-Roleplaying and Writing Tips-
Advice for smooth roleplaying, interesting characters, and overall fun! These tips also work well for other writing projects, from the occasional short story to full-fledged novels and sagas.
Other Roleplay and Writing Tips:
Characters
The lifeblood of a good story. The better the character, the greater the story becomes!
Never conform the character to the story; let the story flow around the character.
That is, don't make the character do something just because you or someone else wants the character to do it. Rather, let the character be itself and respond to situations the way it would in real life. Nothing is more frustrating than a character who changes personality on a dime because the writer wanted it to do something, rather than writing what the character would have done.
That is, don't make the character do something just because you or someone else wants the character to do it. Rather, let the character be itself and respond to situations the way it would in real life. Nothing is more frustrating than a character who changes personality on a dime because the writer wanted it to do something, rather than writing what the character would have done.
Think of the flaws as a way to have fun!
Ever heard of a “Mary Sue” or “Gary Stu”? These are nicknames for “perfect characters”. That is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them (in the writer's eyes), which basically gives them the go-ahead to do whatever they want. They can live through anything, resolve any situation, and never have flashbacks or problems in their lives. Sounds like a horrible thing to roleplay with, right? You are correct, good sir! Don't be afraid to give your character flaws. It's the flaws that make the character interesting! Plus, writing with the flaws in mind is good practice for real writing situations.
Ever heard of a “Mary Sue” or “Gary Stu”? These are nicknames for “perfect characters”. That is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them (in the writer's eyes), which basically gives them the go-ahead to do whatever they want. They can live through anything, resolve any situation, and never have flashbacks or problems in their lives. Sounds like a horrible thing to roleplay with, right? You are correct, good sir! Don't be afraid to give your character flaws. It's the flaws that make the character interesting! Plus, writing with the flaws in mind is good practice for real writing situations.
Don't go overboard on the flaws either. Benefits are good too!
The exact opposite of a Mary Sue or Gary Stu is pretty much the same thing, but with “anti-” attached to the front of it. These “Anti-Sues” and “Anti-Stus” are almost as bad as their perfect counterparts, in that they're horribly boring and imperfect in their ways (and almost never helpful for the story). A good image for comparing the two is like associating a Mary Sue with a popular girl in high school, and an Anti-Sue with some mopy emo girl in the same school. One always gets everything she wants, while the other spends her time doing nothing but complaining about how horrible everything is and failing at everything she does. Not any better than a regular Sue. The trick, folks, is balance: a good amount of flaws, a good amount of benefits, and you have a good character! Though remember, everything about your character could contribute to its “Sueness”, including its history and appearance!
The exact opposite of a Mary Sue or Gary Stu is pretty much the same thing, but with “anti-” attached to the front of it. These “Anti-Sues” and “Anti-Stus” are almost as bad as their perfect counterparts, in that they're horribly boring and imperfect in their ways (and almost never helpful for the story). A good image for comparing the two is like associating a Mary Sue with a popular girl in high school, and an Anti-Sue with some mopy emo girl in the same school. One always gets everything she wants, while the other spends her time doing nothing but complaining about how horrible everything is and failing at everything she does. Not any better than a regular Sue. The trick, folks, is balance: a good amount of flaws, a good amount of benefits, and you have a good character! Though remember, everything about your character could contribute to its “Sueness”, including its history and appearance!
Avoid trends unless the roleplay or particular situation calls for it.
If Mary Sues are the annoying perfect characters, and the Anti-Sues are the annoying imperfect characters, then a “trendy” character is all of that but twice the boring factor. Avoid trends, make your character interesting and unique! Remember, trends never start out trendy. Someone somewhere had to introduce that thing to society, and everyone loved it so much that it caught on and produced a trend. Internet memes and fads work the same way. The problem with this though is that eventually the concept is exhausted because everyone everywhere is using it, and it becomes trite, hence why trends and similar things are changed and discarded so quickly. Yet, just like overdosing on flaws, sometimes having a few trendy factors can enhance your character rather than ruin it. Think of it like garlic powder: too much and your mouth is on fire, but not enough and the food is bland.
To help you avoid making an overly trendy character, these are the character trends, typically used by kids and preteens, at the moment that I'm typing this (2017, so pertaining mostly to the Millenial, X, Y, and a touch of Z generations):
If Mary Sues are the annoying perfect characters, and the Anti-Sues are the annoying imperfect characters, then a “trendy” character is all of that but twice the boring factor. Avoid trends, make your character interesting and unique! Remember, trends never start out trendy. Someone somewhere had to introduce that thing to society, and everyone loved it so much that it caught on and produced a trend. Internet memes and fads work the same way. The problem with this though is that eventually the concept is exhausted because everyone everywhere is using it, and it becomes trite, hence why trends and similar things are changed and discarded so quickly. Yet, just like overdosing on flaws, sometimes having a few trendy factors can enhance your character rather than ruin it. Think of it like garlic powder: too much and your mouth is on fire, but not enough and the food is bland.
To help you avoid making an overly trendy character, these are the character trends, typically used by kids and preteens, at the moment that I'm typing this (2017, so pertaining mostly to the Millenial, X, Y, and a touch of Z generations):
- Names that mean night/darkness/black/pain/dementia/etc. i.e., “Nyx”, “Tenabrae”, “Raven”.
- Overly long or complicated names (includes pronunciation). i.e., “Nyx Tenebris Ebony Dark'ness Dementia”.
- The character has an Asian name (usually Japanese or Korean), and has distinct anime traits.
- Including something like mental illness in the character (and not knowing how to play a character like that... “insanity” as a generalized illness is extremely common, and too often misplayed. Remember, the definition of insanity is just to do something repeatedly and expect different results).
- Adding onto the mental illness idea, making your entire character's personality nothing but that illness (which is not only silly, but limits you as the writer).
- Having a human/humanoid character with dark, multi-colored hair (especially in the “emo cut”, where some of the hair is draped over one eye) and/or blindingly-white skin/albino traits.
- Having the character be absurdly smart for no apparent reason (as though it researched anything and everything it could (somehow) within its lifetime or has infinite wisdom) and be able to figure out nearly any situation in a single guess.
- Having the character be a furry (animal person) or have animal features that don't inconvenience them (typically used: cat ears, cat/dragon tails, and demon or dragon wings/angel wings (I find it amusing that they're always “angel wings” and not “bird wings”, even though typical angel wings are bird wings...)).
- The character can somehow transform flawlessly, instantly, into a creature (usually a dragon, unicorn, or any creature it wants/knows of), and knows how to be that creature without any practice whatsoever.
- The character is a demon/angel/vampire/immortal/etc., or is descended from something similar (often while inheriting unusual visual traits from the "abnormal parent"). Bloodlines with gothic or mythical creatures mixed in as a justification for having superpowers and animal parts are very common.
- The character is an absurd hybrid that, instead of gathering flaws from its parents, only gathered the benefits and abilities (and especially had some flaws cancelled out, such as a vampire-werewolf hybrid being able to be in sunlight because of the werewolf side despite the vampire side not liking it).
- The character is of royal blood, or is a heir to a throne somewhere, or a similar situation. Often included is despite the royal heritage, the character hates its status like it's a plague.
- The character's family was suddenly and unexpectedly kidnapped/murdered, but the character somehow escaped the murderer and lived without even a scratch (or sometimes, has some weird scar or birthmark as evidence of the event).
- The character has an overwhelming, unnecessary desire for vengeance and wants to avenge its slain/captured family/friends.
- The character is obsessed with adventure and looking for its “true love”.
- The character is the last of its line/is unique in a similar regard.
- The character has an extremely loyal pet companion who follows it everywhere (and can usually talk, and can definitely usually talk only to its owner through some special language/bond/other means that no one else can understand).
- The character is insanely attractive and/or has other characters, especially canon ones, instantly attracted to it for no apparent reason.
- Canon characters attracted to the character suddenly start acting like completely different people, and practically pledge loyalty to the character and abandon their responsibilities, never leaving its side.
- Anyone attracted to the character is brutally murdered somewhere in the timeline as an excuse for making the character angry and showing off its wrath (and the character can somehow win any fight while in “wrath mode” due to its dead lover(s)).
- The character, should it have a canon lover, will suddenly take up all of the responsibilities that its lover abandoned as though it's no big deal, including leading big missions.
- If the character's lover isn't brutally murdered, the other scenarios usually include the lover fawning ceaselessly over the character, or being demonized if it doesn't show full support.
- The character is much more powerful than all of its peers, including the main antagonist.
- The character can somehow magically learn/guess the antagonist's plans, and can thwart those plans with little difficulty.
- The character easily defeats the main antagonist, its minions, etc. and magically restores peace and happiness to whatever place is affected by the antagonist.
- The character is a wolf-dragon hybrid, and/or has incredible power over some darkness element (Dark, Night, Black Magic, etc.)
- The character can easily make friends, and the friends literally become incapable of betraying or otherwise humiliating the character, and may even glorify the character and/or become infatuated by them.
Don't be afraid to really delve into character development!
The more you focus on your character and develop it, the more interesting it can become. From between 2012-2014 (I can't remember exactly), I created an antagonist who, at first, was just another boring antagonist. He had power, he wanted to conquer the world, and he hated the protagonist with a burning passion. He was a very stereotypical, boring pawn in some fantastical story about freeing a region from his iron grasp. Yet, at this moment, I can describe in detail about tons of different things concerning him and his race (he's an alien, of course, it's me!), and differentiate him from others of his own kind. I could ramble off a bunch of facts to prove it! This is good for creating a very life-like character. A good way to achieve this is to have an "interview" with your own character, and figure out what it agrees one, disagrees on, and is passionate about.
If you “ask” your character questions like these, how would the character respond?
The more you focus on your character and develop it, the more interesting it can become. From between 2012-2014 (I can't remember exactly), I created an antagonist who, at first, was just another boring antagonist. He had power, he wanted to conquer the world, and he hated the protagonist with a burning passion. He was a very stereotypical, boring pawn in some fantastical story about freeing a region from his iron grasp. Yet, at this moment, I can describe in detail about tons of different things concerning him and his race (he's an alien, of course, it's me!), and differentiate him from others of his own kind. I could ramble off a bunch of facts to prove it! This is good for creating a very life-like character. A good way to achieve this is to have an "interview" with your own character, and figure out what it agrees one, disagrees on, and is passionate about.
If you “ask” your character questions like these, how would the character respond?
- Where were you born or raised?
- Why do you dislike <Person X>?
- Why do you like <Person Y>?
- Why do you believe you were given your name? Would you change your name if you could? Why would you change it?
- If you were on the brink of death, or in a survival situation, what would you do? Would you search for help first, or try to make it on your own?
- How would you react if you were given everything you wanted?
- Do you believe in religion, or deities, or turning points?
- What are your preferred weapons? Why would you use or not use a weapon?
- If anyone has ever hurt your in your life, would you forgive those people of it later on?
- What is your answer for world peace/making a utopia? Do you believe such a thing is possible?
- Do you fidget, stutter, grow overly excited, or have other quirks?
- Do you have qualms with others of your kind due to cultural differences/past experiences/etc.? Do you like anyone in particular for the same reasons?
- What sort of house do you like?
- Do you have any phobias or manias? (Fears or irrepressible urges?)
- How do you prefer the weather?
- Do you prefer being cooped up inside all the time, or running around outside?
- What other skills do you have - if any at all - that not many other people know about?
- Why do you communicate the way you do? Do you know anyone who communicates differently?
- Are you a possessive person? Casual? Uptight? Easy-going or anxious?
- Do you focus on the past and bringing it back, or do you keep your eyes on the future and its promises?
Real life can be helpful, even in fantasy.
If some guy simply ran up to your doorstep, bashed the door down, and ran into your room screaming “HELP! There's an evil, hungry dragon and it wants to eat me!! Give me a gun!”, what would you do? Perhaps your confident character would just say “No problem!” and help him defeat the dragon, but even I, in real life, would pause for several long moments, staring at the man with a blank expression. It's too random, too weird, and I don't even know the guy! Why arm him? Besides, maybe I want to talk to the dragon... if there is one...
What I mean is, if you're having trouble writing about your character's reactions realistically, simulate it in a real-life situation, or think about what you would do when in the character's situation, and go from there. Granted, unless the character is personal to you, you can't write down the reaction exactly, or it's a carbon-copy reaction that pulls your creation out of character. Yet, putting yourself in your character's shoes can help immensely with taking the next step in a dire situation, especially if you're trying to avoid perfect/anti-perfect characters.
If some guy simply ran up to your doorstep, bashed the door down, and ran into your room screaming “HELP! There's an evil, hungry dragon and it wants to eat me!! Give me a gun!”, what would you do? Perhaps your confident character would just say “No problem!” and help him defeat the dragon, but even I, in real life, would pause for several long moments, staring at the man with a blank expression. It's too random, too weird, and I don't even know the guy! Why arm him? Besides, maybe I want to talk to the dragon... if there is one...
What I mean is, if you're having trouble writing about your character's reactions realistically, simulate it in a real-life situation, or think about what you would do when in the character's situation, and go from there. Granted, unless the character is personal to you, you can't write down the reaction exactly, or it's a carbon-copy reaction that pulls your creation out of character. Yet, putting yourself in your character's shoes can help immensely with taking the next step in a dire situation, especially if you're trying to avoid perfect/anti-perfect characters.
Don't be worried about evolving your character over time.
Having your character change personality seemingly in seconds, or even taking as long as days, isn't a good thing unless it's a rare turning point that is occurring to the character, or something has happened to the character that would cause it to act that way (like hypnosis, a curse, or a unusually traumatic event). However, not having your character change at all just throws you back to step one: a boring, predictable character. With that said, having a little bit of change that occurs over several months or even years of in-canon development can give your character a colorful history and enhance it.
Back to my previously-stereotypical antagonist, he originally hated the protagonist so much that he swore he would kill her at every chance he had, and every time he failed to kill her he would punish himself for it, but after a few years (many, many long years in the timeline of the universe, as well as one forced change on his personality (a spell/blessing) and quite a bit of tolerance) I developed his personality to be able to cope with the existence of the protagonist, maybe even grudgingly work with her! Granted, in terms of books he became a grudging helper after several novels, not including the periods of time that I'm not planning on writing, but the turning point that caused him to become less hostile adds more to his history, as well as making him a more interesting person. Anyone reading that would be asking many questions right now (good questions), asking themselves why the antagonist would do that, and becoming more curious and intrigued about the character. This is a good thing. It adds substance to the being, and makes it seem more real than it really is. That's the magic of writing and world-building!
Having your character change personality seemingly in seconds, or even taking as long as days, isn't a good thing unless it's a rare turning point that is occurring to the character, or something has happened to the character that would cause it to act that way (like hypnosis, a curse, or a unusually traumatic event). However, not having your character change at all just throws you back to step one: a boring, predictable character. With that said, having a little bit of change that occurs over several months or even years of in-canon development can give your character a colorful history and enhance it.
Back to my previously-stereotypical antagonist, he originally hated the protagonist so much that he swore he would kill her at every chance he had, and every time he failed to kill her he would punish himself for it, but after a few years (many, many long years in the timeline of the universe, as well as one forced change on his personality (a spell/blessing) and quite a bit of tolerance) I developed his personality to be able to cope with the existence of the protagonist, maybe even grudgingly work with her! Granted, in terms of books he became a grudging helper after several novels, not including the periods of time that I'm not planning on writing, but the turning point that caused him to become less hostile adds more to his history, as well as making him a more interesting person. Anyone reading that would be asking many questions right now (good questions), asking themselves why the antagonist would do that, and becoming more curious and intrigued about the character. This is a good thing. It adds substance to the being, and makes it seem more real than it really is. That's the magic of writing and world-building!
Logic is logic.
Don't make your character do something illogical! Think of my antagonist: it's believable that he would eventually grow to tolerate his enemy after a decade or two and quite a bit of grooming from a few allies (to be honest, they were just buffers at the time), but imagine if he simply woke up one morning and decided, “Hey, I'm crazy! There's nothing wrong with that person. She's nice, she protects people, and she certainly didn't hate me before. What's wrong with me? I'm changing this instant!”
Reader: BORING! That doesn't make any sense!
Exactly! Why would the antagonist do that? Not only is he already integrated into the story as “that guy who hates this person that the reader loves”, but in real life, if he were to do such a thing, his soldiers would stare at him in bewilderment, maybe even overthrow him of his power thinking he went mad, perhaps even lock him up in a dungeon! He would have personal demons gnawing at his soul, telling him that he failed, he backed down, he chose the “wussy pacifist side” and decided to be all nice and friendly. Telling him that he's worthless, putting irritating imagery of him wandering around handing out apologetic flowers into his head and certainly driving him crazy (and think about it, as I'm writing this down, you're learning more about his personality, huh?)
Logic is logic. Don't make your character do something illogical, or all of your hard work into making a believable character is for naught. Don't undo all of that work!
Don't make your character do something illogical! Think of my antagonist: it's believable that he would eventually grow to tolerate his enemy after a decade or two and quite a bit of grooming from a few allies (to be honest, they were just buffers at the time), but imagine if he simply woke up one morning and decided, “Hey, I'm crazy! There's nothing wrong with that person. She's nice, she protects people, and she certainly didn't hate me before. What's wrong with me? I'm changing this instant!”
Reader: BORING! That doesn't make any sense!
Exactly! Why would the antagonist do that? Not only is he already integrated into the story as “that guy who hates this person that the reader loves”, but in real life, if he were to do such a thing, his soldiers would stare at him in bewilderment, maybe even overthrow him of his power thinking he went mad, perhaps even lock him up in a dungeon! He would have personal demons gnawing at his soul, telling him that he failed, he backed down, he chose the “wussy pacifist side” and decided to be all nice and friendly. Telling him that he's worthless, putting irritating imagery of him wandering around handing out apologetic flowers into his head and certainly driving him crazy (and think about it, as I'm writing this down, you're learning more about his personality, huh?)
Logic is logic. Don't make your character do something illogical, or all of your hard work into making a believable character is for naught. Don't undo all of that work!
If you're not comfortable roleplaying a certain aspect, don't put it in.
I have another story where the protagonist is the bad guy, and part of the story is that he's slowly being driven mad by his vengeful father's ghost, dabbling in black magic and reintroducing evil into a once-peaceful society, an age of innocence. However, one of the ways that this person reconnects with his father and is slowly brainwashed by him is through nightmares that are actually his father's memories, and some of those memories... definitely deserve a fade-to-black effect, and the things those memories encourage him to do even more so. I'm still not super comfortable about writing some of it, but I'm definitely more comfortable than I was when I first thought up the idea. I have a similar situation for some of the other books I write (I don't write many adult books, but every now and then one slips out).
Yet, not all books have to go into nasty details, especially if the writer isn't comfortable with it! Fade-to-black is a very effective method of navigating around particularly unpleasant scenes that are still relevant to the story (think of those old movies where the protagonist would slay the antagonist, but the only thing that's shown is some yelling and maybe the shadows of the scene on a far wall). If you don't like writing something or describing something a character would do, either put it off for later or don't make it part of your character at all. Remember, only write what you want to write.
I have another story where the protagonist is the bad guy, and part of the story is that he's slowly being driven mad by his vengeful father's ghost, dabbling in black magic and reintroducing evil into a once-peaceful society, an age of innocence. However, one of the ways that this person reconnects with his father and is slowly brainwashed by him is through nightmares that are actually his father's memories, and some of those memories... definitely deserve a fade-to-black effect, and the things those memories encourage him to do even more so. I'm still not super comfortable about writing some of it, but I'm definitely more comfortable than I was when I first thought up the idea. I have a similar situation for some of the other books I write (I don't write many adult books, but every now and then one slips out).
Yet, not all books have to go into nasty details, especially if the writer isn't comfortable with it! Fade-to-black is a very effective method of navigating around particularly unpleasant scenes that are still relevant to the story (think of those old movies where the protagonist would slay the antagonist, but the only thing that's shown is some yelling and maybe the shadows of the scene on a far wall). If you don't like writing something or describing something a character would do, either put it off for later or don't make it part of your character at all. Remember, only write what you want to write.
Aliens are aliens, not people!
This is more relevant to character design than character development, but it's just as important.
One thing that bothers me to no end is an extraterrestrial “alien” character who's just a slightly-different looking person, who shares, understands, and/or easily learns human customs and languages. Think of Star Trek. Granted, back in that show's heyday it required a handsome sum to have realistic effects for actually-alien things, and such things were usually more horrifying than humanoid like the aliens in Star Trek were supposed to be (see: the puppetry required for Alien and The Thing). However, the joke of “aliens are just people with nose putty” is actually true in many universes, and those "aliens" are still being made to this day.
Modern technology and plenty of creative minds can prevent more “nose-putty aliens” from being made. There are so many tools at the world's disposal, we should be drowning in crazy, fun, weird-looking aliens! There are even character creators online that you can use to play around with character design, if you want visuals but don't have good drawing skills or know anyone who does. I strongly encourage making your alien characters completely and utterly bizarre; design literally anything you want! Go absolutely nuts with it! (I certainly won't stop you, have you seen the Artist's Scrolls?!) Don't just make a little green guy with large black eyes and a petite build. Give him tendrils, give him telepathy, give him the ability to levitate, give him tails with eyes on them and maybe rows of shark-like teeth! Give him a mane of fur and maybe a loping gait! Please, give him something! Aliens are aliens, not people! An alien with nose-putty, off-color skin, or animal traits is no different from a human than a white Irish guy is from a black Amazonian guy. Go all out with your alien's design, even be as creative as to think up reasons for his different traits, and if some features of the species are dependent on the ecosystem he came from. Develop his history, his culture, his people, even his planet! Don't make another nose-putty alien when you have so much creative freedom!
This is more relevant to character design than character development, but it's just as important.
One thing that bothers me to no end is an extraterrestrial “alien” character who's just a slightly-different looking person, who shares, understands, and/or easily learns human customs and languages. Think of Star Trek. Granted, back in that show's heyday it required a handsome sum to have realistic effects for actually-alien things, and such things were usually more horrifying than humanoid like the aliens in Star Trek were supposed to be (see: the puppetry required for Alien and The Thing). However, the joke of “aliens are just people with nose putty” is actually true in many universes, and those "aliens" are still being made to this day.
Modern technology and plenty of creative minds can prevent more “nose-putty aliens” from being made. There are so many tools at the world's disposal, we should be drowning in crazy, fun, weird-looking aliens! There are even character creators online that you can use to play around with character design, if you want visuals but don't have good drawing skills or know anyone who does. I strongly encourage making your alien characters completely and utterly bizarre; design literally anything you want! Go absolutely nuts with it! (I certainly won't stop you, have you seen the Artist's Scrolls?!) Don't just make a little green guy with large black eyes and a petite build. Give him tendrils, give him telepathy, give him the ability to levitate, give him tails with eyes on them and maybe rows of shark-like teeth! Give him a mane of fur and maybe a loping gait! Please, give him something! Aliens are aliens, not people! An alien with nose-putty, off-color skin, or animal traits is no different from a human than a white Irish guy is from a black Amazonian guy. Go all out with your alien's design, even be as creative as to think up reasons for his different traits, and if some features of the species are dependent on the ecosystem he came from. Develop his history, his culture, his people, even his planet! Don't make another nose-putty alien when you have so much creative freedom!
Make sure you fully understand your character's class/profession before roleplaying it.
Some people fill out sheets with characters that are almost impossible to exist simply because they don't know what the classes they gave to their characters are. One person made me chuckle with both amusement and concern by having a quote for one of his characters in his signature, and the quote declared the personality of a noble knight, and yet the character described himself as a "mercenary", which is a person that kills other people for money (assassins are similar, but they will kill people based on other driving forces as well, such as orders, creed, and allegiance). You can't be a noble knight if you only attack people based on how much you're being paid to do it!
Always be aware of what class you are giving your character, and make sure your character fits that class as well. If your character doesn't fit, either change the class into something that does fit, or change your character to better fit what you want to play. With me personally, if a class doesn't fit, but I like the character, I won't change the character but I will save it for later and create a new character better fitting the class I want. That way I don't feel like I'm forcing my character into a box, which is bad for roleplaying.
If you're having trouble deciding what to do, note that it's always easier to change the class into something that fits the character, rather than changing the character to fit the class.
Some people fill out sheets with characters that are almost impossible to exist simply because they don't know what the classes they gave to their characters are. One person made me chuckle with both amusement and concern by having a quote for one of his characters in his signature, and the quote declared the personality of a noble knight, and yet the character described himself as a "mercenary", which is a person that kills other people for money (assassins are similar, but they will kill people based on other driving forces as well, such as orders, creed, and allegiance). You can't be a noble knight if you only attack people based on how much you're being paid to do it!
Always be aware of what class you are giving your character, and make sure your character fits that class as well. If your character doesn't fit, either change the class into something that does fit, or change your character to better fit what you want to play. With me personally, if a class doesn't fit, but I like the character, I won't change the character but I will save it for later and create a new character better fitting the class I want. That way I don't feel like I'm forcing my character into a box, which is bad for roleplaying.
If you're having trouble deciding what to do, note that it's always easier to change the class into something that fits the character, rather than changing the character to fit the class.
NO FANSERVICE!!!
Did I stress that enough for you? Can you tell that this is a really, really bad thing?
Well, but what is "fanservice"?
Fanservice is when you appeal to your readers by forcing characters to behave differently (which, ironically, breaks their character) or having unnecessary or illogical events happen, in order to satisfy and achieve the respect of noisy fans. This can occur in any way, including changing a character's design or reactions.
You may be wondering, what's wrong with fanservice? Wouldn't fanservice, since you're appealing to people, make you more popular? Actually, this is one of those funny cases where your intention backfires and you end up losing good fans and gaining bad ones! The bad fans are the ones who want you to change what your writing to suit their needs, and more often than not, they just want crummy, crude, sexual behaviors and human infighting and drama to take over the story. It's just bad, bad, bad.
Believe it or not, this does actually apply to roleplaying as much as it does standalone writing, although it's less of a problem because roleplayers are already expecting to work together and rule out certain things from happening because not everyone agrees on it. At the same time, if most people do agree on it, you're going to find yourself sitting in a roleplay that's turned into fanservice for the players. I've actually witnessed this, when a roleplay meant to be about multiverse adventures and fixing the megaverse devolved into "soft gay boi" fantasies, where characters were being added just for the sake of being in a homosexual relationship with some other character from another universe. It's fine if that's what the roleplay is about, but it wasn't, and that's the core of the fanservice problem, right there. Readers and roleplayers alike have expectations when they pick up a book or a forum thread. Destroying those expectations results in unhappy people.
In detail, here are the biggest problems with fanservice:
Did I stress that enough for you? Can you tell that this is a really, really bad thing?
Well, but what is "fanservice"?
Fanservice is when you appeal to your readers by forcing characters to behave differently (which, ironically, breaks their character) or having unnecessary or illogical events happen, in order to satisfy and achieve the respect of noisy fans. This can occur in any way, including changing a character's design or reactions.
You may be wondering, what's wrong with fanservice? Wouldn't fanservice, since you're appealing to people, make you more popular? Actually, this is one of those funny cases where your intention backfires and you end up losing good fans and gaining bad ones! The bad fans are the ones who want you to change what your writing to suit their needs, and more often than not, they just want crummy, crude, sexual behaviors and human infighting and drama to take over the story. It's just bad, bad, bad.
Believe it or not, this does actually apply to roleplaying as much as it does standalone writing, although it's less of a problem because roleplayers are already expecting to work together and rule out certain things from happening because not everyone agrees on it. At the same time, if most people do agree on it, you're going to find yourself sitting in a roleplay that's turned into fanservice for the players. I've actually witnessed this, when a roleplay meant to be about multiverse adventures and fixing the megaverse devolved into "soft gay boi" fantasies, where characters were being added just for the sake of being in a homosexual relationship with some other character from another universe. It's fine if that's what the roleplay is about, but it wasn't, and that's the core of the fanservice problem, right there. Readers and roleplayers alike have expectations when they pick up a book or a forum thread. Destroying those expectations results in unhappy people.
In detail, here are the biggest problems with fanservice:
- Your characters act out-of-character, confusing and irritating the readers who didn't want or expect the change.
- You lose the continuity of your story because the plot is no longer considered important.
- You stop writing the story for the story, and the story warps into an unpleasant, get-thrills-quick monstrosity.
- Your story changes to the point that it technically doesn't belong to you anymore. At that point, it belongs to the fans, because you're doing everything that the fans want, not you.
- Some fans aren't loud, and good fans will almost never comment. They just want to read the next wonderful thing that you'll be writing! Those who speak up and demand changes to the story or content tend to be more selfish people that just want to see your characters do something they normally wouldn't, and if you appeal to this you'll lose your good fans, even embitter them because you started performing fanservice.
- You end up with more rowdy fans that want you to perform more fanservice and drop your story overall, and despite them being a smaller group their constant nagging will drive you mad. They aren't in it for the story, just the pointless thrills and drama.
- Most fanservice isn't even good. It tends to be adult content, such as having characters sleep around, dress slutty, hurt other people for the sake of hurting people, or act like psychopathic territorial gorillas to one another. That stuff is just garbage. Do you really want to write about that?
- You turn your story into another hormonal teenage drama. As if we don't have enough of that in society these days...
- You lose motivation to work on your story because it no longer represents your original idea. That can lead into depression and viewing your story as just more work.
Don't be afraid to "be offensive".
This is more of a recent development - "recent" as in from Millenials to Generation Z - but has weaseled its way into first-world culture just enough that it warrants a mention. The issue is that there's not much good content anymore because everyone is trying too hard to "not be offensive" and "be inclusive/diverse". The buzzword for this at the moment is "woke". You may have heard it in the phrase "go woke, go broke", referring to big-name titles, remakes of movies, sports teams and channels, etc. suddenly losing millions of dollars in income every year because they alienated fans by adopting politically-correct policies. Sadly, it's a real thing.
I'm going to be blunt, here: it doesn't matter if the public finds you inclusive or inoffensive, or the other way around. Write what you want to write - and, in extension of roleplaying, how your fellow roleplayers would react - in a way that doesn't make you uncomfortable. Note the very specific wording there; sometimes there's just one person who will be offended and leave, but if you don't want that to happen, yes, you should consider the content you offer before hitting that post button. However, maybe you don't mind if the person leaves, and you two can argue on appropriate content in OOC before reaching a solution. Sometimes it's the inverse of the situation, where you're the odd one out, in which case, that evidently isn't the roleplaying group for you and you will likely be happier leaving and finding a group more suited to your tastes.
Roleplaying shouldn't be work, or stressful. It should be relaxing, and constantly worrying about "offensive content" or virtue-signalling does not help with that. This links to character playing and creation, too; don't make characters homosexual for the sake of having homosexual couples so no one does a double take of you, and don't rag on other people just people their characters aren't racially diverse or "strong" for the genders they're using. We all have our own opinions, and yeah, those will pop up in writing because that's a way we express our opinions. If you ever find yourself estranged though because of those opinions, whether they're yours or another player's, it's worthwhile to consider the benefits and consequences of both leaving or staying and ignoring the tension.
With all of that said, it's also important to note that some "offensive" characteristics are also the most memorable and lovable ones, even if the feelings among the populace are mixed. I have my share of non-politically-correct characters, and a fair amount of more respectful ones as well, so I know what walking on those eggshells is like. Believe me, it's okay to have heterosexual characters, or characters with ghetto accents, or really stereotypical masculine characters; they have an impact on the reader, as they should! Remember, your audience is always broader than the people you hear, and in terms of roleplaying, you only need to listen to your fellow roleplayers; and again, if you ever need to hash out with them what's okay and what isn't, that's perfectly fine too.
This is more of a recent development - "recent" as in from Millenials to Generation Z - but has weaseled its way into first-world culture just enough that it warrants a mention. The issue is that there's not much good content anymore because everyone is trying too hard to "not be offensive" and "be inclusive/diverse". The buzzword for this at the moment is "woke". You may have heard it in the phrase "go woke, go broke", referring to big-name titles, remakes of movies, sports teams and channels, etc. suddenly losing millions of dollars in income every year because they alienated fans by adopting politically-correct policies. Sadly, it's a real thing.
I'm going to be blunt, here: it doesn't matter if the public finds you inclusive or inoffensive, or the other way around. Write what you want to write - and, in extension of roleplaying, how your fellow roleplayers would react - in a way that doesn't make you uncomfortable. Note the very specific wording there; sometimes there's just one person who will be offended and leave, but if you don't want that to happen, yes, you should consider the content you offer before hitting that post button. However, maybe you don't mind if the person leaves, and you two can argue on appropriate content in OOC before reaching a solution. Sometimes it's the inverse of the situation, where you're the odd one out, in which case, that evidently isn't the roleplaying group for you and you will likely be happier leaving and finding a group more suited to your tastes.
Roleplaying shouldn't be work, or stressful. It should be relaxing, and constantly worrying about "offensive content" or virtue-signalling does not help with that. This links to character playing and creation, too; don't make characters homosexual for the sake of having homosexual couples so no one does a double take of you, and don't rag on other people just people their characters aren't racially diverse or "strong" for the genders they're using. We all have our own opinions, and yeah, those will pop up in writing because that's a way we express our opinions. If you ever find yourself estranged though because of those opinions, whether they're yours or another player's, it's worthwhile to consider the benefits and consequences of both leaving or staying and ignoring the tension.
With all of that said, it's also important to note that some "offensive" characteristics are also the most memorable and lovable ones, even if the feelings among the populace are mixed. I have my share of non-politically-correct characters, and a fair amount of more respectful ones as well, so I know what walking on those eggshells is like. Believe me, it's okay to have heterosexual characters, or characters with ghetto accents, or really stereotypical masculine characters; they have an impact on the reader, as they should! Remember, your audience is always broader than the people you hear, and in terms of roleplaying, you only need to listen to your fellow roleplayers; and again, if you ever need to hash out with them what's okay and what isn't, that's perfectly fine too.
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