How to write a character history... Crosspost..
This recently hit the Richmond OOC list and I thought It was good enough to post here... great info something folks should at least takea read through.. every little bit helps after all.
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Heya folx,
So a guy I used to play with in the Pittsburgh Camarilla Chapter wrote this
recently and posted it. I take absolutely no credit for it whatsoever.
It's a very decent guide to making a character rather than a character
sheet. In my life as a roleplayer, I've often broken one or more of the
rules below, and I generally regret it after "getting into" the character.
If you don't have a thoroughly fleshed-out background for your
character...try using this to think about where you want to go with a
character.
Cheers,
Adam Warman
US2002022774
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How to Write a Character Background
"Interactive improvisational theatre": that's what we call it
while we're trying to not sound like ubergeeks when we talk about our
larps out in the real world. But it's not an entirely untrue
characterization, and if it were more true, the game certainly wouldn't
suffer from it. Strip away the XP, the stats, all the numbers and
mechanics, and ask yourself this fundamental question: would anyone want
to read a book (or watch a movie) about what happens at your game?
About your character?
Larp isn't a board game -- the goal isn't to win by having the
most points at the end, because there are no points or ends, and no way
to win -- and it isn't even like some other RPGs -- the goal isn't to
adventure as a team to defeat the big bad and rescue the innocent,
because there are no big bads or innocents, and no adventures.
Actually, there's nothing at all in this little game, nothing at all,
except the characters. The characters ARE the story; the characters ARE
the game. If the characters are flat, then the story is flat and the
game is flat.
Let's make a compelling story, one that would be worth reading
the novelization of. Let's make some interesting characters. Below are
ten guidelines -- rules of thumb, some pitfalls to avoid -- to help give
you a leg up on writing your character's background. Some of them list
"red flags" that you can look for in your character to get a quick idea
of what might be a good idea to change, some present alternate
possibilities that just might not have occured to you.
Rule #1: Have Parents
More imporantly, have a childhood. Psychologists tell us that
small events early in life can have a tremendous effect on someone's
personality as an adult; the same goes for your character. Ask yourself
all the "little kid" questions. Who were your role models? How did
your parents meet? Did you grow up rich or poor? Were you picked on as
a child, or were you the bully?
Red flags at this point: no last name, orphaned at a young age,
raised by a super-naturally oriented organization, having become the
best-of-the-best at anything (particularly if before the early teens),
amnesia or other selective memory loss, or having more than half your
background focused on after your metamorphosis to a supernatural
creature. The begining is important, and leaving it undefined is an
invitation to be boring.
Rule #2: Hit the High Points
Speaking of the metamorphosis, be sure to talk about that, as it
should have had a profound effect on the character; you should know
where you were, what you were doing, who your sire was and (this one
gets ignored surprisingly often) why they embraced you. But
transformation isn't the only one. Did your character ever fall in
love? Find (or lose) religion? Betray, or be betrayed by, a friend?
There aren't any dots on your sheet for "emotional impact," but don't
let that stop you; these facets are more important than any dot you'll
ever earn.
Red flags here: only talking about education and careers (read:
justifying skill point expenditures), or only talking about friends and
associates (read: justifying dots of allies and contacts or membership
in a specific sub-group like a bloodline). Yes, those things are
important too, but they don't tell a story. They don't tell WHY.
Additionally, for vampires: being embraced out of the blue, or "because
I was the best [whatever]er in the world," or by someone your character
didn't know before the embrace or hasn't interacted with since the
embrace.
Rule #3: The Y^3 Rule
"If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there,
it would have been like Woodstock." -- Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Everyone likes to be special. Everyone wants to be "that guy",
the one-in-a-million exception to the rule. The hero of the story. In
a game of 30 people (not to mention the 5,000 members of the Camarilla
outside the local venue), that's... problematic. Let's say, for
example, you want to be the best kung-fu fighter the world has ever
seen. It's really easy; strength 5, brawl 5, kung-fu 5... you can do
that and still have enough points left to get a PhD in nuclear physics.
So can everyone else. (This should illustrate how the dots don't make
the character.) This fails to make an interesting character because it
has no reason; it's just dots. But what's a good reason? That's where
Y^3, or "Why, cubed", comes in; it will quickly turn a
rules/mechanical/out-of-charcter desire into a story about your
character. Just ask yourself the question "why?", three times. Why are
you the world's best kung-fu fighter? Because you trained for years in
a secret mountain dojo. Why? Because you feel an overwhelming desire
to avenge the death of your parents by becoming a vigilante. Why?
Because my parents were brutally murdered by a sociopath who is now my
arch-nemesis. Anyone can max out their stats, but no one will answer
the same way as you to Y^3; congratulations, now you actually are
special.
Red Flags: having any particular diepool maxed out. Having more
4 and 5 dot abilities/merits than 1s and 2s. Having a 1 in any
attribute. If you notice any of these, ask youself "Why?"
Rule #4: Do Some Research
It is popular to make a character who starts the game by having
just moved into the city from far away, or who has just awoken from
torpor from the distant (or not so distant) past. It is strongly
advised that you read up on where and when your character has been. For
example, if you want to have been in Pittsburgh in the mid 1800s, you
should go look up when Fort Duquesne was built, when it was destroyed,
and the two times when George Washington tried to attack it. These are
major political and social events of that time and place, and if you're
going to provide ANY believability to your representation of your
character, you, as a player, should know the facts. Wikipedia makes
this easy (www.wikipedia.org). More than this, your character should
have opinions on those issues. Otherwise, what's the point? You can
have been embraced yesterday and still not have an opinion, why be old
if you're not going to do anything with it? How can you pretend to be
from a foreign land if you don't know anything about it?
Red flags: lack of dates, or vague dates, in character
background, or mention of events without mention of character's thoughts
and feelings on them. Repeated use of the "forgot while in torpor"
card.
Rule #5. Have Flaws
The new World of Darkness has an interesting take on flaws which
is a big departure from the rules used in the last chronicle. That's
not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about deficiencies of
character. Self-hatred. Bigotry. Blind love. The Vice system is, to
be blunt, pathetic; so it's up to you to make your character more
interesting in this regard. Let your character have failed. Let them
have made stupid choices. Let them feel pain, and loss, and fear, and
anger. Let them suffer. It's what interesting characters do. And not
just altruistic, martyrous heroes! Well written villians go through
these too. Trust me, 10 years of pain adds more to a character's story
than two millenia of always getting what they wanted.
Red flags for #5: great age, having left all the enemies of your
past dead behind you, having left all of your loved ones dead behind
you, having never been in love, having no goals because you've already
accomplished them.
Rule #6: Leave Hooks
I have often heard the complaint that it's difficult to first
get involved in the game. Another, seemingly unrelated complaint, is
that the plotlines being run aren't compeling to someone's character.
Both of these problems can be addressed by leaving a few good hooks in
your character's background that other characters can be hung off of.
Rather than letting your historical nemesis die, let them get away, or
at least a close ally of theirs. Leave some surviving descendants, or
former friends, or lovers, or times and places you may have indulged in
creating a childe. And point them out when you send your background to
your ST. "...but Smith escaped. (open hook)" Like that. (Conversly, if
it's someone else's PC, note that too. "...where Jones embraced a young
executive. (played by J. Johnson)") By leaving hooks, you make it easier
for storytellers to write plots tailored to your character, or for new
players to get an "in" at the start of the game. And you only need two
or three.
Rule #7: Use Cliches with Care, or, You Are Not Your Clever Accent
"The only idea more overused than serial killers is multiple
personality." -- Charlie Kaufman, Adaptation
Cliches are like spices. Used sparingly, they enhance the
flavor, but use to much and the food is unpalatable. A unique piece of
costuming, a foreign accent, the inability to use contractions; they can
help make a character a bit more memorable. If you let your cliches
define you though, you end up with a caricature, not a character.
You'll run into the same failings if you try to base your character too
closely on an existing literary character. It's not just against
Camarilla policy to allow players to play characters based on historical
or litterary characters; it's a bad idea! Doing so, like relying on a
cliche, will ultimately detract from your character's personality. It's
a shortcut that should be avoided. Borrow, liberally even, but do not
copy directly. If you must, try mixing the personality traits of two or
three characters that interest you.
Red Flags: when asked to describe your character you reply with
"Did you ever see the movie...?"
Rule #8: There's No Place Like Home
It always imprsseses me the percentage of characters in any
venue that aren't local. Everyone wants to be from someplace, anyplace,
more exotic then wherever it is they are. Consider for a moment having
been born here, or having been embraced here. It's not so bad, and it
gives your character a real reason to be here, and makes it easy to have
local NPCs be involved with your character. You don't have to do it,
but not enough players do. Just consider it.
Rule #9: Be Passionate About Something
Story is about conflict. Not necessarily swords-and-guns, but
it all comes about from characters desiring mutually exclusive outcomes.
If everyone gets everything they want, it isn't a story. Don't be
afraid to be passionate; I promise it won't get your character killed.
Okay, that's a lie... but if they die, you'll feel good about it. Know
how you want your character's story to end, because it will end,
eventually. It can either end with you getting bored with the character
and retiring them, or it can end because you were playing them with
passion; which sounds like more fun?
Rule #10: Talk to Your Storyteller
They know more about all the other PCs in the game then anyone
else. They've helped make more characters than you can guess. They're
the one you expect to write plot tailored just for you. Grab them, and
talk to them, for at least an hour about your character. Preferably
face to face, but a phone call, series of emails, or some time instant
messaging is also good. Showing up with a completed character sheet ten
minutes before you go into game for the first time should be avoided;
even if you have a great character, it can still fall flat if it doesn't
mesh with the rest of the game.
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