CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?

First time double posting, but I guess I should add something at least:

Most who make games to please others find a harder time enjoying what they do.

bahleted

When designing characters/ a plot, I make my basic plot outline, then flesh out my characters.

Then I can think of scenes/situations and how the character would react. It sounds fairly simple but just conjouring up a scene in your head and just letting them behave as you've designated can not only allow you to get a firmer grasp on them and your story but figure out OTHER traits that would be appropriate.

If not in your head, just grab some paper or a word doc and start just typing random shit. Who knows, you might come up with something good from all the incoherent rambling. Or is that just me?

It can be hard sometimes to flesh out character stories for the late game joiners... Especially if it's a big cast. But everyone should be in the game for a reason.
(nothing I've ever made or wrote fits this rule. Usually I just toss whoever into the mix and let it sort itself out)

author=Karsuman
kyrsty specialized in incoherent rambling on IRC too

It's my specialty everywhere.

Anyway I pretty much do what C_L does, though I having a plot at first is generally necessary in order to give the character motivations, goals, reactions, a personality...every moment in a character's life defines them more deeply, just as people are. Think of your characters as people, sponges that absorb information, and apply it to character development.

Bonehead, basing them on people is all well and good but the fact of the matter is that it's highly unlikely the people you know will encounter the same issues and problems faced by their fictional counterpart. This means that you can't keep them exactly as they are; they are going to develop and change through new experiences. How they deal with these is up to the writer's discretion.

Another problem is that friendships sometimes fall apart and we end up drifting away from people we thought we knew well. This makes it awkward and touchy to continue writing stories featuring them because of the inability to talk to them on a regular basis. And if the friendship did break up, having that character there probably means you're going to take out your anger on them, putting them into unlikely, reckless and out of context situations just to make yourself feel good while it confuses your player.

A good idea is to take TRAITS from the people you meet rather than fully basing them on the person or even making them similar. Downplaying and exaggerating traits is a good thing to work with as well. You've got to make sure the character fits the time, setting, and plot in a way that's appropriate and engaging.

Basing characters on real life people seems awkward to me. I find it much easier to base the characters on whatever personalities I want them to have then picking one a real person has. And as I said in an earlier post, I can go more in-dept and develop them once I figure out their place in the plot.

I think we have different methods that work for us and what's easier for some, is harder for others. Also, for those who have a poor talent in this field, writing characters may be hard no matter what approach they use.

Yeah I have a character on my storyboard whose only description is "Dr. Gregory House, Blue Mage"

But I'm pretty good with characters so I figure I'll flesh him out before too long. Plus, I think that's a pretty good start.