HyveMynd
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Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Nov 30, 2017 1:38:47 GMT -8
Hey all. A general question to (hopefully) spark some discussion: What do you do (or have you done) to get into the "headspace" of your character? For the character I'm currently playing, so far I've: - figured out what astrological sign they are (I chose it based on what characteristics I felt they'd already displayed);
- decorated their bedroom (by browsing interior design Pinterest boards);
- chosen a Halloween costume for them (there's a school dance coming up soon).
This was all done as (mostly) lonely fun while I wait for the next session of our game, but I was surprised at how much I had to think about the character and who they were. So I'm curious what other people do to get into the skins of their characters. Anyone wanna share?
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Post by uncommonman on Nov 30, 2017 2:05:30 GMT -8
I usually play: What would my character do in this situation?
This is something I do throughout the non play time while watching movies, reading books or listening to actual play podcasts.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2017 6:53:06 GMT -8
One of the things that has worked well for me in the past is to try and think of TV / film characters that align with my character. That provides a nice shortcut, rather than trying to work out what my character would do I can look at what the inspiration character did do / how they acted.
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Post by ericfromnj on Nov 30, 2017 7:10:37 GMT -8
I make a song list that follows my characters progression up to the point of game so I can take myself through the various emotions that character has felt.
Then I add songs as the adventures go on to remind me of emotions I have felt during game.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2017 10:07:34 GMT -8
For my new L5R game, I made a collage to start so I can, at a glance, see the NPC. I'm using some of Stu's advice about the Shinsei quotes for some... or, in the case of the White Brides, a set of identical twin Crane sisters who enjoy their opium and sake... the old Runaways song Cherry Bomb.
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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Nov 30, 2017 12:07:37 GMT -8
I usually base my characters around movie characters with a twist, so it isn't hard to roll into that mindset. Joe Pesci's "Vinny" from "My Cousin Vinny" as a Russian gangster in the Shadowrun universe isn't hard. Playing "Killer Croc" with a dog friend in the post apocalyptic future in Mutant: Year Zero isn't hard to imagine either.
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Nov 30, 2017 21:12:20 GMT -8
I usually play: What would my character do in this situation? This is something I do throughout the non play time while watching movies, reading books or listening to actual play podcasts. I've not thought to do that during downtime. Cool! One of the things that has worked well for me in the past is to try and think of TV / film characters that align with my character. That provides a nice shortcut, rather than trying to work out what my character would do I can look at what the inspiration character did do / how they acted. That is a good shortcut to "figuring out" how your character would react in certain situations. Does this only work for you if you're consuming media that's the same genre as the game your character is in though uncommonman and @whodo? I make a song list that follows my character's progression up to the point of game so I can take myself through the various emotions that character has felt. Then I add songs as the adventures go on to remind me of emotions I have felt during game. I do stuff with music as well, ericfromnj. But it wasn't a character progression like you describe. For me it's finding songs that I feel represent the character. For my new L5R game, I made a collage to start so I can, at a glance, see the NPC. I'm using some of Stu's advice about the Shinsei quotes for some... or, in the case of the White Brides, a set of identical twin Crane sisters who enjoy their opium and sake... the old Runaways song Cherry Bomb. Character portraits are great @seikuro. Looking at an image of my character is a great way to remind myself "This is me right now." especially if the character's personality is very different from my own. It also really helps to have character portraits to look at when your PCs are hitting on each other. I usually base my characters around movie characters with a twist, so it isn't hard to roll into that mindset. Joe Pesci's "Vinny" from "My Cousin Vinny" as a Russian gangster in the Shadowrun universe isn't hard. Playing "Killer Croc" with a dog friend in the post apocalyptic future in Mutant: Year Zero isn't hard to imagine either. I like that OFTHEHILLPEOPLE. A shortcut to understanding the character but with something different making it distinctly your own. Nice.
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Post by ilina on Nov 30, 2017 21:58:45 GMT -8
i use a third person description, but i try to put at least something into the character action though my issue is i put either too much detail or not enough with no middle ground because i haven't learned to properly conserve the right amount of detail. i can go into 2 or 3 paragraphs of detail that make my stuff harder to understand. i drew a lot from the Witchblade Anime for when i played my adult male Rhakshasa Barbarian who went by the Handle "Shinkuro" or i at least tried to incorporate elements of Masane Amaha's Savage Alter Ego as well as other "Demonic Savage" characters from other works.
literally got graphic with the gore and mutilation i did during combat and was put on probation with that group. literally plucked out a Dwarven Drunkards Eye and ate it in front of an entire tavern crowd during a barroom brawl.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2017 0:10:35 GMT -8
That is a good shortcut to "figuring out" how your character would react in certain situations. Does this only work for you if you're consuming media that's the same genre as the game your character is in though uncommonman and @whodo? No, but it does work best if it's the same genre. It worked really well for a Xander (from Buffy) like character in a smallville game as they were both the unpowered, in over their heads normal of the group. I've used it cross genre, for example Clive Owen's character from Children of Men in an X-men game. There I was going more for the gruff and bitter aspect which I wanted to contrast with the four colour superhero tone.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2017 0:57:24 GMT -8
1) I try to construct their motivations. What do they feel and why? There is a big difference between the cop who joined the force because their dad was gunned down by gangers, the cop who is just carrying on the family tradition, and the cop who joined because of the good benefits package. I know why they do what they do and thus what they are likely to do because of that.
2) I create speach ticks and patterns. Often these are inspired by other characters or steriotypes. Jesse Pinkman calls people “bitch” constantly, valley girls say like every two words, etc. Doing this creates a layer of seperation between the character and the player. Steven doesn’t respond to people “Yeah, Bitch”, but the guy who talks like Pinkman does. I want to create a strong association between the speach of a character and that character so that they are distinct from me as a player.
3) I detail what they carry on their person. Do they have a purse full of everything under the sun? Do they carry a revolver, a 1911, or a polymer frame pistol? Is they pocket knife an heirloom, a cheap clunker from walmart, or an expensive super steel blade? All of these things tell me about the person who carries them. Some of them inform backstory.
4) I leave gaps that exist for being defined in play. Maybe I know my character has a criminal SIN (system identification number), but I leave what he was arrested for open. Later on when we break in to a university to steal chemicals from their lab I reveal that I actually got arrested (and kicked out of the university) for stealing from that very lab. We start to see how the character has ties to chemistry and their criminal past and what lead them to it. None of it was planned, but it was better than the cookie cutter arrest I would have chosen had I forced myself to define that part of the character in advance.
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Post by cadave on Dec 4, 2017 9:38:48 GMT -8
I absolutely second the finding film and tv characters to use as an inner voice. I know that most of you know how terrible I am at voices and accents so I normally don’t do many, but in my head I often use speech patterns from movie characters to give my character a “voice”.
Also, sometimes little things help a lot when figuring out a character. I sat down at a JiB con game once and ended up playing a one handed Viking, so I just purposely stopped using my right hand for the game to kinda feel what that guy would do. Or the “Wrath of the Cons” game we played on stream where I played the drunk DeForest Kelley and I tried to imitate his eye twitch the angrier he got.
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Post by ilina on Dec 4, 2017 22:19:04 GMT -8
i would say any pop culture character works whether you picked them up from an animated show or film, a live action show or film, a radio show, a novel, a comic book or manga, a fanfiction or doujinshi or a video game. or even some less popular form of medium. the key is to know what message you are trying to pass when you imagine your character's inner self. an especially brutal and bloodthirsty character may require less realistic mediums of visual portrayal to be tolerable.
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Dec 4, 2017 23:59:05 GMT -8
I don't think anyone was saying that only characters from TV or film worked. Any piece of media is fine, popular or not. As long as it gives you an example of how the character acts, it works.
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Post by ilina on Dec 5, 2017 18:44:46 GMT -8
I don't think anyone was saying that only characters from TV or film worked. Any piece of media is fine, popular or not. As long as it gives you an example of how the character acts, it works. true. i guess i misunderstood. i tend to be rather thick skulled and oblivious sometimes. Shinkuro and Doctor Ivan Redwood were two of my limited number of characters who made the group freak out because "Ilina is playing a Buff 30 year old Male Combat Oriented Character? that is like 5 things i never seen her play before.". other male characters i played include Julian who was a male Weretiger, who could pass for 26ish, and Victor Grey, who was a badass male ghoul assassin butler with an addiction to pizza. Alexander Hauffman, whom was an Aasimaar Rogue who worked as an Assassin for the Church of Saint Cuthbert Gunsmith, whom was the last male copperscale kobold from his mine and was a lonely gunsmith who became a badass gunslinging hero who developed a bond as a "clutch brother" with a Half Human Lizardfolk Berserker named Guncho Scrungus. i watched a lot of Batman and Black Butler when i made Gunsmith, Alexander and Victor and i watched a Lot of Full Metal Alchemist and Hellsing when i made Julian, and i looked up inspiration from the Fallout Wiki when i made Doctor Redwood. a lot of the characters i played in the last 2 years were huge diversion from my MO. but i tend to be in a lot of short lived groups, so i have a lot of characters,
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Post by ericfromnj on Dec 5, 2017 19:09:52 GMT -8
Hyve, it also includes songs that represent my character, but just adds some to represent things that have happened in the past too. Heck, at first you could say the soundtrack is both because not a lot of significant stuff happened with the character, but as stuff happens songs become part of the soundtrack of the character's history. There's even songs that make me think of other characters.
I like using music but admittedly it's mostly for LARP because I can drive to the event listening to the soundtrack.
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