Posts Tagged by character
| December 7, 2009 | Posted by Scott Martin |
Character Visions and Designs There are many approaches to developing characters. Some authors talk about characters who leap into their mind, fully formed and in the middle of an iconic scene, while others talk about characters who “take on a life of their own” as they write. Visual players may imagine their character in a pose and start by sketching their badass hero. System often suggests characters– a Holy Warrior could fit many games, but a Paladin or Jedi is specific to a setting or…
| April 8, 2009 | Posted by Walt Ciechanowski |
Piggy-backing a bit on yesterday’s Johnny’s Five, one tool that I’ve found useful in fleshing out characters is to ask one question at the beginning of each session and let the players answer it (and answer it myself for NPCs). The questions are generally “every day” type of stuff, things that have little impact on mechanics (unless you’re playing an RPG that includes mechanics for such things) but really help to establish a character’s personality and mannerisms. Examples include: – Does your…
| November 6, 2008 | Posted by Scott Martin |
Recently Vanir brought back a good post about the spotlight– who gets personal (as opposed to group) attention. Much of the article is about how a player should treat spotlight time, which started me along a path of thinking– who is responsible for spotlight distribution? Before I dive in, let’s figure out what we mean by spotlight. (Or cheat, and just use Martin’s definition in GMing 142: Spotlight Moments.) In some games, the default assumption is that each character acts alone, on essentially parallel but…
| August 21, 2008 | Posted by Scott Martin |
When does a character’s story start? Books and novels often begin just as some exciting event kicks the characters out of their routine and pushes them on a new path. Occasionally the movie will give you a few minutes, or the book a few chapters, to get used to the character’s normal life– then it all changes. Thanks to A Butterfly Dreaming for inspiring this post and its sequel with Character Development: Flashbacks. There are a number of techniques you can borrow to include character…
| June 17, 2008 | Posted by Walt Ciechanowski |
Whenever I start a new campaign, I try to run a “pilot adventure.” In television, a potential television series shoots a pilot to convince broadcasters to carry it. Pilot episodes are usually a little rough around the edges and certain elements are smoothed out, removed, or changed prior to the series proper. A good pilot adventure can set the tone for the campaign and give the players a good idea of what to expect. A pilot adventure is also a good tool to use to vet…
