How do you guys tackle character creation?

[azuriolinist]

The only time I have set goals is when I apply for a tribe, gmh or noble/sponsored roles so that my mindset is different and she's not prone to feel 'stuck'.

I tend to do the same thing. OOCly, I may have goals for my PC, but unless they're some sort of sponsored role, they usually will go in-game with no goal whatsoever. Just a broad motivation (e.g., acquisition, power, adoration) that guides their choices.

I start with a basic character sketch and yes I actually draw them too. Mainly, it’s background and personality stuff though.

That's pretty damn neat.

I start my characters at a late teen-early adult age and try to let other characters and their experiences in the world shape them. So a lot depends on who I end up playing with and where the character is.

It's only natural that a character would develop along with their experiences and environment, so this makes sense. It's definitely true for my PCs, whether I'm conscious of the changes they go through or not.

[Hauwke]

For younger characters, as in minimum age ones, I generally go for the most basic thing ever.

Are they from the Rinth? If yes, they are either a whore an orphan or a thief of some description, with barely anything else, they have a job and thats really it because hey guess what, life in the Rinth sucks HG dicks.

From the main part of Allanak? A miner, grebber or the kid of a merchant.

Really just such basic things, on the reasoning that they have not really had the time to get their life sorted/messed up in any particularly grand way. Occassionally, chuck in some other things to break the mold but still.

[LucildaHunta]

It's only natural that a character would develop along with their experiences and environment, so this makes sense. It's definitely true for my PCs, whether I'm conscious of the changes they go through or not.

Mhm, I’m usually conscious of the changes and I decide how I want them to develop. So for example if my character gets bitten by a poisonous snake. I decide whether they’ll become fearful of snakes or not. Then if they get bitten again I decide whether or not that feeling progresses. Does it now extend to other reptiles? All those types of things for me, come from real events in the game.

So if there isn’t much going on I don’t have much to fill in or work with. When things do happen though? I have so much to work with!

[Miradus]

I start my characters around age 30. I'd start them at 50 if it weren't for the ridiculous hits to stats that older characters get.

And they've already had some life experiences at 30 which explains how I know where Luir's is, or Morin's, or to stay out of the Pah. Their backstory will indicate some sort of experience in whatever I intend to do with them, be it a caravan guard or whatnot.

That just seems better than rolling up a bright-eyed teenager fresh from the farm who also knows how to spam directly to every water source in the wilderness, what plants are the most valuable, and where to find diamonds.

[Refugee]

I start my characters around age 30. I'd start them at 50 if it weren't for the ridiculous hits to stats that older characters get.

I agree, it's unrealistic and ridiculous.  I start characters around age 20.

[In Dreams]

I usually start 20ish! I kinda enjoy playing up ignorance of all sorts, so that's never an issue for me.

Ignorance is fun, people! Try it. Be wrong. Take the wrong route to stuff. Don't know just where to go - need someone else's help instead. It's fun and leads to more RP!

[Grogerif]

I usually start 20ish! I kinda enjoy playing up ignorance of all sorts, so that's never an issue for me.

Ignorance is fun, people! Try it. Be wrong. Take the wrong route to stuff. Don't know just where to go - need someone else's help instead. It's fun and leads to more RP!

I agree.  I purposely delete all my notes with each new character.  And only let myself remember places that I feel my character would know.  I've been 'lost' and almost died trying to find water that I knew OOC was only a few rooms away.   Helps keep the world fresh for me.

[LucildaHunta]

The age thing is a little strange and a good topic of discussion. The thing you have to remember is on Zalanthas a teenager is an adult and you really shouldn't hold on to the idea that a teen is a child like in western society. There really isn't an extended childhood like there is in the real world except the one we put on and accept from characters. Sure I've seen people play teen characters like "I'm a teen! Gotta love me! hehehe!" and it sort of plays on other players real life sensiblities that a teen is a no nothing kid. I don't feel like that's correct and can only lead to one of those sides getting taken advantage of.

Maybe a little physically and emotionally immature, yes. A kid that doesn't know how to put on their shoes or know how to do anything? I would never make that mistake. IMO, it's more along the lines of the past or other areas of the world where teens do very adult things like provide for themselves or have that ability because they already possess that knowledge. Think about it like this...it wasn't that long ago that kids here had to drop out of high school or elementary school to work and provide for their families and they smoked cigarettes, drank and drove cars! I always apply that to teens on Zalanthas. They are fully able to do what an adult does.

[Refugee]

I don't agree.

Teenagers are regarded as adults in one way, as in they are expected to take care of themselves, take responsibility for their actions, etc.  But they are still adolescents.  Still haywire emotions, still dumb enough to eat Tide pods because someone else would think they are cool if they do, still physically developing.  Males will become full sized somewhere in their teens but probably not at 13.  Most of them will mature physically at the end of their teens.  Females earlier.  There's nothing in the docs that say it's otherwise.  They are simply not given protections as one would children.

But most 13 year old boys cannot do what a full grown man can do, physically.  Can they be murderous little genius criminals?  Sure.  But even in societies where children become adults as soon as they are able to reproduce, they were still not able to do anything adults could do.  No warlord would have chosen a 13yo stripling in the place of a 21 yo muscled up full-grown man.

[Inks]

I think about an unusual concept that will be fun for me, personally, to play, which is flexible enough to remain fun, and that will add a needed role to the gameworld.

Then I play it. All my pcs when I was a new player were young because I could RP relatively naive or inexperienced PCs, which worked well with older mentor PCs and leaders.

[LucildaHunta]

I don't agree.

Teenagers are regarded as adults in one way, as in they are expected to take care of themselves, take responsibility for their actions, etc.  But they are still adolescents.  Still haywire emotions, still dumb enough to eat Tide pods because someone else would think they are cool if they do, still physically developing.  Males will become full sized somewhere in their teens but probably not at 13.  Most of them will mature physically at the end of their teens.  Females earlier.  There's nothing in the docs that say it's otherwise.  They are simply not given protections as one would children.

But most 13 year old boys cannot do what a full grown man can do, physically.  Can they be murderous little genius criminals?  Sure.  But even in societies where children become adults as soon as they are able to reproduce, they were still not able to do anything adults could do.  No warlord would have chosen a 13yo stripling in the place of a 21 yo muscled up full-grown man.

Yeah, but that's not true though. The code reflects that a younger characters are not as physically able as a fully grown adult, but they are still able to do the same things adults can and that shouldn't be shocking or looked at at unrealistic.

http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/11/01/life-ancient-viking-children/

At an age of 10, ancient Viking children were considered adults and were required to follow in their parents footsteps and acquire necessary skills to adequately perform their mother’s or father’s job.

That isn't unique to Vikings either. The point I was making was you really shouldn't look at a Zalanthan 13 year old as a Tide pod eating kid, they really shouldn't be played that way either. It's not the same thing. Since life is hard on Zalanthas, children would probably be pitching in and doing the same things as adults or at the very least learning to do them. So no, there probably wouldn't be a 13 year old bandit king on Zalanthas. A teenager would have the skills and knowledge to do things though.

[valeria]

I use the same character creation template for my characters that I use for characters in my short stories and novels.  Sample from a character I played a while back:

Physical Description - [omit]

Age -      19

Handedness -    Right.

Fears -       Losing her mother.

Voice -    Rich alto singing voice.  Stutters on p- d- b- t-  /  when nervous on g- j- m- s- n- /  when really nervous ch- th- w- but can sing or recite clearly.

Mannerisms -   Bites her lip when she's thinking.
      Ends declarative sentences with an interrogative reflection?
      Doesn't care a bit for other people.
      Extremely methodical.

Sexual Orientation -    Sex-repulsed asexual.

Hobbies -    Enjoys playing instruments.

Favorite Color -    Jade green.
 
Goals -      Find some work to do that will allow her to comfortably support her mother.

Background - [omit]

How the character comes to me:  Sometimes, I get a very vivid mental visual of a character, usually engaged in an action.  I think this character came to me as someone cringing and stuttering before a templar, so I already had some idea of how she'd look.  Then I tend to flesh out a background, then pick a guild and subguild to match.  But sometimes I want to play a guild or subguild, so I work from there first, or I might come up with a goal that I really want to accomplish and build the character around that.

I try to pick one or two characteristic mannerisms to set the character apart, but often others come to them while I'm playing them, or they might change due to IC events.  I had one character who started collecting hats because a girl she was crushing on said her hat was nice, and it was the first nice thing anyone had ever said to her pretty much.

Physically, Zalanthan "humans" aren't like Earth "humans."  If you pick a teenage character, they won't get taller/heavier as they go on.  Zalanthans apparently hit their peak earlier and burn out more quickly.  Men and women also don't different as much physiologically and don't physically mature at different rates.  I'd say it's a quirk of the environment.

[Refugee]

I think you're right, men and women would mature at the same rate on Zalanthas.  Good argument.

[Pale Horse]

I think you're right, men and women would mature at the same rate on Zalanthas.  Good argument.

Derail question: Would it be due to the environment, the Way or the effects of magick on the world?

[Hauwke]

I had a character go from minimum age to 18, staff popped height and weight up with a description change quite happily when I proposed it. So there us definately some kind of physical maturing from that age. The fact that strength changes so very much between those ages is another massive example of -physical- maturity. I agree, that 13 year olds here have the same mental maturity, they can think and backstab with the best of them.

[azuriolinist]

I've always believed the lack of growth in height and weight in accordance to a PC's age is really just a limitation of code. The changes to stats based on age seem to suggest that.

I do believe a 'teen' (13-18) would be able to support themselves in an environment like Zalanthas. It's sort of similar to how it works in some third world countries; children start contributing early for their own welfare and the welfare of the rest of their family. They generally aren't raised in an environment soaked with pop culture, and what's expected of them isn't the same of what's expected of a child from a first world country.

That doesn't mean a Zalanthan teenager is as mentally mature as a Zalanthan thirty-year old. It does mean your average Zalanthan teenager would be more mature than your stereotypical Earth teenager of the same age.

And there I go, contributing to the derail!

Derail question: Would it be due to the environment, the Way or the effects of magick on the world?

All the above? Plus, a Zalanthan's entire biological structure would likely be different to ours in that way.

I try to pick one or two characteristic mannerisms to set the character apart, but often others come to them while I'm playing them, or they might change due to IC events.  I had one character who started collecting hats because a girl she was crushing on said her hat was nice, and it was the first nice thing anyone had ever said to her pretty much.

I loved the example! And I find the gradual addition of character attributes in-game to be very true.

[Chettaman]

When creating a character I...

Depending on how I died, I'll take either a day or jump right into character creation. Sometimes I'll jump into character creation and realize just how much I was affected by the recent ending and stop to pick it up again later.

After grieving appropriately, I've been thinking about what I want to play during my  now dead character and in my time of grieving as insensitive as that sounds. Sometimes I'll have the entire character put on paper. Sometimes I'll nix everything I threw down and do something else on a whim. Like ranger/archer? Eff, yeah. I'm so glad I finally did that.

If I don't have everything planned out, I usually begin with guild / subguild. ... like everyone, I guess, but that usually sets the mood. After I make a decision, sometimes at random, I'll come up with how he learned those skills offered by the guilds and subguilds. Stat priority is an OOC thing for me, I won't lie. The most difficult part is the description. I'm so bad at this, but manage somehow. After I come up with the description, I sometimes think of why they look like they do and I'll have to add more bio. I'll edit that, then usually I'll have to edit the description again and I usually go back and forth until it makes sense. And then I submit and play the waiting game.
(which is paragon or some other ps4 game)

*while in game, I start doing what this character might do on any regular day and I try and see things as they would and I try and I think things that they would. Not oocly, but I'll use the think command. Slowly, but surely I'll begin building this character's personality. The more I do it, the easier to imagine past events that I hadn't thought up previously. I'll usually add these in a new bio, and be sure to mention that it wasn't recent, but a memory. I'll make up stories about parents, friends, fun, work, favorite foods, favorite pass times, adventures, etc... and make them his story.