The Basics #1: Giving your Character some Character
For the examples I’m giving, I’m going to use Bob’s Medieval RPG That Has Elves for our base game. The setting is medieval fantasy, there’s a simple magic system, and a lot of DnD influence in the worldbuilding because Bob is an unoriginal gollumpus who can’t envision the middle ages as anything other than Lord of the Rings- er, sorry, got carried away.
Right, so here’s what his character sheet looks like:
Name
Race
Gender
Appearance
Weapons/Equipment
Skills/Abilities
Bio
Pretty standard stuff. Let’s go ahead and autofill all but the last part and see what we get:
Name: Kyle
Race: Elf
Gender: Male
Appearance: Dark green skin, pointed ears, ragged clothing with patches of leather for added coolness, standing at around 6’1" with a long face and very thin body
Weapons/Equipment: Elven shortsword, elven bow, 30 arrows, rolled-up sleeping mat, satchel
Skills/Abilities: Kyle is really good at hiding in the shadows, which makes him an excellent pickpocket. His years of living off the streets has made him excellent at worming his way out of situations he finds himself in with his silvery tongue and his gymnastic capability. He can play the flute, but he doesn’t have one.
That skills and abilities area is quite large, but if you look closely, here’s all the things Kyle can actually do:
-Play the flute
-Pickpocket
-Do parkour
-Hide well
-Talk well
The rest is all description to pad things out, which may help to have or it may not. It helps to know your GM a little beforehand to know what they like to see - or, alternatively, wait for someone else to sign up and see how they do.
Anyway, let’s get to that bio.
Bio:
When he was very young, Kyle lost his parents in the frenzy of a fire at their local clan, which burned his village to the ground. Wandering into the woods, Kyle became hopelessly lost until running across one of the local towns and being semi-fostered by its inhabitants. Accustomed to living on the streets - and especially getting into trouble with the gentle townsfolk - Kyle became excellent at pickpocketing, smooth talk, and a carefree life living off small jobs and walking off with people’s belongings.
See that? There’s an explanation for why he’s good at pickpocketing, hiding, all that stuff. The flute skills aren’t mentioned, and depending on the GM that might be an issue. It’s alright to reference part of the bio with the caracter’s appearance, skills, etc. If you include it in their bio.
Well that’s enough with the bio for now. Let’s begin posting! So far the rest of the adventures have been chatting and have come to a stop to rest the night. What’s Kyle going to do?
Kyle sits down.
Uh… No, Kyle. Bad, Kyle. Too basic. Too boring. There’s nothing going on here with this post. Liven it up a little.
Kyle sits down and folds his legs.
That’s… Better, uh… Okay, here’s how I’d do it.
Seeing the rest of the party come to a stop, Kyle scanned for the perfect spot of ground, and having selected it he descended, crossing his legs over each other and leaning forward out of habit, his eyes shiftily scanning the group to see what would occur.
Same exact action, but 44 more words and way more interesting to read. This post says something about Kyle as a character, not just a basic action, and for your fellow authors and players it’s much more engaging than saying the bare minimum.
This has actually been an issue on these boards for the last couple of years at minimum. A general improvement there would be appreciated.
Your party of adventurers may have been safe at first, but now- Monsters! Goblins specifically! Because as I said, Bob is so dumb he can’t- oh, just go reread it.
You’ve got two goblins attacking you, Kyle. What do you do?
Kyle stabs both goblins in the neck and walks back to the campfire.
Kyle… No. Bad Kyle, disappointing Kyle, you’re-not-my-legal-son-but-I’m-still-disowning-you Kyle. Don’t be so bland! Nobody sympathizes with a flawless master of combat; it’s why those characters get killed off in fiction so often.
Try again, but be descriptive. And give the GM a chance to describe how successful your attempts were.
Kyle drew his sword, muttering some foul insults in the direction of the goblins. Not wanting to give both of them the opportunity of attacking first, Kyle flew upon the one towards the left, jumping through the air and attempting to bury his blade in the goblin’s throat.
There ya go! You’re really getting the hang of this, Kyle. Quality of posts is greater than quantity or rapidity of posts. Take as long as you need to write the perfect reply; nobody wins any rewards for getting things over with quickly.
Say, uh, how did the GM respond, anyway?
The first goblin shrieked in terror, collapsing under Kyle’s weight and meeting the business end of his sword. However, his companion uttered a howl and swung at Kyle’s head just as he landed. The second goblin was wielding a nasty-looking club with wolf’s teeth stabbed into it, and given Kyle’s position it would take a lot to dodge.
Alright Kyle, let’s talk about how-
Kyle dodged the club and ripped his knife out of the first goblin to plunge it into the second.
-to take a hit in combat. That, by the way, Kyle, was horrible. The GM literally said it’d be really hard, and one of Kyle’s capabilities is not Combat Expert. You’re going to have to bite the bullet on this one.
Kyle looked up at the club and buckled back - but not well enough. It collided with his forehead, mostly smacking it but leaving a few small scratches as well. He tumbled backwards and flipped onto his feet, crouching low to see what the goblin did next and if there was any opportunity to get his knife back.
Excellent, Kyle! I’m almost considering adopting you so the disowning can be more legitimate. You’re getting better at your posting and making it more fun for other players.
That’s Part One of Writing. I’ll add part two before too long. Let me know if this helps you out, or if there’s something related to what i covered that you’d like to know. Seeya!