Making a memorable character

[Ritley]

Yep. How would you do this? I really want to make my character memorable and original. The type of character who you would never forget. I'm doing my best and don't think I am doing very well at all. Could someone give me a few pointers in that area? thanks.[/list]

[Ritley]

I understand you can't tell someone how to be memorable because different characters are memorable in different ways. What I mean is making a strong solid personality in your character that is remembered. Because at times my character just feels typical of his race and nothing more. I have given him a personality. Sure. But I need to add to it. To make it more solid than it is at the moment. I need pointers on how to do that. I just can't think of something original to add to my character.

[proxie]

There is no set formula to tell how to make a PC that people will remember. You just play your PC and live your PC's life, making the best decisions possible for it. Do your best to impact the world and people around you and hope that when you get to the APM or one of these "Favorite PC" threads, you're someday mentioned.

It's a crapshoot. You'll play this PC that you think is just THE most memorable and neat PC around... and it will be your little nobody that someone remembers.

Obviously the nobles and evil templars, magickers, etc etc tend to be remembered, but that's not necessarily because they're memorable in a good way. Not everyone can be the star of the show, the support cast gets remembered too.

Proxie

[Ritley]

There is no set formula to tell how to make a PC that people will remember. You just play your PC and live your PC's life, making the best decisions possible for it. Do your best to impact the world and people around you and hope that when you get to the APM or one of these "Favorite PC" threads, you're someday mentioned.

It's a crapshoot. You'll play this PC that you think is just THE most memorable and neat PC around... and it will be your little nobody that someone remembers.

Obviously the nobles and evil templars, magickers, etc etc tend to be remembered, but that's not necessarily because they're memorable in a good way. Not everyone can be the star of the show, the support cast gets remembered too.

Proxie

Support cast? I doubt a super warrior who can topple armies be one of the support cast  :twisted: In my opinion if you play a character right anyone can be part of the main plot and not just the support cast. Templars, Nobles, Defilers, Warriors, and Magickers being the easiest of course! what I want to know is how to make your character more solid, so to speak not just memorable. Characters who have solid personalities tend to be remembered more.

[Cenghiz]

Memorable magickers are often hard to make.. You can't trust folks and tell about your abilities within a blink. Allies often turn to enemies, because the city states pay and you don't. At least you don't pay as much as they do. Your role is often too dangerous in the community, even if you're accepted as a gemmer or something.
Making a Tor Sergeant and living long with a solid personality is nearly enough to be memorable..
A magicker requires much more.

[Jherlen]

[sarcasm]
Ten tips to making the best PC ever and winning Armageddon.

1. Max out all your skills. Twinking to do this is okay, as long as no one watches you.
2. Get the most awesomest gear possible. This may mean your PC automagically knows the exact items he needs without ever having seen them in game. Order them explicitly by their exact sdesc from PC merchants. Throw a huge fit if they screw up and get you something else by accident, and then don't buy it. ("No no, I wanted a SHARP, WELL-BALANCED HALFSWORD, you stupid newb merchant! This is a WELL-BALANCED, CURVED BONE HALFBLADE! Agh you suck!!")
3. Write 3-line emotes for every single action, even if they take you five minutes to come up with.
4. Your sdesc must have words that fewer than one-third of the players will have in their vocabulary.
5. Your mdesc must be at least fifteen lines in length and go to great detail about miniscule features of your character's appearance that people would only notice if they stared at you for five minutes.
6. Mudsex everyone, as much as you can.
7. You must give the appearance of being 'too good' to roleplay with half the mud. If no one in the tavern is worth your attention, sit at a table, by yourself. And then emote how you are sitting at your table, by yourself, watching crowds, and looking aloof and important. If anyone actually attempts to engage you in roleplay, do not respond more than absolutely necessary.
8. Whenever you see a magicker, sorceror, or mindbender, you must immediately attack it, no matter how senseless IC it might be for your character to actually think he has a shot at killing something like that. Double bonus points for trying to start a lynch mob of common nobodies against a suspected mindbender/magicker/sorceror if you aren't militia.
9. Never show respect to PCs who have IC authority over you, because OOCly you're the better player. Who cares if that guy is a noble, he's probably just some 1-year newbie, you don't need to bow to him.
10. Write condescending and egotistical posts on the GDB as much as you can. Remember, your PC is better than everyone else, so you are too.
[/sarcasm]

In all honesty, though, I think that by playing characters you enjoy and making them real and consistent, you'll have a lot more fun. The characters who people remember are probably remembered because the player was having a lot of fun with the character and putting a lot into them, rather than just trying to get their name posted on the GDB in some thread. I don't really think there's any one formula to "do this and everyone will remember your PC."

[Vanth]

Keys to being memorable:

Longevity:  You have to stick around long enough to be more than just an sdesc someone saw a few times.

Consistency: Your character should usually/always react the same way to similar situations.  This doesn't mean that they can't grow and change, but such changes should be gradual, should make sense in view of their overall psyche, and should be the result of major events.

They might also have certain phrases or physical gestures they always use.  Feck instead of fuck, for example.  Maybe they gesture with their hands a lot when they speak.  Maybe they stutter when they're nervous or scared.

Consider what your character's likes and dislikes are.  Be very thorough about this.  How do they feel about other races?  People from other parts of the world?  Magickers?  Criminals?  Authority figures?  For example, if you're playing a tribal human in the Tablelands, it's essential to think about how they feel about Kurac, desert elves, city-dwellers, and other tribes, including gypsies.

Focus:  I've always most enjoyed characters who have a goal in life.  They don't have to pursue it as steadfastly as a dwarf, nor does it have to be something involving a huge plot.  Maybe they want to see the Silt Sea before they die.  Maybe they want to have a lot of kids.  Maybe they want to serve their clan well and become a leader in it.

This is easier with non-dwarves, because they can change their goal more easily.  Maybe your character has a goal to find a lover to settle down with.  Then they get their heart broken and swear off love forever.  And their new goal is to kill the person who broke their heart.

Or maybe they're completely inept at working toward a goal.  For example, you're playing a Tenneshi Guard whose goal is to become Captain someday.  But s/he can't seem to stop drinking and spicing.  So when s/he wakes up after a long binge, s/he feels remorse and self-pity because s/he missed out on a chance to impress their superiors.

[Rindan]

Live a long and realistic life.  Do this, and your character is going to be memorable at least to you, if not to others.  

It is pretty damn hard to have a character live for a full IC year and not have great things happen to your character.  Honestly, I think that living is the thing that people struggle with the most.  If you get that whole living part down, I think everything else just falls into place.

1)  Don't solo hunt.  
2)  Don't enter the 'rinth unless you belong there.

Countless characters die because they insist upon solo hunting and running around stabbing things in the 'rinth.  Solo hunting and going into the 'rinth when you don't belong are sure fire ways of ending up dead and not remembered.  If you do those two things, you will probably add months to the life of your character.  To make your character practically live forever, you just throw in a few more.

3)  Don't piss of Templars.
4)  Never ever surrender yourself to death.

The last two are very important.  Even your most badass warrior or slippery elf can die to a templar.  I played a militia man once and was absolutely blown away by the number of stupid people thrust before my Templar.  I can't count how many times people heroically refused to speak, spat at the Templar, and did all manner of foolish things.  This is just stupid.  I have had a smelly 'rinth elf get captured transporting magik goods, spice, and stolen noble house gear... and have lived to tell about it.  I lived because my character was dead set on living.  He sold out everyone and simply started making shit up when he had nothing left to sell out on.  Was he neck deep in shit after words?  Hell yes, but he was alive and well.

So many times I have seen someone end up getting knocked out and stripped naked.  Instead of struggling forward and at least trying, they simply go and commit suicide.  I can say without a doubt that my most awesome Armageddon experience was when I had a character stripped of everything of value he had, and was in the process of being sent to be executed.  Instead of giving in, he struggled like a mad dog and got free.  It was easily one of the coolest moments in my entire time playing Armageddon simply because even when the odds were stacked way against me, I figured I might as well try and get free.

Honestly, just trying living for a long time.  It is pretty damn hard in Armageddon to live a long time and NOT get sucked into something.

[Earendur]

I guess my thoughts on it are to simply try your damn hardest to make every scene as fun as possible for anyone who's around you.  If you walk into a bar and someone's just sitting there, make something happen.  I'm not going to do any justice to your question because it's so broad, but ultimately everyone's here to have fun.  Strive to think of things that will make other PCs want to interact with yours.  

I'm finding it hard, especially with the social setup of the game.  Here are a few tips that work for me:

You can't just walk up to everyone and start having a conversation, but that doesn't mean you can't RP with them.

-RP extends beyond talking and sometimes emote is the only thing you've got.  Run into them and knock them over, mistake them for someone you know/knew, RP thinking you see something wrong with their appearance and gawk at them, do something!  

-Then consider you don't have to talk to a PC to RP with them.  vNPCs, I find, are wonderful for this.  Say something to a faceless guy sitting next to you that applies to the PC sitting next to you.  If they're at all interested in reciprocating RP, you'll get some response.

Popsickle-cut-out PCs suck.  Don't be one.

-IRL, we all have jobs, professions, or some kind of task that could be defined as "what we do."  Almost none of us are completely defined by this.  I've been alive for eighteen years and if I had to write about myself, I'd have a whole lot more to say than, "I'm a college student that wants to be a writer."  Your character should be no different.  Give.  Him.  Traits.  I'm not going to talk with a hunter who logs on to hunt.  He's a flat, 2-D character that equals lots of snores.

-Don't stop at traits.  Yeah, your hunter really hates people in the Byn.  Why?  Every trait your character has is a life story waiting to happen.  If you can sit down and talk about how one time you tried to ride a kank to Red Storm, but it wouldn't obey a single one of your commands when it saw two raptors and ended up running off a cliff, leaving you in the deep desert for days, you're a lot cooler than the elf that just won't ride kanks because it's their racial trait.

-Don't spill every one of your traits to the first person you talk to--it's far more interesting to just exhibit those traits.  This one's a common mistake IMO.  A recent character of mine hated making close friends because he thought it would lead to him relying on other people, and other people were variables he didn't want to have to rely on to stay alive.  But I didn't tell everyone who tried to talk kindly to him that he didn't make friends because they made him weak.  I'd go so far as to say that most of the traits my characters have, they aren't even consciously aware of.


General questions you might want to answer for each character to flesh him out:

-What are three things that make him angry?
-What are three things that make him happy?
-Sad?
-How will he react in situations he's likely to see (including but not limited to things like a templar interrogating someone in a bar, a fight in the middle of a street, magickers talking about their powers, etc).
-How does he respond to authority?
-When was the last time he cried?
-Did he ever fall in love?  What happened, is he still in love of did it end?  Why?
-What does he think of his family?
-What's something that he's reluctant to do?
-What's something that he absolutely won't do, even if it means his death (this one is a really good one)?
-What kind of food does he like?
-Any quirky gestures that he might do (tap his thigh a lot, flick his ear, thumb his nose, etc)?
-Catch saying that he has?

This won't necessarily lead to an uber awesome PC that dominates the world and r0xx0rs all ur s0xx0rs, but it does lead to a more memorable PC.  And on the topic of memorable PCs, were I ever say..a house guard sergeant recruiting PCs to join, and I had two choose between to PCs, and one was quite clearly experienced with the MUD but still a flat character, while the other still made some mistakes that marked him as a newer player but he had a really well fleshed out character, he'd be the one I picked.

Reading back through, that seems a little jumbled, but hopefully it helps you out a little, Ritley.  Good luck!

[Ritley]

I guess my thoughts on it are to simply try your damn hardest to make every scene as fun as possible for anyone who's around you.  If you walk into a bar and someone's just sitting there, make something happen.  I'm not going to do any justice to your question because it's so broad, but ultimately everyone's here to have fun.  Strive to think of things that will make other PCs want to interact with yours.  

I'm finding it hard, especially with the social setup of the game.  Here are a few tips that work for me:

You can't just walk up to everyone and start having a conversation, but that doesn't mean you can't RP with them.

-RP extends beyond talking and sometimes emote is the only thing you've got.  Run into them and knock them over, mistake them for someone you know/knew, RP thinking you see something wrong with their appearance and gawk at them, do something!  

-Then consider you don't have to talk to a PC to RP with them.  vNPCs, I find, are wonderful for this.  Say something to a faceless guy sitting next to you that applies to the PC sitting next to you.  If they're at all interested in reciprocating RP, you'll get some response.

Popsickle-cut-out PCs suck.  Don't be one.

-IRL, we all have jobs, professions, or some kind of task that could be defined as "what we do."  Almost none of us are completely defined by this.  I've been alive for eighteen years and if I had to write about myself, I'd have a whole lot more to say than, "I'm a college student that wants to be a writer."  Your character should be no different.  Give.  Him.  Traits.  I'm not going to talk with a hunter who logs on to hunt.  He's a flat, 2-D character that equals lots of snores.

-Don't stop at traits.  Yeah, your hunter really hates people in the Byn.  Why?  Every trait your character has is a life story waiting to happen.  If you can sit down and talk about how one time you tried to ride a kank to Red Storm, but it wouldn't obey a single one of your commands when it saw two raptors and ended up running off a cliff, leaving you in the deep desert for days, you're a lot cooler than the elf that just won't ride kanks because it's their racial trait.

-Don't spill every one of your traits to the first person you talk to--it's far more interesting to just exhibit those traits.  This one's a common mistake IMO.  A recent character of mine hated making close friends because he thought it would lead to him relying on other people, and other people were variables he didn't want to have to rely on to stay alive.  But I didn't tell everyone who tried to talk kindly to him that he didn't make friends because they made him weak.  I'd go so far as to say that most of the traits my characters have, they aren't even consciously aware of.


General questions you might want to answer for each character to flesh him out:

-What are three things that make him angry?
-What are three things that make him happy?
-Sad?
-How will he react in situations he's likely to see (including but not limited to things like a templar interrogating someone in a bar, a fight in the middle of a street, magickers talking about their powers, etc).
-How does he respond to authority?
-When was the last time he cried?
-Did he ever fall in love?  What happened, is he still in love of did it end?  Why?
-What does he think of his family?
-What's something that he's reluctant to do?
-What's something that he absolutely won't do, even if it means his death (this one is a really good one)?
-What kind of food does he like?
-Any quirky gestures that he might do (tap his thigh a lot, flick his ear, thumb his nose, etc)?
-Catch saying that he has?
This won't necessarily lead to an uber awesome PC that dominates the world and r0xx0rs all ur s0xx0rs, but it does lead to a more memorable PC.  And on the topic of memorable PCs, were I ever say..a house guard sergeant recruiting PCs to join, and I had two choose between to PCs, and one was quite clearly experienced with the MUD but still a flat character, while the other still made some mistakes that marked him as a newer player but he had a really well fleshed out character, he'd be the one I picked.

Reading back through, that seems a little jumbled, but hopefully it helps you out a little, Ritley.  Good luck!

I can answer all of those questions easy off heart, but I won't because that will tell you all my character. And I have let things in the game change his opinions on different things. He may be memorable but not what I want. Maybe I don't just mean memorable, but even stronger than that... the type of character who makes you want to actually be there in Arm for IRL. The type that immerses you in the gameworld. I have met a few... most fairly recent so I won't say them. I want my character to be like them.... this was not influenced by that thread about setting examples, but by my gaming experiance on Arm.

[LauraMars]

Patience.

[Salt Merchant]

Memorable characters are those who persistently and significantly affect a wide range of other characters' lives.

[Ritley]

Memorable characters are those who persistently and significantly affect a wide range of other characters' lives.

I can tell you this: My character has a -lot- of potentiel for that. More than Thrain I bet.

[jstorrie]

Double bonus points for trying to start a lynch mob of common nobodies against a suspected mindbender/magicker/sorceror if you aren't militia.

Okay, honestly, a lynch mob would be totally lazerawesome.

[bloodfromstone]

I wouldn't focus too much on creating the most memorable character ever. If you want a memorable character, create someone who has a good set up to be influencing. Someone who wants to change something, build something, lead something... From there, make them an interesting, fun character with flaws and merits and play them well. If too much of your focus for playing this character is to be memorable, I'm afraid it will probably bleed through IG.

[Delirium]

- Stay alive

- Be consistant

- Involve others

[Hot_Dancer]

Successfully start a clan or tribe.

Hot_Dancer

[Malifaxis]

Be realistic.  Have flaws.  Freak out about things thats your character would freak out about.  Don't take five arrows to the chest and keep walking.

As Delirium said, INVOLVE OTHERS.  Nothing gets you remembered quicker than involving someone else's character in something major.  It doesn't matter if you end up being a boon or a bane, you just have to involve them.

[Agent_137]

I find including flaws difficult. It's my own personal flaw. Any tips or deeper advice on how to do that?

[Larrath]

I find including flaws difficult. It's my own personal flaw. Any tips or deeper advice on how to do that?

Start small with your flaws.  Your character could be flawed by having a broken arm (so you won't ES anything), or by being terrible at keeping secrets, or by getting very drunk and doing stupid things after one mug of ale.  Your character could fall in love/lust with someone they have no chance of ever being with...like a Tuluki House Guard that suddenly decides that he absolutely must have that Chosen Lady.
It could even be smaller, like a character who's absolutely terrified of magickers.  How terrified?  He'll refuse to ever get within twenty feet of a magicker and will never contact them.
You can give your character a stutter that leaves him speaking unclearly, or simply be an inconsiderate asshole.  Being blind to other people's feelings and constantly stepping on people's toes can be great fun.
Be greedy, or cowardly, or even just lazy.

[Seeker]

Including flaws?  Difficult?  Oh, brother.

If you want a simple tip, here is one that has served me well:

Learn to enjoy laughing at your character's pitiful foibles.

When you could have the world laid out at your PC's feet, but you instead choose to RP one of her signature "panic-attacks", then you are more than half-way there.


Seeker

[amoeba]

One thing is to keep your flaws consitaint with your character and thier development.  

I had a character that was often rather clumsy.  It wouldn't be unusual for him to smack himself over the head with his own weapon during sparring. But as he got more proficient with combat, this happened less frequently. Of course he would still spill a drink on himself every now and then, but at least he wasn't a risk to himself during training.

Character flaws are fun and great roleplay tools, often leading to more interaction.  I love character flaws.

[Rindan]

I find the easiest flaws to incorporate are ones that are objective.  A very simple flaw you can incoroprate that has a coded way to keep track of it is to become a spice fiend.  Try spice once.  It isn't hard to imagine a small break in will power.  Once you have tried it, decide you are addicted and try again.  Given a little time, build up until you decide you are fully addicted.  At this point, make it your mission in life to ALWAYS be spiced.  If you type score and don't see 'affected by spice', get some.  For a character that makes only a little bit of 'sid, you can quickly get in way over your head if you stick by the rule that you NEVER have your character not spiced.  Take loans and accept risky jobs if there is a payoff of spice.  If you ever run out of spice, become desperate to get more.  Don't give up on your desperation and assume that your character simply got over it.  Make your every waking second devoted to retaining a supply of spice.  This is a pretty sure fire path to self destruction or something great.   It is stupidly easy to make ANY character in a spice head.  Few people are so iron willed that they don't break down and try something once.

If you happen to be rich, being spice addicted can still be loads of fun, especially if you live in 'nak.  Being spice addicted means that you need a constant supply.  You might have the 'sid to support such a habbit, but you still have to deal with a spice dealer.  Further, you probably need to take some efforts at concealing your addiction.  Few people can pop out a joint and smoke up in the middle of the Barrel.  If you run out of spice, have it dramatically effect your personality.

I highly suggest spice addiction to anyone looking to spice up their life (ha ha, pun).  It is a simple way to give your character a goal, get them in trouble, and the fact that there is code support helps to act as a constant reminder when it is time to be flawed.

[Jarod550]

Be realistic.  Have flaws.  Freak out about things thats your character would freak out about.  Don't take five arrows to the chest and keep walking.

As Delirium said, INVOLVE OTHERS.  Nothing gets you remembered quicker than involving someone else's character in something major.  It doesn't matter if you end up being a boon or a bane, you just have to involve them.

So if your character takes a few arrows he's supposed to fall down and wait for the one that's going to finish him?

I take arrows all the time and run like a bitch, or charge and attack

Jarod

[Agent_137]

you don't enjoy listening to people, do you jarod?