome to post youre links regarding creating carekter.

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