Prepping to play a new character. How do you do it?

I on the other hand, tend not to discuss the concept with others, although I can certainly see why you would do that. Don't get me wrong, I can often have just as much of a hard time getting into the headspace of other people, but I'm also a distanced observer and a "collector of thought processes" most of the time. So what I do instead is I go through my mental database of all the shit I've seen, and throw the most relevant references that I can come up with into a blender, to pick through them later. Which is why I tend to base my characters on existing templates, and say "they're like character X" even more than most other people.

When I have this raw material, I generally mold it into the rough shape that I want the character to have and I'm usually pretty much done. I'm far too much of a reactive person to have a completely formed character prepared entirely in advance. A LOT of character development happens on-the-fly as I'm playing the game, as I only tend to discuss my character concept during the game. Playing on IRC and having a dedicated out-of-character chat allows me to do this without interrupting anyone. So that's the time at which I might discuss what sort of behavior may or may not be appropriate for the character, and try to compare and contrast them with the other player characters, as well as what is expected of their social group or race.

One more thing I usually try to do is have a voice for my character. Whether that's an actor or a specific role that actor played, I try to look up clips of that person or character talking on Youtube, or even watch/listen to entire things they were in. Even knowing what my character sounds like when they talk can help me come up with lines for them, an appropriate way of speaking, and even non-verbal cues and gestures while they're talking. I try to listen to listen to these clips not just before the game but before each session.

>>49938008

how do you manage to play htat character while also chatting in OOC and listening to voice clips similar to the voice of your character and keep the three separate so you don't, for example, have your character say "I just shot marven in the face" when they should say "I'll have a quarter pounder with cheese, and a milkshake, hey what do you want X? I'm buying.".

>>49938599
Because in text games, there are periods of time when you're waiting for other players or the GM to finish typing their message, which can in fact take a few minutes. Which gives everyone else the time to participate in OOC chat and gives ME the time to compartmentalize my thoughts.

>>49938675
And yeah it's slower than voice games with certain unavoidable pauses. I keep hearing people complain about this, but I don't give a fuck because it suits me just fine. I usually can't usually come up with lines for the more extroverted and chatty characters that I play in real time.

>>49938675

You are making me want to try text games.

>>49938764
Try the suptg IRC network or one of the several /tg/ Discord channels, I've seen it work on both platforms.

Come up with the gimmick of the character and form something around that, really. Figure out how I want them to play and what kind of person I want them to be, then figure out a backstory that would lead them to that point.

>>49938675
Oddly enough, though all my games are text games, the ones where we use voice tends to get run off the rails a lot more than the one where we don't. I guess maybe it's because the GM doesn't mind so much since we're not doing serious roleplay in those games, but it's just my limited experience I guess.

>>49937770
I usually try and take examples from the real world, as I'm sure most others do. I'm going to make a Southern preacher for my next cleric as it's one archetype I am yet to bring to the table.

History is filled with a great many strong personalities and people of note that finding interesting individuals isn't difficult. One example I heard recently: Nathaniel Baldwin, inventor of headphones and polygamy activist in the 1920s. He was a devout Mormon, in case you're wondering.

As for getting into character, first I try and think of what, if any, accents the character requires and practice and from there look at the culture surrounding them. I don't always get it to be quite the way I want but I always enjoy reacting to what the other players are doing as my character.

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>>49938993
>first I try and think of what, if any, accents the character requires and practice

what is it about this that helps you?

>>49939038
Well, personally I just like doing different voices but, more broadly, it gives a sense that I'm actually that person and not just me playing a character.

>>49939289

so it's a way to get your subconscious in on the act.
Makes sense.

Come up with a core character pitch, make sure I understand that as the baseline and what it means. For example one of my characters started as 'naive robin hood noble girl'.

Whenever I'm getting ready to play that character I usually think of the reasons for them to be this way, usually in the form of short stories. Such as 'sneaking away from her estate and feel bad for all the poor people''. And I'll just think of a few different themes, then create little stories around them for example first loves, siblings, bullying or how they learned the skills on their character sheet.

Once I've got these things in my head, I'm usually set for the first few sessions. During these sessions I'll try to make a few links from the character pitch/short stories to issues relevant to the campaign. For example being declared a hero after the first adventure, the character got excited because it was just like all those books about heroes that her estate's library has access to.

Also coming up with little catchphrases or mannerisms is fun, and is usually good for giving an endearing quirk or something that other players can subconsciously pick up and associate with things. Though don't go overboard with it.

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>>49937770
>After that I repeat those in my head with an open mind for a few days as I go about my business. I will also occasionally image hypothetical scenes that highlight aspects of the character that serve as guideposts to getting situated so I can call on them in the lead up to a game session.


i try to get it to the point that such things will cycle in my head on their own inertia during game time because my mind will be elsewhere in making observations of whats going on in the game worlds, inventing details, and other things .

I'll make a smallish character concept, derived after I generate stats. Maybe an idea or two, nothing more. The first two or three sessions in, I'll have said enough things or had enough interactions with other characters and NPCs to have a good footing of what my character is like. After that, it's just a matter of figuring out what made them that way, and what they might have experienced.

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>>49940737
>I'll make a smallish character concept, derived after I generate stats. Maybe an idea or two, nothing more. The first two or three sessions in, I'll have said enough things or had enough interactions with other characters and NPCs to have a good footing of what my character is like. After that, it's just a matter of figuring out what made them that way, and what they might have experienced.


Can you give an example of one of your characters that you have developed in such a way?

I've never made a character using this method of developing most of details of the concept during play instead of before and would like to learn more by reading though an example of one you have done.

I pick a race that looks fun, a class that looks fun, and a background that would make the combination more interesting.
It basically writes itself

>>49941517
>It basically writes itself

how? Can you give an example?

like combining elf from a big port city with wizard.
How does that write itself?

>>49938817

How do I use IRC?

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>>49937770
If it sounds cool or interesting to me, I go for it. Always have to stick to an ideology I give them though, unless something happens to them that can justify such a change to a core part of the character.

Some of your abilities are not automatic and require your input at the proper time. Don't memorize the ability, memorize the situations that call for it, study them, train yourself to know when they appear, and speak up. OSF

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>>49943346
>If it sounds cool or interesting to me, I go for it. Always have to stick to an ideology I give them though, unless something happens to them that can justify such a change to a core part of the character.

so you build your characters around ideologies you encounter, hear, or read about? Interesting.

I've sometimes built characters as experiments in response to questions, but never to fit a particular ideology. I'll keep that in mind as a possibility in the future.

What does the .gif have to do with this?

>>49943346
is that Minnie May? or Rally in a wig?

>>49941605
>elf
>big port city
>wizard
Elf from typical forest clan decided to actually get an education in more than just Elven propaganda, went to the big port city knowing that it'd be a center of commerce and thus even more varied kinds of people coming through there, and decided to get an education. He also hates nature but loves magic, so not wanting to be a druid and not having the innate talent of a sorcerer (like the rest of his family) made him an outcast. When he found out you could do magic by READING REALLY HARD he was ecstatic. His long-term goal is to return to his family and show off what he can do, all on his own.

I'm envisioning him sort of like Ron Weasley - he's not really anything special, but because he's got all these impressive siblings he's got all this pressure to perform. And even then, it's all been done before, right? The big difference is that unlike Ron, this guy actually gets his own Special Skill that he's really good at.

>>49945316

thats pretty good.
how did you come up with that?

>>49945586
>elves are almost always associated with verdant nature
>cities have none of that
>wizards need time and resources to study and experiment
>elves have one, cities have the other
So I came up with a reason to have an elf leave his forest home and come to the city, then become a wizard. Part of it is what comes directly after race: class or background?
He may be a control freak - he may hate nature because he felt like he had no control over his own life, and nature is wild, it's out of control. Part of the reason he became a city mouse was his need for control and self-imposed order.
You could also play up the xenophobia - he's distrustful of non-elves, but he really wants to know how they think.

To give you an IRL example: my current 5e character is a Tiefling Sorcerer with the Noble background. Tiefling looked like a cool race, so I picked that. I saw that Tieflings are generally outsiders in any community and tend to stick to their own, so when I saw there was a "Noble" background, I thought "how about a low-ranking house with Tieflings in it that has to fight for relevance and respect?" So I had the most recent Baron of the estate marry a poor Tiefling woman - it's currently up in the air whether their peers dislike her because she's a Tiefling, or because she's poor. Their son being a Sorcerer was just icing on the cake at that point, and a reason for him to go adventuring.

>>49943346

This is why magazine disconnects sucks. You can't do this if you carry with a full mad and one in the chamber.

>>49945968

Thank you for improving my understanding.

This a nice thread.

>>49937770
Regardless of how I prepare, when I'm at the table I inevitably end up "coloring outside the lines". I consider the character played at the table to be the real one, and the prepared character to be the rough draft. As such, I still do research and run through hypothetical situations and so forth, but I keep it rough because most of it will change anyways.

>>49950364

That makes sense.
what character has most surprised you with how they have developed?