Character Engineering

My original plan for this article was a heated rant inspired by a player and a series of incidents in a game I am in. The problem with rants is that the only people who seem to catch the drift are the ones that aren’t doing the sort of thing that inspires a rant, so it seemed sort of counter-productive.

So I sat down and considered if I had learned anything from the experience. After all, only a fool believes she knows everything there is to know about gaming. So, the question isn’t whether or not the offending player learned anything or will at least behave in the future. The question is whether or not I learned anything from what happened and is it enough to pass along in a whole article?

Well, actually… In continuation of a series I inadvertently started last month on character creation, I am now planning on gifting you yet again with my knowledge on creating believable characters with well-thought-out backgrounds for games beyond the basic hack and slash… and that’s just this month!

So let’s begin!

“A truly unforgettable story is defined by its characters. Their motivations, their changes, their actions compel us to read on, anxiously trying to discern what will happen next.” – Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kres

The truth is that characters in long running roleplaying games should have as much attention in creation as characters in the books on the best sellers’ list.

Now, I know what you are thinking.

What do I mean by “long running”? I’m talking about a game that is going to run longer than one game session. Characters created for a one-time use do not require as much forethought, though I’m sure they would appreciate it if you did spend some time on it.

That said, let’s get one with the topic at hand, character engineering, the art of creating a believable, realistic character.

A character is much more than statistics on a piece of paper and yet so many people never consider much about their character beyond the basics or the stereotypes prior to the first game. This really is a pity because the well-thought-out character can mean the difference between a cardboard, predictable evening and a chance for excellent role-playing, something beyond “There was this creature/bad guy and I killed it.”

What do you get with a well-thought-out character and character background?

• The better you know your character’s psychology and motivations, the more prepared you will be for his or her reactions to the events that occur in the game. For example, if your character was attacked by large dogs as a child, he or she is likely to react very badly to the sight of big dogs in the enemy camp/bad guy’s house/treasure house your character is stealing from.
• The better you know your character’s background, the better the chance the Game Master can utilize it to help further the story or involve your character in the story. For example, if your character’s father disappeared when he/she was eight, this gives the Game Master the opportunity to bring the father back at a later date – possibly as the head bad guy (i.e. Star Wars, Le Femme Nikita or as head of the underground resistance (i.e. Solar Babies)
• The better you know your character, the easier he or she is to role-play and the easier it is for other characters to interact with your character simply because your character has a personality beyond the basic statistics on the page.
• And much, much more…

So, now you’ve seen the light and you want to create a background for your character. What do you do? How do you start? All good questions.

1. Always create a character within the guidelines laid down by your Game Master. For example, if the game is set in the X-Men universe and the rules say you can play someone other than the established characters, then don’t create and Anime character. Anime and X-Men do not have the same laws of physics, but that’s another article entirely. Anyway, you should discuss the game setting and the restrictions with your Game Master before setting anything down on paper. I generally like to talk about the tone and the mood and what’s allowed and what he/she feels comfortable about. As a Game Master myself, I run hetro/homo/bi-sexual friendly games and anyone who isn’t comfortable with that doesn’t have to play, but some Game Masters do not feel comfortable with it or it may not fit in the setting. Don’t argue with the Game Master about what should or shouldn’t be allowed. The setting is the Game Master’s realm, not the Player’s.
2. Come up with a character concept. I generally like to pass the general character concept by my Game Master before I continue with details. This is a just-in-case tactic. I don’t want to fall in love with a character concept only to find out the Game Master doesn’t have a place for him/her in his game. Where you get your concept is entirely up to you. I generally get a basic character idea from a book, television show, movie, or actual person I’ve met or heard of. The borrowed idea is usually the bare bones that I build on. I don’t generally out-right steal a character from somewhere, though I might steal bits and pieces of backgrounds from a variety and put them all together to see what I get. For instance, a vampire I played in a game I was in was very loosely based on a vampire in Michael Romkey’s The Vampire Princess and the genetically-engineered soldier I played in my Marvel Super Heroes game was loosely based on Zack from Dark Angel. In fact, my male Marshal in a friend’s Alternate History Weird West game was based on a female character in a series of books by a romance writer and I borrowed the story for her background. Neither character really truly resembles the original character as far as personality. I’ve given them my own special touch and flair and that is what you should do with your own characters.
3. Once you have your character concept, if your Game Master requires a rules-based character sheet (i.e. GURPS, Champions, World of Darkness, etc.), you could do that next. I generally do, but some people wait until after the background is completely written. You are welcome to do that as well. Whatever works best for you is what you should do. I also like to name the character at this point, but I have a friend who names his character the night the game starts when he’s forced to and another who builds his concept based on the name. It’s up to you when you want to do this.
4. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Fill in the details and expand on the concept. I don’t mean that you have to map out every day of every year of your character’s life. What you do need to consider is what the milestones were in your character’s life. What series of events occurred to bring him/her to this moment in time? Is he a loner because no one liked him in school and if so, why didn’t anyone like him in school? Is she a runaway because she’s a mutant or did something else happen to make her leave home? Why is he so bitter and cold? Why is she an assassin? How did he end up as an exotic dancer? How did she go from being a gunslinger to a lawman? Why? Why? Why?

And just a suggestion here, avoid stereotypes. Stereotypes are predictable – someone in a writing class I was once in wrote about a heavy metal star who just wanted to go home and garden. It was a neat twist and I enjoyed the story and the character. Plus, ten years later I still remember it.

A really good resource for discovering the in’s and out’s of your characters is Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon. Part Two of the Book is a “Character Questionaire” which I have found invaluable for character creation. It starts with the basics like name, age, description (distinguishing features, physical imperfections, etc), then it moves on to education, occupation, goals and needs, personality and psychology, opinions, pastimes and hobbies, favorites, sexual orientation and turn-ons/offs, fashion, friend, home, etc. Part Three is a thesaurus to help you describe your character from head to toe to speech. There’s even a section on surnames. Truly this book has been one of my most used and beloved resources.

Ultimately, the thing to remember is that your character is a person – maybe a fictional person, but a person non-the-less. At the end of a gaming campaign, will the character be forgotten and tossed into the realm of abandoned cardboard characters or will the character have become like family to you, an old friend who you will want to take out again some day and find a new game, a new home for him or her?