Reviving Characters For Different Games

[IceChateau777]

Whenever someone wants to join a game, what is the first thing they might see?

For starters, a person has to see:

• A title that caught their eyes, or via a recommendation
• A plot that satisfies their interests (or probably not)
• Playable positions
• Rules, and other whatnot...

For some players, they probably brought back and re-used many characters. For other games, they probably made a character made for just one game. In order to create a character, you need to read THE INFO, RULES and the SHEET.

But what if you wanted to use a character you used before?

Act like you are making a character sheet. You will need to read (and re-read if necessary) everything in the opening post. The opening post is meant to show you THE SETTING, THE GOAL, and THE TIME FRAME. If you keep these in mind, you will have a better time adapting a character to a certain game. For example, you wanted to use a character from a game in 2010. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• When you created the character from scratch, which game did you make xem for?
• By bringing back the character, would you feel comfortable putting xem into that world?
• Is the plot flexible enough to squeeze xem in?
• Did you make your character on another forum/website/as an assignment?
• Did you like playing your character in xir original game?
• At any time, was the character in question controversial?
• Would you need to make a different version of the same character?

Think about these questions in your head as you try to make ideas for your character. Sometimes, what you original character was able to have might have to be omitted in another. For example, if your character was accepted in a dragon quest role play, xey might not satisfy the requirements for a modern fantasy game. Also look at the character sheet for the game and the accepted characters. That gives you a clue on what to add and what to delete.

But some characters were made for a specific game. Should one try to jam their character into the crowd, the GM might pull them back out. Here are some indicators that your character might be hard to adapt into the game:
The character you are trying to revive has more than ten issues on xir sheet

• If you feel like fixing them, there is NOTHING wrong with amendments. Most of the time, amendments are strongly encouraged. If you feel like you are trying too hard to adapt them in the game, try a different game or make an original character.
• If the GM STRONGLY feels that your character will NEVER WORK, even with your amendments, try a different character, make it from scratch, or bow out of the game. THERE IS NO SHAME IN DROPPING OUT!
• If you honestly feel that this is the best you could do, try a different character. Make sure you ask questions! Everyone needs help sometimes!
• If you are unsure if the character you're reviving will work, PM the original AND the adapted sheet to the GM. The Game Master will let you know if you can make it work.

The GM brings up personal problems with your character (unnecessary, but this can happen)

• Constructive criticism is better than flippant commentary about your character. In my opinion, if they blatantly state "I hate your character" "Hey, can I kill you first?" without a good reason, they probably have no good reason to reject your character.
• Hell, you might have sacrificed precious time working on your sheet. After we get done with it, some people don't want to hear subjective crap about their work.
• If they feel uncomfortable with you playing a character, do not give negative feedback. Follow their advice and make a character from scratch.

If the character does not meet requirements for the game, make amendments, even if the GMs reject your character. Rejection does not mean that the GMs hate you! Never let rejection stop you from joining ANYTHING! TRY, TRY AGAIN!

• The only exception to this would be if the GMs feel uncomfortable with you playing with them. They reserve the right to banish you for something that has NOTHING to do with your character.

If you feel the need to change too much on your character, you might want to consider finding another character to bring to the table, or start from scratch.
You feel tempted to toss a character without paying attention to the lore, or adapting xem to the game

• NEVER EVER DO THIS! If you do this, not only will this get you kicked out, but it can raise doubts of your true abilities. You might have been drunk or mentally disoriented posting the sheet. There are GMs that will NOT tolerate any excuses, even if they were extenuating circumstances. Make every moment count! They might not want to play with you, but then AGAIN: IT'S JUST A GAME! REAL LIFE IS IMPORTANT!

You feel tempted to switch out or kill your character before the game even starts or reaches the climax.
The character you plan to bring back begins to show out-of-character behavior.

• For example, you wanted to play a schizophrenic little girl [Paisley Jasvinder Eisenhower] in an anime fantasy. Paisley gets accepted, and you have a BLAST playing her. If you were to place her in a "whodunit" murder mystery, she would fit the demographics for "The Murderer". Your character might get accepted, but Paisley might NOT get the role you were hoping for.
• It is always a good idea to compare how you portrayed your character to their original sheets. If you played the character in MULTIPLE games, compare the original sheet to the IC posts. Did you spot a noticeable difference in the game? If yes, do you think it would be wise to play this character again?

Sometimes, the character you adapted to the game does not turn out like you want. As such, you might type out actions that your character would NEVER do.

• For example, Paisley wants to tag along on the quest, and the GM asks that you remove her schizophrenia. He states: "Paisley's gonna break the fourth wall. If she is schizophrenic, she'll probably be the first one to die. I'm sorry, but I feel that Paisley should be a normal girl for this game to work. Otherwise, you'll need to make a different character." When you remove her condition, Paisley becomes a normal girl who hates the sight of blood. Try to get adjusted into playing the girl, or try someone different.

 

[IceChateau777]

So I hope this helps.
If you got any more ideas, go ahead and let me know.

 

[ProjectONI616]

I almost always use the same characters with some minor changes every now and again to keep things fresh.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

I'm constantly reusing characters and never before have I had a problem joining a game. Even if my character originated from a cyber punk scene and the genre at hand is high fantasy. It's quite easy to pull off if you strip your character of their metaphorical skin and muscle, leaving nothing but the skeletal bits of their personality. Then I take said bits and play the 'what if' game ^.^

My favorite part of reusing a character is seeing how the different settings shape them. I think the main reason people struggle with transitioning a character from one genre to another is because their trying to force their original personality onto the game when they should be letting the changes happen naturally. Then there's the big question: can they really be the same character if their acting differently? For me, there's an underlying essence that is always present no matter what. If they have that familiar feeling, then yes they are the same person, just in a different universe. Otherwise they're just two different people sharing a name and that's not a bad thing :)