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May 2005
On the last full weekend in April, I went back to being a newbie at something I have not done in many years. I attended a college course. For those who have been attending college that might not seem to be such a big deal, but after all this time it is for me. Returning to college is something I have considered doing, but never really got around to being serious about. I figure I have about 9 years or so until I can retire from my job, though, and I've decided that instead of staying here until I can no longer work I would rather start preparing to do other things that I love.
This weekend's course was a workshop in creative writing, geared towards editing our own work. The instructor, Lisa Dale Norton, gave us a number of tools to use in that process, including tools to improve character creation and development. While this column is about gaming, character creation is an integral part of both writing and gaming. I'll be applying these processes when I begin polishing Cardan's Pod, but for now I thought I would share some of the tools of character creation with you for you consideration. It's funny that for all the years I've been writing, I'd never broken down the process of character creation, and it's been to my detriment. Perhaps it has been for you as well.
One of our biggest mistakes as both writers and gamers is that too often our characters are simply our selves. We use a different name and we are placed in different scenarios, but at the core the character is just a manifestation of ourselves or who we would like to be if we could get away with it. It's something of that "Walter Mitty" syndrome where we create characters that have the strength and/or the nerve to do things we could never do in real life. The values, the worldview, the way the character expresses his or her self, though, is noticeably "me". Why? Because, for one, it's easy; it's easiest to write or play myself because I know who I am. Unfortunately, in both the game and a story we don't want all of our characters to be who we are. We need our characters to be who they are instead.
When writing a story, we have an idea where we want to take our characters before we start, or at least we should have a decent idea where the story is going to go. Both the writer and the gamer need to know where our characters came from, but for the gamer it's the Game Master who is going to be the one to determine where they're going. For this column, we're going to focus on where the character came from.
What kind of character do you want? List the motives, values, and ethics of that character, and be realistic. If you're planning on playing a thief in the next campaign, think about how a real thief thinks and acts. Sure, fantasy games and stories offer us the "noble thief" who never steals from anyone except those who deserve it. That's nice for our moral sensibilities, but it's not exactly realistic is it? Real world thieves will steal grandma's social security check if they can, and if grandma suffers for it, well, better her than them they would tell you. Most of us wouldn't think that way, but that's why we're not thieves.
As part of this list of motives, values, and ethics (you can include "morals" in that list if you prefer that term) take a moment and write a short first-person sentence that begins with, "The most important thing in the world to me is . . . " Fill it in as that character, with those traits you listed before in mind. Going back to our thief character, this could be something like, "the most important thing in the world to me is keeping my fat out of the fire while getting away with more than my share of the loot."
Sure, a "noble thief" may get along better with the rest of the adventuring party, but think about the interesting dynamics of the game if you start playing a thief as a thief instead of as the ethical person you are. While the rest of the party is dealing with the dragon, you're hiding the best jewel from the dragon's treasure in your bag. Let the other members of the party always wonder if you can really be trusted. The game suddenly took on a whole new dimension. Our thief isn't involved with the party for what the party can get out of it; he's in it for what he can get out of the party. It isn't just the monsters everyone has to worry about now; the rest of the party has to watch the thief, and the thief has to worry about going too far and getting attacked by the party.
Now, try this exercise to get more into your character's head: Describe your character in the first person, only don't be accurate. Be subjective, as a normal person would be. Most of us are our own worst critics, and traits that others may not notice we may be horribly ashamed of. I have read comments from "super models" where these women lamented how fat they thought their fannies were. Men everywhere are lusting after that same derriere, but the woman who owns it thinks it's hideous.
This exercise helps you determine not only the physical traits of your character, but also their ego style. The subjective as opposed to the realistic can go the other way. The character can be horribly vain and describe his or her self in glowing self-praise (which the others in the party may not agree with). Your thief can see his body as that of an Adonis, while everyone else thinks he's homely and plain. Whether overly critical or overly self-absorbed, play the character the way you create him or her, not the way you live as your self.
Delve a bit into the character's background. Who were his or her influences in life? What interaction with other people helped shaped them into the person they are? For our thief, we could create a family history where his mother was a tavern harlot who tended to set him out on his own so she could ply her trade. Maybe, she recruited him into picking the pockets of the removed clothing while she entertained her customers (talk about your mental baggage; most of us don't want to think about our parents having sex, let alone sneaking into the room as our mother does so with a stranger so we can liberate some coins from his purse). At a later age, he was driven out by the tavern owner and found himself under the wing of a "Fagin" (a la "Oliver Twist") who helps our thief polish his skills. You don't have to create an entire story for all this; you just have to develop what kinds of people and influences molded this character.
Such things will flavor how your character interacts with others in the game. If we go with the harlot scenario above, our thief may be both more sympathetic to tavern girls, while at the same time extremely distrusting of them.
What does all this do for us? As Ms. Norton so aptly described it, it takes our characters from being two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs to three dimensional people. It also takes your character from being predictably "you" (especially if you tend to game with the same group all the time) to being someone that the other members of your gaming party have to "get to know".
Just as the reader of a story is more drawn in and immersed by three-dimensional characters, so also the game becomes more immersing when your characters are more "true to life". Even if we are talking about playing mythological creatures, we can play them with realistic personalities or we can just play ourselves as a centaur or an ogre or whatever. Better, though, that the ogre acts like an ogre.
Lisa Dale Norton's website is at http://www.lisadalenorton.com/ . I am currently enjoying her book, Hawk Flies Above.
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