Character Ages

[Minibit]

What age bracket do most of your characters (or the ones you most enjoy playing) fit into? Teens? Kids? Twenty-somethings? 30+? Senior citizens? Why do you prefer that range?

I mostly play twenty-somethings and occasionally the odd 30-32-year-old, but I'm uncomfortable playing characters a lot younger than 20. I'm not a teenager, haven't been for several years, and I don't miss it. I find it annoying to have to era-update my teen/kid characters to behave the way a teen/kid in the current time or the time of the roleplay would behave (the slang, popular hobbies, social aspects, etc). some things never change, but a lot of things do. There's also a lot of dramatic exaggerations to teen stories and characters that I really don't enjoy reading or writing. HSRP? Thank you no.

 

[Jorick]

Mainly 20-30, older characters fairly often, younger characters almost never.

I usually go for that range because it's familiar (I'm 25) and it's versatile. You can have people who are reaching master level skill in something in their late 20's after working hard at it from a young age, or you can have bumbling idiots who are good for nothing in their early 20's, and they're equally viable and reasonable in pretty much any setting. Such characters are not too young to be able to go and do stuff of their own choice, and they're not old enough to need extraordinary circumstances or reasons for going off on an adventure or whatever. You can do almost anything with a character in the 20-30 age range and it won't come off as unbelievable, and the stuff that would be hard to believe (like being the best at some fighting style or crafting skill in the world) are things I don't like using anyway, so it's fine by me.

Older characters are fine too, I just tend to gravitate toward the younger ones because that's what I'm used to. I don't play teens or children because I just have no interest in doing so. I don't go for like slice of life or school drama roleplays, because I'm all about fantasy and adventure and such. Teens and kids have no good place in those things, because to include them and play them well would require you to just straight up be a burden on the other players, and if I'm going to do that I'd rather do it in more inventive ways than just being a useless and annoying character. :P

 

[chainedfiction]

Most of my characters are in their twenties. I enjoy playing young adults who still have that playful aura about them but are still able to maintain a good sense of responsibility and maturity. The lowest I've ever gone was 17. I won't go any lower than that because I don't particularly enjoy playing teenagers in high school and toddlers in elementary school. As for my older characters, they have always been secondary characters, or NPCs, in roleplay terminology.

 

[fatalrendezvous]

I've noticed that most of my characters tend to be a little bit older than however old I was when I created them.

I have gone as low as 5, though, and as high as in the 60s.

But most of my characters are 20s or early 30s.

 

[Kestrel]

Mostly the 20's range. Though I've done younger and older characters as well. It depends, but it's hard to justify an 80-year old man going on an epic fantasy quest saving the world when his back keeps playing up, or your taking Oliver Twist style brat to a dog fight in space when he's not tall enough to fly a standard produced jet. You often have to find loopholes to make it work within the setting, or ignore certain factors that come with age.

 

[Hana]

I prefer teens (from 14 up) to early twenties. It's easier for me to relate to or write about characters that are closer to my actual age, and I find it more interesting to try and put things through a young person's perspective. For the young adults, its because they could be a balance between maturity and responsibility but still with a margin for making mistakes, foolish decisions, and personal growth. That's what makes them interesting to me.

 

[Roose Hurro]

Being all my characters are non-human and non-humanoid alien "critters," I pretty much play any age, from newborn to oldster. However, my favorite alien characters are my Nism couple, Thoee and Deen. Who happen to have a "toddler" age daughter, Honalee, and are soon to have (if I don't start playing them as presently having) a newborn son they'll call Peet. Though Thoee and Deen are both over 200 years old, they're young adult members of their species. I think one of the main reasons I find myself liking them so much has nothing to do with their age, but everything to do with their personalities. And the fact I get to play father, mother and child(ren). Get to play Family. And all the interactions that come with that state of being.

Heh... I've also played Honalee and Peet as teenagers. So, being 52 going on 53, I get to relive "my" youth, I'd guess. Though I've never been a Nism... *grins*

 

[Cwolf0615]

My characters usually range between 16-23. (Though I've played characters as young as 5 and characters as old as 46.)
Most often they're 18 or 19, because they're young enough that I have a better idea of how to write them, but old enough that they have more freedom than kids under 18 would have.

I'd like to play older characters, but I find it difficult. Though I've been told I'm mature and responsible for my age, I am still only 16, and as such I've never had any real experience in the adult world. I do write older characters from time to time, but I'm always left with the fear that I'm portraying them entirely wrong, because I don't know what it's like to be anything other than a teenager or a child.

 

[Minibit]

My characters usually range between 16-23. (Though I've played characters as young as 5 and characters as old as 46.)
Most often they're 18 or 19, because they're young enough that I have a better idea of how to write them, but old enough that they have more freedom than kids under 18 would have.

I'd like to play older characters, but I find it difficult. Though I've been told I'm mature and responsible for my age, I am still only 16, and as such I've never had any real experience in the adult world. I do write older characters from time to time, but I'm always left with the fear that I'm portraying them entirely wrong, because I don't know what it's like to be anything other than a teenager or a child.

You can always ask for advice/examples of adult life stuff in the Roleplay Help section! It is very true that teenagers and adults behave differently; sometimes drastically, sometimes in more subtle ways. And every person is different (I know some adults who are really immature, and some teens that I thought were older than me until I learned their age), so there's not really any 'how tow write adults' guide that could be universally applicable. Roleplay Help allows you to ask case by case :3

Of course, I find the best way, which is what I do when I'm writing a character more than a couple years older or younger than me, is to observe the character's peers in their native environments. Pay attention to the adults in your life; in what ways do their decisions, rationale, and behaviour differ from yours?

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Late Teens to Late Twenties.

The average age has slowly increased as I myself have gotten older.
Because like others here it's easier to play as someone around my own age.

My very first character was an exception to this rule, but he was a very one dimensional "I'm a bounty hunter with a sword" kind of personality.
Though I personally also find I tend to take measures with my own self to make my characters more realistic.

Such as with ages, by keeping the age closer to my own I can better simulate maturity because it's at a level I have either observed or personally possess.
There's less risk of accidentally posting as an immature brat, or someone whose trying to hard to be older than they are.

 

[MootMoose]

Most of my characters are between 35 to 60 years old. I guess as I got older so did my preferences.
When I was teenager (15/16) all my characters we in the 18-22 range.
At the age of 27 my preference is for a 35-60 range (which is also around the age range I personally find most attractive).

I have a preference for my male characters to be in their 40s.
While I prefere my female characters mid to late 30s.

I don't play characters in their 20s anymore. Looking at my current roleplay my youngest character is 33.
I think I enjoy the maturity an older character brings, the advantages their age, career, wealth/lack there of, and life
circumstances bring into the equation. I am also far more comfortable playing an older character than a young one.
Something about playing an older person is easier than attempting to act younger than I am IRL.

 

[Brovo]

I don't really have a particular age range, it's entirely specific on the character concept and setting I'm in. Being typically a GM, if I only played 20-somethings, my worlds would be very boring.

 

[Dervish]

The entire 20s range and goings into the 30s range. As I'm getting older, I'd like to think I better understand lower-middle age people better.

 

[Rainjay]

I go from 16ish (I did go with a 14 year old awhile back) to 30 ish, but usually I stick from like 18-23. I myself being 16-going-on-17 it's easier to play characters in that certain range. I don't really play 40 somethings because... To be honest, I've no idea what it's like to be of that age, and don't want to portray characters of that age as if they were 16. I've played a few side characters of 40+ and some 1x1's with age 30s, but usually I stick with 18-23 unless the roleplay calls for otherwise.

 

[redblood]

I mainly play characters that are around my own age (I'm 22) 19-22 is my most played ages, but I can go between 16-25. Anything younger than 16 feels... Uncomfortable. Odd... I really can't play younger teens and kids. Not for more than a cameo at least. I dislike kids and I don't understand how they work xD

I probably could play characters above the age of 25 but it never really happens. My partners tends to like playing people in the ages 15-25 so I usually put my characters there too. Maybe one day I will play older people, especially when I myself becomes older, but for now I'm stuck in the 16-25 group :9

 

[AngelNinja2018]

Most of my characters are 13-18. I find this group easy to relate to for my age, and have my characters experience trials and tribulations of High School.

 

[Minerva]

Honestly, it depends on the RP.
I've played everything from a ten year old Page (A Fantasy RP.) to a 65 year old Priest (A cyberpunk RP.)
It honestly depends on the setting.
But mostly, play a guy in his twenties.

 

[Squee]

I tend to play 40-50 year old characters and the reason is pretty simple...Most of the time when you make a younger character, intentional or not, the story turns into a coming of age story, when you need to find out who you really are, but that doesn't quite do it for me. Sure, a good coming of age story is really interesting and captivating, but it's bean beaten to death. Personally I like to take a character that already knows who they really are, this person has already come of age and has been the person they want to be for years. But now, something changes, and everything you know is brought into question. How do you handle something like that?