Role Playing 101
First steps in role playing | How to Speak Britannian | Begin to Build Your Character | Interacting With Others | Character Development Strategies
Lesson 3: Start Building Your Character; by Galdrog, Edited by Xena Dragon
For the advanced Role Players. Now that you've mastered Britainnian lingo and stopped real world and internet speak (see lesson one) you can start developing a real personality for your character. Practice one day on a very simple thing like pretending your character has a minor speech impediment.
These can be, but not limited to the following:
  • A lisp
  • Can't say R's quite right.( e.g.  Elmer Fudd )
  • Stuttering
  • Can't say H's quite right. ("Come 'ere you! ")
If you like pretending to have a speech impediment then maybe role playing is for you after all.

Write down on a piece of paper some things that your character's personality might be like

  • Town of birth.
  • Environment that your character was raised in. (farm, city, slum etc..)
  • Number of siblings and what sex they were, (possibly even names.) twins might be interesting.
  • General disposition. (angry, nice guy, rude, shy, dull, crazy.)
  • Quirks. (phobia's, inanities.. etc.)
  • Alignment. (whether your character is good, bad, neutral, or selfish) I am one who does not believe in true neutral.)
  • Obsessions (good or bad.)
  • View's on magic (whether character shuns magic or is wary or welcomes it.)
  • Hatred towards ... (pick something) maybe your character hates bards, or healers, or miners.
  • Sentiments towards Lord British and Blackthorn's rule.
Just write stuff down.. develop your character, get to know how to become them. If you want to generate a list and roll dice to randomly generate a character then all the more power to you!

Also, once you've written these things down, start to apply what you've written into your gameplay.  For example, my character Galdrog is a blacksmith who was born in Skara Brae, he has one sister whom I also role play on the same shard, her name is Dana Vinte and she is 4 years younger than Galdrog.  Galdrog's personality could be discribed as a basically nice, but has a short fuse. (he gets angry or upset easy) He does have a quirk, he is traumatized by the loss of his parents.  I would describe his alignment as probably a scrupulous good. Which means, Galdrog will disobey the written law if he believes that it is right.  He used to have a deathly fear of magic, but his friends in game has seen him through his fear, and have even gotten him to start using it.  Galdrog hates undead, and will not go into Deciet.  Galdrog is indifferent about Lord British and Blackthorn, but he takes Justice as his principle and Honesty as his virtue. (Hence he lives in Moonglow now).