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Madcat is offline
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 2,971
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Depending on the RP, and my role in it, I will "pad" a post with world-data, whether that be a brief overview of a location, a landmark, a person, whatever. If there's a statue in the middle of the town square, I will describe what it looks like, what it was built for (or, at least, provide some information in that direction, "the statue had stood since before the town's founding, none alive today knew who built it or why"), and a general vibe about it, whether people respected it, thought it was funny, took part in local customs or superstitions about it, etc. Basically, landmarks and set-pieces get a few sentences of story that builds the world out a little bit, even if that bit of story does not impact the overall plot of the RP.
For characters, I have a list of specific traits that I keep in mind, and that colors every interaction they have with everything. The traits that I use, and some examples, are these:
General Attitude: Bratty, Serious, Thoughtful and Kind, Boisterous, Moody and Headstrong
Feelings About People: People are tools to be used, I hate people, I love people, Wipe 'em all out!
Likes Most: Having a good time, Hanging out with friends and family, Seeing new places, Spending time at home, Good food and drink, Building things, Sports and athletics
Dislikes Most: Homework, Chores, Violence, Having to do hard work, Authority figures
Values Most: Honesty, Money and personal wealth, Looking good in any situation, Knowledge and education, Love and compassion, Honor and duty, Jokes and fun, Power and influence
So, for every character, I use the above traits and apply one or two things to each. That informs how that character acts in most situations (though not all, people often act against their natures). So, for example, my notes on a character might look something like this:
General Attitude: Rebellious and moody
Feelings About People: People are useful, but keep them at arm's distance
Likes Most: Music and art, spending time in nature
Dislikes Most: Authority figures and people outside my clique, being laughed at, ridiculed or ignored
Values Most: Being taken seriously
... and those traits will generally describe how that character behaves in any situation, though there's enough range there that it leaves a lot of options, depending on who or what the character is interacting with. The character can be cold and aloof, snarky and sarcastic, quiet and withdrawn, or really anything, depending on the situation and who they are around.
---------- Post added at 03:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:37 AM ----------
On the same general topic... I will post, as a third-person omniscient narrator, what my characters think and feel, perhaps even going into their recollection of a memory, or beliefs or understandings, on a general topic relevant to the scene they are involved in. While this information isn't something that the other characters will necessarily know, it lets the other people in the RP see where the character is coming from and understand their mindset and world-view a bit better.
I also tend to describe not only what the character is saying when they speak, but how they say it, what tone they use and such, and any body-language cues they give, whether they laugh, widen their eyes, roll their eyes, shrug, wave their hand, whatever. People are generally animated talkers, even if they aren't the sort that "talks with their hands". Facial expressions, changes in tone, emphasizing certain words... give a character a voice!
Last but not least? I steal stuff from other stories all the damned time! As an example, in our current Eldar Thief/Elder Knight RP, this "Empire of the Black Sun" is basically the Empire of Nilfgaard stolen right out of the Witcher game and novel series. I took their basic traits, the symbol on their flag, and some of the lore about how they operate and created "The Empire of the Black Sun" for this RP. It's... maybe 25% original content, and that's being generous.
The "Admiral Snackbar" in one of the Star Wars RPs I'm in is taken directly from a comic I saw on Facebook. I've just built out the character depicted in that one-panel comic a bit more, as a grouchy Mon Cal who works at Taco Time In Space.
As the saying goes: "Good writers borrow, great writers steal."
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