Originality of Character Concepts

[Tonkin]

One other problem is when newer players come to the game. I havent been playing long, and someone I see as unique may have been done a few years ago. I have found this already in some of my ideas. If I have an rp concept that I think is original, I search the forums and find that it has already been done before. The only hope I have is that I can do it differently than it has already been done, and that I might possibly come up with an original direction to take the concept.

[Moirear Sian]

Exactly. If you enjoy playing a certain character, don't be discouraged by any forum grievers. Almost anything's been played before in any thinkable game of this world. If you use your head and don't deliberately take too many ideas from anywhere else, you'll give your character a special flavor that is unique.

Personally though, I like it when I manage to do something in which people can see parallels to old tales or feel out analogies to existing fiction. That sometimes says more than I could possibly say in words; it's almost like the power of the empty space in between two panels of a graphic novel.

If I had to break up how I build a character (I do it rather unconsciously and don't take so much time to think about it), they're constructed on four different levels.

1. Physique
2. Background & Social Status
3. Mentality
4. Ambitions

For #1, I usually take an existing concept. There's nothing better than when someone can instantly imagine the appearance of the character as a living, breathing person. One character in Illarion I played was Alavan the mercenary, for his physique I simply used the character Gatts from the anime series Berserk - they were pretty much congruent because of Al's background. Going this way gives you some obvious benefits; you'll probably know the other character a bit and have some visual details in your memory which you can constantly fall back on. Secondly, some people might recognize your #me descriptions and actually get the same mental image you have of your character. This may seem like a dent in originality, but I think it's a big help for roleplaying. Although, I might add, nobody's stopping anybody from taking an existing concept and altering it into a quirky original form of its own.

On #2, this is where I usually go my own original way. I read up the background history of the game setting and try to think up an original little tale of my own that could have taken place in it, prior to beginning play with a new character. This is the reason I don't make too many characters. I like having a solid background for them, so I don't constantly fall into making contradictary claims about it. My character Sian for example, has classic old tale elements in it: he was supposed to become a knight, but turned bandit instead; unknowingly killed his own father abroad, escaped to "the island" and continued his misadventures there (where I began play with him). The typical anti-hero. This didn't hurt though, for one because I actually wrote down about a page of detailed background for myself, for another, because he always dodges talking about his past. Instead, I let certain side-comments or simple gestures hint at this background in the middle of gameplay. So again, you don't have to be 100% original to actually come across as "original" in game. I know about four stories which would, summed up together, form the essence of Sian's background. Half of them were inspired by those stories, the other half I learned of after I made them up.

#3 is also important for originality, because if you're working with inspirations or ideas from elsewhere, here's where you have to throw them overboard. You have to tailor a mentality that is unique to Illarion and fits in with the overall background. Reading and re-reading some of its details to get into it, I cannot stress enough how helpful this is. Four months after I had began playing, I had already forgotten who the hell Zhambra was. Alien elements from other concepts in a character's mentality will be just that to the game. If you think of the concept "Follower of Nargûn" and actually have an idea of what that would mean in its typical form of Illarion's background - and combine this with a unique look and background - you're on your best way to fit into the setting without becoming a cheap clone of some other character.

#4 is the most important so you can have any fun playing the character. Even if the character's ambition is no more than sweeping the sidewalk in town everyday and leading an honest life, that's still an ambition of sorts. This aspect is also the one to aid you in making your character as unique as possible, not at last because ambitions will most likely coincide with your gameplay and interactions in-game.
Also, if you put good thought into #4, you'll never get bored playing per se, because you'll have a reason to play. Alot of people make the mistake of making "ambition-less" characters, they go playing and expect everybody else and the GMs and the game to entertain them forever. Sorry to wake you up, but that will only work for a limited amount of time and depends on everybody else. Ambitions will be the one thing always left last to keep you playing the same character. If there are none, you might one day think it's not worth playing your character anymore.

[Llama]

Ok.. nothing better to do so here is:

The technical side of making a character, for those who can't understand what RP is about but understand what technical stuff is

Invent RP attributes, there are thousands of possible ones, and write them on a paper, those will be his char; and then change to the situation

Example: A has

Bravery : Very High
Embarassment : Low

Then Paulis meets B, a female character.

B: I'm scared, an evil person is killing people like crazy
A: [due to his high bravery and low embarassment] Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't touch you

Had he been a bit more embarrssed in his character

A: DOn't worry, I'll protect everyone

Had he been a person who gets easily embarrassed

A: #me turns red, "Well umm, I'll go catch him" #me runs away

---

Now, Sometimes it depends on more than one item:

Example : A is brave, but stupid, and rasist

A: Stupid Orc, come fight me... Hey Orc, I heard your mother was a human

A is brave, intellegent and rasist

A: Hello Orc, Would you like to teach me how to read? [insulting him cleverly]

A is cowardly, stupid and rasist

A: Umm, Don't hurt me, its not my fault my race is better than yours

A is cowardly, stupid and non-rasist

A: Please don't hurt me

A is cowardly, intellegent and non-rasist

A: #me compliments the orc like mad; "Amazing, you seem so strong and fierce"

--

The combinations are endless.. i was using extremes, and with 3 properties you could create 27 different characters...

So can we have original characters now..

Hope everyone understood that

[Devrah Liioness]

I guess what I was saying was, I don't appreciate people that change their kid characters in one day from running around screaming in all lowercase letters and fighting mummies into sweet, shy bookworms just because it got Rhiannon a lot of success.

Not to be mean, I'm really not trying to here, but the fact is Rhiannon is a successful character not because of her personality but because of the way she is roleplayed. I don't think I'm the best RP'er of children ever or anything, but I do keep pretty consistent with her intelligence, her fears, her opinions, her abilities, etc. As tempting as it is to weild the giant axe someone gave her, I won't, because her physique is such that it would be too heavy for her to wield. She is intelligent but still has the mentality in many ways of a child, and so I can't simultaneously have her be a political guru and know nothing of where babies come from. Do you see what I'm saying here?

I've had players of other children chracters tell me that they don't think it's fair that Rhiannon gets so much attention, and that she is such a popular character. I truly don't think it has anything to do with the way I created her, but with the way I *play* her.

So naturally, it would annoy me to see a bunch of Rhiannon-clones wandering around screaming in capital letters one minute and reading a book about unicorns the next, and fighting mummies the moment after that. Maybe I'm just picky, but it annoys me to see the things I used to build her personality used by children that are, quite frankly, poorly RP'd, to get an adult to think they're cute for five minutes. You want a character that is well-known and liked,

RP THEM CONSISTENTLY.
It's not the rip-off book-nerd stuff that gets them attention. And, incidentally, there is a character that was inspired a lot by Rhiannon that is consistently and rather well-played and it doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, I've helped develop that character's past. So its not about stealing ideas, I guess, but about using them unrealistically.

Okay, done.

[Thalodos Artemetus]

In my opinion, children should be banned or shot (ig obviously )
The age limits on the character creation menu must be there for a reason no?

[Pocal]

I must admit, I am getting sick of 11 year old girls going off and killing 30 mummies in a row. Please, if you play a child, can you play a child??

[Liles]

I hate this classic 'Children players are crap Rpers' Some children chars are very well played.

[Pocal]

But I still find all the combat loving childrend to be out of place. I'm okay if they want to do non-violent crafts, but being 11 and having no problems with killings lizard-folk that are cursed to eternity to be mummies, a little unnormal.

[Drathe]

I blame it on the parents… or guardians.

[Dónal Mason]

Or lack of parents or guardians, possibly.

[Devrah Liioness]

I hate this classic 'Children players are crap Rpers' Some children chars are very well played.

SOME.

And that's true. But on the other hand, imho, some of the absolute worst-played characters are children.

[Liles]

Try playing a kid, its Fun

[Devrah Liioness]

Try playing a kid, its Fun

I'm Rhiannon. Which you would know if you read the entire thread

[Garett Gwenour]

I dislike roleplaying children who can read nearly every book and match wits with adults. But then turn around and can act incredibly childish, making the cliche child's plea for one thing or another.
And keep in mind, an eleven year old in the dark ages (about the time illa is based in) was considered a grown up. The person would have a job and would have to fend for itself. So 11 years old isn't very young and shouldn't really play around, it is just our modern mind set that tells us that children should be able to play while they are still young.

[Dónal Mason]

Keep in mind that pigs are a common commodity, trees grow in no time at all, and demons attack on a regular basis. Although based on our world, it's so far removed, MANY things would be very different.

[Liles]

Try playing a kid, its Fun

I'm Rhiannon. Which you would know if you read the entire thread

Reading? You think a person with my interlangence can read a entires thead?

[Drathe]

yeh Garett Gwenour yeh *shakes his fist in the air* they should be scrubbing Drathe's boots and brushing down his clothes for a copper coin.

But to stay on topic, why are most of the male character all ladies men now? if its not kids, its rouges. I dare say Drathe set the trend *chuckles self mockingly*

[Shandariel el Lysanthrai]

And keep in mind, an eleven year old in the dark ages (about the time illa is based in) was considered a grown up. The person would have a job and would have to fend for itself.

In the dark ages the childhood was already over with 7 years. You had to work and to live like an adult. You even got punished like a 30 year old person. Yes, also death punishments.

after 7 years you was for others grown up.

[Greygar]

People were also married much earlier (with 12-14 years?).

[Devrah Liioness]

Well, we've had this discussion over and over. Illarion is *not*, to my understanding, really based all too much on our world's history and the middle ages concept of our time, but more towards the typical fantasy middle ages setting, in which an appropriate age to be no longer considered a child/to be married is closer to 16.

At least, that is my understanding. As we have magic and such that would theoretically lengthen lifespan it makes sense anyway.

[Gro'bul]

Illarion culture is very unlike medieval Europe. More Greek than anything else what with our voting and "citizenship", not to mention polytheism. The secluded cities lacking unification is also more like the Greek city-states. The marriage in Illarion is modern, not any doubt about that one. When was the last arranged marriage? NEVER (real pity). That pretty much defies every culture in that time period, or an earlier. However Greek girls married around 14 to males about 30 whom were required to perform military service from becoming of age and usually waited. It also depends on what culture the race your character is, since there are several human unique cultures. A few varieties of orcs, generally depending on their god worship. Lizards, elves, halflings, and dwarves are pretty much single culture though.

[Bloodhearte]

Whatever happened to Bloodhearte anyway, is he still floating around in some other guise.

No, just rotting in facility duty until I get put into a class with my fellow marines. Can't download Illarion on these annoyingly secure Department of Defense PC's unfortunately.

[Llama]

Can't download Illarion on these annoyingly secure Department of Defense PC's unfortunately.

YOu know why?

-Soldier > General we have an emergency... we're under attack..

-General > Send them a Pm .. and tell them that they could have at least OOCed us before they attacked? *presses a button on his computer*

-SOlder > ooh is that Rp? *Sits down next to him*

[Bloodhearte]

It'd be more along the lines of:

General - "Beat it private, I'm busy taking over Northerot."

Private - "Aye sir."