Realms of Chaos
2009-09-25, 06:50 AM
I hope that this is the right place to post this (or that a moderator can redirect it to a more appropriate spot otherwise).
I like DnD. I really do. I usually DM but I like the few occasions when I get to be a player.
I also like writing fantasy stories, something that I try not to show too much of when I DM (after all, the players are making the story. I'm just making the timeline of events).
One thing that I've known for awhile is that I have a hard time forcing myself into another person's head to know how they think. What I just realized recently is just how much this hurts me in both of my hobbies.
When I'm a player, I fall in love with a character concept rather than the player itself, giving them a personality that does not call attention to themselves and becoming bored once their fighting style becomes old hat to me.
When I DM, I have a hard time coming up with motivation for my villains and have a hard time characterizing NPCs. I normally just give them an odd accent and general personality, never letting my mind go beyond that even when the party has made it quite clear that they like this NPC and intend to deal with him/her in the future. Although my players have met some very interesting characters and the combat is unchanged, I think that something is missing from the games I run.
When I write a story, I always end up making the same 3 or 4 vaguely sarcastic anti-heroes. Although I know their pasts, I can't get into the head of my own characters! Like when I'm playing DnD, I fall in love with a storyline and pay the characters little heed until I get bored with the story and give up.
Once in the past, I saw someone post links to a few sites that had character development questions on them, lists of anywhere between 20 and 100 questions intended to help you realize what a character was like and was likely to do. I immediately favorited them but I have since replaced my computor and I now find myself an ocean away from my old one. If anyone knows of any such lists (either on the boards or elsewhere), please help me find them. I really think that it will help alot.
Thank you to all who can help me in my quest to make internally consistent characters.
PS
Believe it or not, I'm actually a pretty good actor (though this is not my profession). Whatever stops me from making characters outside of myself doesn't seem to stop me from stepping into a character (if that makes any sense). I can't get this to work on other characters, though, and I refuse to learn about my characters via method acting (knowing me and the characters I make, I would be the next Heath Ledger).
I like DnD. I really do. I usually DM but I like the few occasions when I get to be a player.
I also like writing fantasy stories, something that I try not to show too much of when I DM (after all, the players are making the story. I'm just making the timeline of events).
One thing that I've known for awhile is that I have a hard time forcing myself into another person's head to know how they think. What I just realized recently is just how much this hurts me in both of my hobbies.
When I'm a player, I fall in love with a character concept rather than the player itself, giving them a personality that does not call attention to themselves and becoming bored once their fighting style becomes old hat to me.
When I DM, I have a hard time coming up with motivation for my villains and have a hard time characterizing NPCs. I normally just give them an odd accent and general personality, never letting my mind go beyond that even when the party has made it quite clear that they like this NPC and intend to deal with him/her in the future. Although my players have met some very interesting characters and the combat is unchanged, I think that something is missing from the games I run.
When I write a story, I always end up making the same 3 or 4 vaguely sarcastic anti-heroes. Although I know their pasts, I can't get into the head of my own characters! Like when I'm playing DnD, I fall in love with a storyline and pay the characters little heed until I get bored with the story and give up.
Once in the past, I saw someone post links to a few sites that had character development questions on them, lists of anywhere between 20 and 100 questions intended to help you realize what a character was like and was likely to do. I immediately favorited them but I have since replaced my computor and I now find myself an ocean away from my old one. If anyone knows of any such lists (either on the boards or elsewhere), please help me find them. I really think that it will help alot.
Thank you to all who can help me in my quest to make internally consistent characters.
PS
Believe it or not, I'm actually a pretty good actor (though this is not my profession). Whatever stops me from making characters outside of myself doesn't seem to stop me from stepping into a character (if that makes any sense). I can't get this to work on other characters, though, and I refuse to learn about my characters via method acting (knowing me and the characters I make, I would be the next Heath Ledger).