IntroductionMy name is Toxilium. Though I may be new to your community, I am still active in the G-Mod community after four years. I was second-in-command for a short while on TNB's resistance and I have been developing my character, Amanda Whitley, for about 3.5 years. She has nearly four years of in-game experiences to draw inspiration from and I as her author, have her back story, motivations, life experiences, beliefs and mannerisms nailed down. She has never been permanently killed. She has never exhibited god-like powers or done anything out of the ordinary. I want to draw upon my experience with her, tabletop RPGs, novella writing and personal life experiences to help you enhance your character. Maybe one day you can look back after a lengthy (in a G-Mod time span) character career and feel you've accomplished creating a character you cherish.
First, I'd like to refer anyone to this excellent guide by Statua on how to get started
here. If you are making a new character, I strongly recommend reading it before we get started with this guide, as I need to make one thing clear before beginning:
This guide is designed to help develop your current character into something believable and compelling.I will outline this guide into three sections, each important for the next section so it is important you read them in chronological order.
I. Belief Systems
II. Motivations, Goals and Objectives
III. Action, Reaction and Consequence
In all of literature, every good character you will encounter has the above three phases already pre-planned by their authors or writers. This is done to ensure that character fits properly into the fictional universe and draws the audience into the script. These three phases are chosen specifically to assist the newcomer into easing their character into the universe. It is best two have at least the first two pre-planned before continuing through roleplay, as the third, Action/Reaction, is the most difficult in a live environment. We are not individual authors writing stories of our characters; we exist as a collaborative group of creative individuals whom wish to explore each other's characters in a live roleplaying setting. This is a unique prose, as it allows unpredictable events to occur which only the most defined characters will be able to act/react to. Thus is the reason why I put Act/React last - you need to know your character inside and out before your character can learn others inside and out. Our first phase will be belief systems, where we will discuss your character's moral perspective, religious/philosophical beliefs and thoughts on the human (or vortigaunt) experience. The second phase will consist of outlining your character's motivations, goals and objectives (yes those three are different from one another) in the context of HL2RP. The final phase will involve discussing the mannerisms in which you interact with the live roleplaying environment and further building upon the two previous phases.
I. Belief Systems"
Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere." - Gilbert K. Chesterson
Your beliefs are the fundamental base for every action or thought you conceive. They are the foundations to your characters personality. This part may be highly difficult for some and very easy for others. The most important thing is to remember this is all fictional, so keep an open mind. For example, I am personally a Agnostic atheist who subscribes to Pantheistic viewpoints, yet I play Amanda Whitley as a Christian struggling with her faith. If you cannot look past religious differences to create a compelling, fictional, character you will not succeed. Google is always open if you need to look up basic tenants to certain religions. I'm sure most people won't know the ten tenants of s?ma?era to become a Buddhist monk, it doesn't hurt to have that knowledge save anyone ask your character about their faith.
Every human who has lived has consciously developed some sort of belief system. These beliefs include an enormous range of things that I do not have time to name them all, nor the capacity. However, what we can boil these beliefs down to is a moral code for every individual. Even religion, which strives to teach of higher powers, reincarnation, life cycles, etc. has a moral code at it's core. People choose to believe in these moral codes to help understand their place in the world, providing themselves some comfort and organisation of thoughts. Morality changes from one person to another and some believe it is relative while others, universal. What we can discern though is a system of morality is required for every character you make, whether it be kind-hearted shop owner to a calculated serial killer.
"But Tox, what about those who are psychopaths, or don't have any moral beliefs?" The void of a moral system in itself is just another moral system.
So how do you create a moral code for your character? Well, from reading Statua's guide, you should be able to discern what type of personality your character has. The first question you should ask with that in mind is: Do you believe morality is relative or universal? In layman's terms, moral relativism is the belief that morality is disagreeable and objectively, no one can be truly right or wrong. The opposite of this belief is universal morality, which is the belief that some standard of ethics can be applied universally, regardless of the circumstances. A solid example of moral universalism are the Ten Commandments listed in the Bible, which nearly all of humanity adheres to in some way (do not murder, do not steal, etc.). If your character is a follower of a certain faith or religion, you would almost certainly follow the moral system of that religion. If your character is agnostic, atheistic or simply doesn't care, they would still have a moral code, yet you would establish that moral code through life experiences. Another thing to draw upon would be your close family/friends which would heavily influence your character's beliefs. That is why it is important to have a solid backstory in mind before creating a character.
Next, you need to decide if you believe in any specific religion. Religions and sub-sects of those religions vary greatly. Choose how close you are going to stay true to your faith and perhaps if you will consider trying to convert others as well.
Now, with all that in mind, your character will need to choose how the Combine invasion impacted everything listed above. Do you practice your faith in secret? Have you given it up? Are you more prepared to let down your moral code for murder, if it is against an opposing faction? We will discuss this more in part three, but keep these questions stirring in your head.
Remember, keep an open mind through all of this. You're not playing yourself, you're playing someone else, in the future, in a fictional world. They have had different experiences than you.
II. Motivations, Goals and Objectives"
People with goals succeed because they know where they're going." - Earl Nightingale
Motivations, goals and objectives often are used
interchangeably with one another to mean 'to succeed'. Incorrect, though I can see why people can't make out the distinction between the three words. They should be used in
conjunction with one another to mean 'to succeed.'
Motivations are the
WHYObjectives are the
HOWGoals are the
WHATSay you want to build a home - actually let's use a HL2RP example. Say you want to take revenge on a certain Civil Protection officer. Your eventual goal is "I want to kill that CP," the
WHAT. Your motivation is, "He murdered my brother," the
WHY. The stepping stones to succeed at your goal are your objectives, "First, I'm going to find someone to buy a weapon from. Next, I'm going to study their patrol patterns. Third, I'm going find a way to distract his partner. Then, I will lure him into the back and enact my revenge," the
HOW. Obviously, not the greatest example, but it shows the differences between the three terms.
When engaged in roleplay, we want our characters to have both short-term and long-term goals, as well as the subsequent objectives and motivations for each of those goals. A short-term goal could be "Setup my new apartment," or "Go to ration distribution." Those are easy to define your motivations and objectives for them. Long-term goals are a bit more difficult, as our motivations often change or objectives may need to be altered - this is called problem solving. A long-term goal could be "Establish a positive presence for myself in C-45 among the Loyalists," a certainly lofty goal, but is it achievable? That is the second question you should ask yourself after the standard What/Why/How. The Achievable question is truly up to the discretion of the individual, but group goals should often be met under a committee or meeting.
In relation to our first section, you need to make sure your motivations and goals are believable under your character's belief system. Someone who is morally righteous and upholding of life would forbid any mention of murder in their presence. You may not wish to complete your goals you setup earlier, as they may conflict with a new moral belief. That's the third question: Do my goals and motivations for them work with my belief system? If that answer is No, you will likely suffer internal conflict, which should be reflected in your roleplay. Say you're a morally good person, yet you just stole someone's ration when they weren't paying attention. You may begin telling yourself it was wrong, or attempting to justify it through illogical self-questioning, but it truly depends on your character. Internal conflict is an extremely difficult thing to do, but is one of the most rewarding tropes to pull off in fiction. Ever watch the AMC show,
Breaking Bad? Yeah.
So let's recap this section. We now know the distinction between motivations (the WHY), goals (the WHAT) and objectives (the HOW). We also know we need to ask three questions of our characters in order to create a compelling storyline.
1. What are my short-term and long-term goals?
2. Are these goals achievable?
3. Do these goals conflict with my beliefs?
Depending on how you answer, internal conflict may arise which will put stress upon your character and others around you. This needs to be reflected in your roleplaying. Remember though, no matter how you plan things, everything has consequences...
III. Action, Reaction and Consequence“
While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” - Stephen R. Covey
Creating a character who reacts in a believable way to events in a live environment is probably one of the most difficult things to do for some people or one of the most easiest things for others. How do you avoid roleplay mediocrity? How do you make your character realistic, without being boring? What would your character do? These are questions we all ask and even the best of us, myself included, struggle with sometimes. If you've read the two previous sections and have a road map for your character, this should be easy....right? Wrong, dead wrong. A live roleplay environment is both one of the most rewarding and challenging environments to create a well-rounded character in. Unlike a novel or play, you cannot map out a character's actions, dialogue and decisions. You must act on the seat of your pants. However, this does not mean to spout out whatever comes to mind - you should always take a minute to think before you type. Other roleplayers will thank you for a more enjoyable roleplay if you help to create a rich environment, rather than a mediocre soap opera vaguely set in Gordon Freeman's universe.
Before you act or react to your environment, you must consider what your character would do in the situation. Fall back on your motivations and if required, your moral code or spiritual beliefs. Act or react accordingly. Sometimes silence may be the only answer - not everything warrants a response*.
*Please use proper grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to describe your actions or when speaking at all times. I highly suggest reading 'high-end' literature (i.e. not comics or commissioned novels) as to develop your vocabulary, cut down on verbiage and make it so your dialogue or /me's are more interesting.
Depending on how you act or react to different situations, all will have consequences. Another strength of live roleplay is that players must be willing to adapt or react to these consequences on nearly a whim. There is no reverse button or erase feature. As Morpheus puts it, "No, what happened, happened and couldn't have happened any other way." If things do not go your way, you will be recognized as a true roleplayer and owning a developed character if you can react in a believable way. Don't go back on your previous beliefs on a whim - moral codes do not simply disappear in a flash. If something changed you, it will be a long, slow, arduous process. I've seen too many people suddenly turn-tail and run (or start acting mingy) when they step up to the bat, simply because they couldn't face the pitcher's mound. Don't be that guy. Hold your roleplaying head high and show your developed skills with your compelling character. Things have consequences, deal with them
realistically.
Recap and Closing RemarksSo we have gone through three phases to develop a realistic, compelling character: establishing our moral ground, understanding and creating realistic goals, followed by what to do in the live environment and the consequences we face. We learned to keep an open mind when forming a belief system and that morality is either relative or universal, each person is different. We then learned that goals are the
WHAT, while motivations are the
WHY and objectives, the
HOW. We will ask ourselves three important questions when fashioning goals for ourselves or group: Are this short-term or long term? Are they achievable? Do they conflict with my beliefs? If they do conflict with our beliefs, we learned that internal conflict may arise and we will need to deal with it in-character. Lastly, we learned that actions have consequences and we must act accordingly. We should try to expand our vocabulary and make interesting roleplaying experiences for our peers. We should listen (or read) first, react second.
You can use what I've written here today in almost any form of fictional writing, but I hope that it will help to primarily enhance your roleplay. Thanks for reading.
- Toxilium
P.S. I did proof read, but if anyone spots a mistake let me know. Also if you have anything to add feel free to post
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