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May 2004
Welcome to May, as our springtime weather starts to warm up, and the Presidential Campaign heats up even more. Before long, many of us will be wishing for a magical transportation gate that can take us someplace where the various political ads and arguments don't exist, just so that we can have a few moments of peace. Well, folks, one place you won't have to worry about reading political diatribes against one side or the other is here. It isn't that I don't have my own opinions about the election and the candidates; it's just that I'd rather write for your entertainment than for my own political agenda.
Granted, I'd have to figure out exactly what my own political agenda was before I could write about it anyway, but that's beside the point. I've found a lot of people politicizing and lobbying who didn't appear to have a very clear agenda, either. Relax, grab your favorite beverage, put on the music of your choice, and enjoy the May issue of Collector Times.
For most of the past month or so, my time and energy have been focused on writing the story that began running here on CT last month. "Cardan's Pod" is an idea that has been kicking around in my head for many years, but previous attempts to write it have stalled early. The difference this time is that in one of those little flashes of momentary inspiration, I knew where I was going with the story. You see, writing a story, whether a text story, a graphic novel or comic strip, or even a play, is like taking a trip. It helps tremendously if you have an idea which direction you're heading before you begin. I know it's not essential, but trust me; it does help a great deal.
If you've read Part 1, you'll know already that I leave the reader with a somewhat fantastic concept at the end of it. The story is being billed as a fantasy story, but my goal has been to take the "fantasy" and make it plausible. If I succeed at making the scenario believable will be up to the reader as the story progresses. Part 2, which posts this month, will give the reader a better picture of our main characters so far. It's the creation of characters that I'd like to discuss this month.
Writing and gaming share this common trait: The flavor; the depth of both depends on the quality of the character creation. When I'm writing a story, I reach a time when the characters I create begin to take on a life of their own. It's almost as though they are no longer someone I've "made up", but rather someone I "know". I've known gamers who refer to their RPG characters in the same kinds of terms. We know, rationally and intellectually, that the characters are still simply imaginary. We know they really do not exist and they have no feelings or sentience outside of our imaginations, yet, within our minds, they seem so real that we can picture what they would do, as opposed to what we would do in their place.
Accepting the limitations of the world we live in, or that we're writing or gaming in, is something that contributes dramatically to character creation. What is possible for this character, either by the natural laws we live with, or by the laws of the fantasy world we've created? We wouldn't likely create an ogre thief character, would we? Ogres are not generally accepted as being stealthy, crafty, and highly dexterous. Sure, we can create an ogre character that is not averse to stealing things, but the ogre is going to be more of a "strong arm" criminal rather than a sneaky, subtle kind. The ogre isn't going to pick the lock on the chest; the ogre is going to pick the chest up and smash it. The ogre isn't going to pick your pocket; he's going to threaten to rip your head off if you don't hand over your wallet, if he bothers to give you the choice at all. If you're going to play an ogre, it's expected that you play in ogre fashion.
Research can help. If, for example, you're going to create a large, sentient cat creature, it helps to understand how cats act, and especially the species of cat most closely resembling the character you're creating. How do they move? How are they built? It's nice to think of having your feline character walking bi-pedal all the time, but look at the cat body: it's not built for being primarily bi-pedal. It's designed for quadruped operation. A cat can walk on its hind legs only, but not nearly as well as it can on all four. It certainly cannot run well on only two legs. To create a sentient feline that's bi-pedal, you have to redesign the feline anatomy. By the time you're done, you end up with something that's little more than a human in a cat suit. Is it still a cat? Maybe, but how would it be to create the character to move, live, and act like a cat instead? Sure, maybe it couldn't walk on its hind legs very well, but on the other hand, how many bipeds can jump with the power of a cat? Do we really need to anthropomorphize all our characters, making them as human as we can? Does a viable character have to have opposable thumbs?
Don't get me wrong. I'm by no means putting down those who have created anthropomorphic animal characters. What I'm offering is an idea of different ways to think about character creation. It's fun to use the magic of imagination to put ourselves into bodies that are different than our own, but sometimes I think we don't go quite far enough in that. I don't want to play a person in a cat suit; I'd like to play a cat. I don't want a mermaid that looks and moves like a fashion model with fish-skin tights over her legs, I want a mermaid that looks and moves like a real aquatic mammal. It makes the character more challenging, both to write and to play.
Hopefully, you'll find that it also makes the character more believable. When you reach the point where you can hear your character telling you, "I can't do that", you've got it. When you hear them telling you to ". . . finish the story, or I'll slap you silly", you'd better listen. Trust me, they won't let you sleep otherwise.
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