Continuous character development

Kitti

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For a lot of roleplays, you write up your character sheet at the beginning. It's then accepted and you begin posting as your character in the roleplay.

A completely comprehensive character sheet would be tedious to fill out and hard to answer without context for some decisions and this is where character development in the roleplay comes in.

Do you tend to develop your characters over the course of a roleplay, or are they static?

If you do develop them, in what ways do you develop them? Do you have any tips for people who want to work with developing their characters?
 
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Oh my goodness! This speaks to me!

I absolutely abhor detailed character sheets. If a character sheet requires a significant amount of information, it is very likely that I will NOT enter the RP. For me, I don't know the character just yet. How can I write such details about someone that I have yet to become familiar with? It depends on the story and the direction that it naturally takes. Characters change over the course of the story and will change depending on their interactions with other characters. I can't know how a character's personality will become until I begin writing. I have a basic idea of personality when I begin thinking up a character for a particular role play but usually that character does not remain that way as the story progresses.

I prefer to give a basic character sheet with just name, age, face claim and a basic bio, nothing too fancy. Then I proceed to develop the character through the RP. Your character's personality will naturally start to show when faced with certain decisions.

I have a RP currently, in which the female protagonist was very cold hearted at the beginning. At the time, the only reason why was because she lost her husband/love of her life and it made her cruel. Over the course of the RP (which is now about 2 years old) I have developed a reason behind the cruelty and pain. Throughout the RP she was given a history and a reason for all her emotions. She has fluctuated from cold and icey to depressed and experiencing self-hatred, to now being extremely happy with her new husband. The decisions she has had to make have changed her and there is no way I could know that without first seeing how my partner reacted to certain scenarios.

Your partner is going to help guide the story and depending on how their character react will determine what might happen next in the story and how your character will react in turn. Because RPs are joint efforts, its difficult to determine events before hand.

I would suggest to be flexible, let the story naturally develop and guide the events, and let your character change accordingly.
 
I like developing characters over time, although in most cases I found it to be only organic - and rewarding - in some more longrunning RPs, when the character's really earned it.

My tip for character development is - and sorry in advance for using one of writing's most terrible buzzwords - 'pacing'. I used to be guilty of trying to 'grow' the character every single time the RP presented a threat or opportunity which, realistically, is rushing it. It's more effective, imo, to typically have the first 'gamechanger' moment re-affirm who the character is rather than change it. (The 'Hero' character turning down the call to adventure is a convention that typically represents this). And then, later on, when you do make that character grow, change - it feels more tangible and rewarding.
 
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Oh man, character development.

This is one of the reasons I love roleplaying. On my own, it's a little harder to develop characters than it is when I make my babs interact with other writers' characters. This is also reflected in how I make character sheets.

The way I do my character sheets is mostly for my own reference. The character's basic history, if they have family, their job/role, a few major events... But they're all just very non-personalized info. I can make those as loooong as I want, especially if I'm writing a character that's like almost 100 years old XD However, the character's personality is revealed during the roleplay. Important life-changing events are revealed during the roleplay, and also how the character felt and changed during those times of hardships. In one of my RPs, my character's husband died in a fight with her lover, and in the CS this is mentioned. They both died. Then in the roleplay, it's revealed how she felt about it and how it went down exactly, and how that affected her for the better or worse. It's a 1x1 roleplay which I personally find is the best for character development. It's probably why I'm always craving more and more XD
 
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mah 2 cents

imo character sheets should be updated as the roleplay progresses. not like every other IC page, but when major milestones happen that significantly affect your character. by adding onto their history or creating an update-log, you're showing yourself how much your character has grown and developed (and keeping track!). not only that but you're referring to your CS more and that can help with consistency.

now, on developing my characters, i probably take a different approach then most i guess. i prefer to know what makes my character tick, their mindsets, and how they'd react to certain situations based upon their history.

character sheets can be a pain to fill out, but as long as i know what's in my character's head, i can write them through the course of the roleplay consistently. and i think consistency is one of the most important aspects to think of while developing your character. obviously development comes to light within the roleplay, but you are writing your character, and you are human. mistakes happen. development should be a conscious effort on your part, (imo) that coincides with what the GM is presenting, other player characters, and the interactions therein.

characters evolve and overcome obstacles, but they shouldn't re/act one way on page one and do a 180 on page three.

i guess my tip would be to let things happen naturally and organically through the course of the roleplay, but keep consistency in mind while writing your character.
 
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I'm probably on the rarer side because I'm one of those people who really enjoys CS'es. Usually because I use them as anchors. Like rissa said about consistency, it can be hard to write a character depending on mood, etc, and CS'es are a great way to keep consistency. I also think they work as anchors in more than just overview. For instance, I often like to write my bios as a story, or put important quotes they thought up at the beginning of every section, and these can be awesome references when I'm struggling to write their dialogue. Writing out the bio can often also inform you about how they'd react to a certain situation, which can't always be laid out in the personality alone. Sometimes it can be dumb little details like hating it when people call them tall because their dad was a famous basketball player and they've always been compared to him, but it can also be really important things, like uhh... being terrified of meaningful relationships because your mother's job drew her unexplainably away from your family for two years and you had to watch your dad breaking down during that time. It's a little hard to describe, but there are a lot of interesting details that you don't expect that can pop up when you have a well-fleshed out biography.

As for character development in IC, this is probably NOT good advice, but as long as you're keeping consistent with your CS, I don't see any reason not to just go with the flow. Might not work for everyone, but I've found that characters often grow and build upon themselves when you throw them into different situations, sometimes in ways that you might not even really feel in control of. The great thing about RP particularly in a group setting is that you often don't know what the endpoint looks like. You don't have to force a character to conform to certain behavior so as not to mess up the plot, which gives you and them the freedom to do as makes the most sense to you.

I'd have to say, I also 100% agree that ppl should update their CS'es from time to time, particularly in terms of relationships.
 
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This is part of why I find CSs a necessary evil... Because there is no way to REALLY establish who your character is without accurate development. I like a CS as a reference (mainly for appearance and those important details like name/age/etc.), but for personality, it's not exceptionally useful (who has ever kept to their personality description perfectly?) and with history, I find it removes a lot of opportunity for backstory entering into the plot and being something of a expositionary reveal ICly.

The easiest and most effect way I develop a character is to think realistically. What would certain history do to a person, mentally? How would something impact them emotionally? How would it effect -me- if I were in my character's place? Realism... even in a fantasy or sci-fi setting is so crucial to good, driven character development. No one stays the same forever, and it's important to think about this if you want a character that readers are going to connect with...
 
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I notice people don't wanna share history, and yeah, in some cases it should be a mystery, but in others, I think it's good to tell your partner (or partners) know at least a basic gist of things that could or will affect the story. Yes, it removes some of the shock value, but it also opens doors.

For example, if person A and person B both had their families killed by a raider group, and they mention it OOC, that could lead to "What if we decide it was the same group that took them out?" and "If so, maybe that makes them from the same general area, right? What if they knew each other a little bit?"

Helps to get that good planning going.

On a more on-topic thing, I like to keep notes on some very core parts of the personality: specifically, what drives the character. If a character is driven by loneliness, it will show in their personality, and it's something I can go back and see as a reference if I'm struggling, and it'll come back to me. =D

However, it also gives room for development. This lonely character, perhaps they acquire a friend. Their personality may seem to shift. They become possessive and clingy. They still have that lonely core, but something happened to them that affected how they respond to the world around them. Woohoo!
 
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I like to develop my characters (and this is just obvious over a long term roleplay). In addition, I liek to edit and add these developments to the CS.

Character development in a roleplay works for me very much the same way I write character development for a book or story. And I find that this often happens naturally in a lot of roleplays. Which I like. I like a lot! How I try to change and develop my characters over time is rather simple: Every time something happens I ask myself what LITTLE thing does this change. And after a few little things I ask myself what BIG thing will this amount to. And you just have to keep remembering to ask yourself those questions about your character.

ALWAYS KEEP NOTES. Every major things that happens to the character and everything about them that changes should be kept as notes.