Characterization Exercise: What Image Does This Create?
One of the fun things about the idiosyncratic nature of people is that you can expect them all to have different visualizations for different events. Sometimes, getting into the main image language of...
View ArticleOn Finding Love (for Your Characters)
I talked a lot about understanding your characters through looking at what might work well for them in terms of romance, but as Brickwall pointed out yesterday, I never really went into much detail on...
View ArticleRamblings on Motivation
Without motivation, there is no story. If there’s already a plot, it needs to be possible to get the characters motivated to do something about it. If there isn’t one already planned out, the...
View ArticleWith One Scene
Often, a writer can get away with establishing a character slowly, over time. In this scene, emphasizing this quality. In another scene, another one. A slow, gradual process. A GM with a long-term...
View ArticleView from the Gallery
Back in January, I proposed an exercise involving writing plot synopses for the story as it would be seen if centered around one of the secondary characters. At the time, I was mostly thinking about it...
View ArticleCharacter Exercise: Conclusions IC
Yesterday, I introduced an exercise for two people based on taking information and drawing conclusions. But there’s another use for it, one that can be done with two people but works just as well with...
View ArticleMemo, Please?
One of the things I’ve always found interesting about character development in RPGs is that it is possible to express it in such a way that some people (both IC and OOC) will notice, some won’t, and...
View ArticleCharacterization Exercise: The Stories They Follow
From time immemorial, people have told each other stories—about why the world is the way it is, about generic youths who all had one of three or four names and somehow managed to make good, about the...
View ArticleOn Differentiating Antagonists
We know all characters need to be differentiated one way or another, but it’s particularly important for antagonists. After all, even in standard fiction, villains drive the story enough that it takes...
View ArticleGrowth and Revelation
In the comments to yesterday’s riff on why I don’t tend to start with my characters pre-heroed, UZ pointed out that there are two things that can both mean character development. It’s a topic I...
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