Where to start?

[Winter]

To make an interesting story, writers often start a character off at the beginning. In a place like Althanas, the beginning isn't always the most attractive or appropriate point. I need help, to be frank. I'm having a very hard time coming up with a plausible character for Althanas and my main concern is where to start?

-How much storyline to give at the beginning, if any?
-Should he/she be powerful or weak?
-What kind of abilities should he/she have?
-Will his/her plot be thick enough to endure until the real plotting begins?
-How much history is 'enough'?
-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

Too many questions and too little answers. Always being out-thought by your own brain is rather annoying. I'd appreciate any help you, Althanas, can give.

[Elrundir]

-How much storyline to give at the beginning, if any?

There's no hard and fast rule on this one, but for creating a new character, I would say to err on the side of writing more rather than less. Obviously the RoG mods don't want to have to read through a 30-chapter novel of the character's back history, but a detailed background goes a long way - and you'll find that it will really help you flesh out your character, too.

-Should he/she be powerful or weak?

This is up to you, really. The only upper limit you have is what the RoG mods will approve - and of course they're not going to let you get away with any insane powers. You start off at level 0, after all. But if you want to have a character who has absolutely no combat capabilities, for example, that's perfectly acceptable as well. It all depends on your vision of the character.

-What kind of abilities should he/she have?

Again, entirely dependent on you and the character. There's no way I can think of to answer this so vaguely.

-Will his/her plot be thick enough to endure until the real plotting begins?

Only time will tell, eh? ;) Like I said before, a detailed and moderately-extensive history will go a long way towards fleshing out your character. Leave too many blanks or don't put enough meat in there and you might find yourself scrambling for details later. Everyone's different, but that would be a problem for me personally, at least.

-How much history is 'enough'?

The above answers should cover this well enough, I think.

-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

Again up to you. Will a cliché character be innately "judged" by those who see it? I'll be honest with you and say that yes, it probably will. That doesn't mean you can't pull a rabbit out of your hat and totally wow the people you RP with, though. Sometimes a nice way to go is to put a unique twist on a classic idea. But if you'd rather go for something original, and have the 'nads to stick with it and pull it off, I bet you'll be very surprised and very pleased with how far it will take you.

[Winter]

That helps some, thank you.

I was also wondering really if there was any reason to leave things out intentionally and leave them as 'twists' later. I heard that nobody really reads anybody else's works, except Judges who are forced to, so such people wouldn't understand a twist unless the entire background was given within that stand-alone thread.

Somewhat aggrivating opinion, for writing is for the purpose of being read, a form of self-expression.

[Daggertail]

-How much storyline to give at the beginning, if any?

Actualy have enough to give you a reason to have an adventure. basically have a couple of plot hooks in your past to help have some threads though it isn't a big deal. Just leave room to RP with other people.




-Should he/she be powerful or weak?

Well depends but I recomend the middle ground. a strong character with a few interesting weaknesses suit this place best but a strong or weak character can work just fine.




-What kind of abilities should he/she have?

probably abilities that you might have if you were a fantasy character. would you use a sword or would you have magic. Or would you rather be a cyborg from the future. Anythings good but choose something you think would be fun to RP.




-Will his/her plot be thick enough to endure until the real plotting begins?

I guess, doesn't really matter if you have fun. not many people don't care about plots unless it affects their characters.




-How much history is 'enough'?

Whatever you're happy with.




-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

eh don't worry about stereotypes, you'll probably have a few but it won't matter if you have fun. Though having a bit of origeonality is great too. go with what's more fun.

[nekoprince]

I'm going to only answer the one for now, then probably more later. My main advice is that you don't want to have an iron set rules down for a history without some plan in mind.

-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

It depends. One of my charectors is a neko, cat boy essentially. I've been trying to give him is own origional twist in order to keep him interesting. Hell, we have a blind, vampire, katana using samarai around here, and probably one of the cooler guys/chars on the site. Cliche's what you make of it, but also try to give new spins on things if you can. Don't start in a tavern for example, start on a sidewalk.

[Ashiakin]

-How much storyline to give at the beginning, if any?

I would write out everything you feel comfortable with for the initial aspects of your character that you know you want. Basically, if you want your character to have a particular personality trait, try to think up past events that explain their development. You can be vague about areas you're not sure about, since you can always come back and fill them in at a later update. Don't feel like you have to kill yourself writing a lot, though. A solid paragraph should be enough.


-Should he/she be powerful or weak?

Please keep in mind that Althanas has an emphasis on creative writing, so it's not a good idea to think about characters in terms like that. It will likely lead to poor writing--quests where you search for ancient artifacts to increase your magic so you can beat more people in battles, etc. Your character doesn't HAVE to have the max amount of abilities/power you are allowed every level. You can create an interesting, dynamic character without those things. For starting out, though, a general rule is to do what you want within reason. If you overreach, the RoG mod is just going to ask you to tone it down. Having to edit your initial profile several times won't be the end of the world.


-What kind of abilities should he/she have?

Whatever you want, within reason. I think I pretty much addressed this with what I said above, so I won't really go on about it here.


-Will his/her plot be thick enough to endure until the real plotting begins?

Detail is always a plus, but keep in mind that you may want to change and edit some things as your storyline progresses. Always leave a little room for leeway. If your story is TOO complicated and already planned out, it may be difficult for you to involve other people in it. Your story is going to grow, but Althanas will likely be more fun for you if your character's story grows with the help of others.


-How much history is 'enough'?

I think I basically addressed this with your storyline quesiton.


-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

In my opinion, stereotypes are easy to start out with, but become boring and tiresome after a while. Making an original character definitely makes your first few threads more difficult, since you'll have to think about them more, but it will definitely pay off in the end. Having a character that's interesting and believable will ultimately be a lot more fun than a stereotypical one.

[Winter]

Thank you, all of you. I have a lot to think about.

If any of you think of other sound advice, don't be shy. I'm open to any tips or hints or life secrets you lovely people are willing to share. I still don't have any ideas for a sound character though, but now I know the fuzzy guidelines.

[Dissinger]

When I began on here it was as a thief striking out on his first adventure outside of his town. SInce then alot has happened, so as you can see you can go anyway you want. You can start with a stereotype or cliche, however, if you do, putting your own spin can help. Also breaking out of the stereotype can be an experiance in and of itself.

[Letho]

Yeah, Pat is right. Don't hash out all the details about your character. Let the story build itself around your character as you write it. Most of the details about the past of my characters came to me as I wrote about them handling certain situations. As for the type of character... Well, I don't think anybody here can help you with that. You have to choose a character that you'll be most comfortable with, through whose eyes you can see through as you write, and that's something that is different from one person to the other. The character doesn't have to be you per se, but definitely somebody who is more then just a random character.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

I'm having a very hard time coming up with a plausible character for Althanas and my main concern is where to start?


Take a long look at the story you are trying to tell. With Alberdyne I've chosen to start the story at his 18th year because events concerning his people occur when the men turn 18. (Part of the Solo Quest project I'm working on) So what I basically did is set up the Year 1 stuff so that everything ELSE he does happens BEFORE the Solo Quest. Keeping in mind my level ups, I decided that I'm simply going to tell the story as it goes along.

The point is, I opted to tell the story at a time of my character's life where he already had SOME established history. (For example education, people around him, established relationships) I'm playing a nobleman so the NPC's around him became a necessary aspect for plot mechanics. I had a chance to really play around with Alberdyne and create an interesting character.

To sum it up I started at my character's early youth. Not quite the beginning, not quite far enough to the middle of his life either. But someplace in between and RIGHT before he actually acquires his powers.

I suggest you find a part of the story of your character you WANT TO TELL and then work it from there.


-How much storyline to give at the beginning, if any?

I think that you should give JUST ENOUGH storyline so that the character has some sort of viable memory system. You're trying to create a dynamic and interesting person and the character history should reflect that. You don't have to create a grand epic historical opus but for the most part flesh out enough so you at least have a starting point. I would even go with simply fleshing out the people AROUND your character if this applies. Situational history is sometimes more important than concrete history. Remember, everything that you complete on Althanas also becomes a part of your character's history so only worry as much as needed about this.

I think more important than history is your character's Personality.



-Should he/she be powerful or weak?

It has always been my preference to make extraordinarily weaker characters. I would suggest going that route because it is more satisfying when you start building up abilities to the point where you're up to par with much stronger characters.



-What kind of abilities should he/she have?


You don't have to give him any. My character can't even USE his little special ability until level 1. Just give him some basic survival knowledge and expand from there.



-Will his/her plot be thick enough to endure until the real plotting begins?


I think that depends on how well you flesh out the story TO BEGIN WITH.



-How much history is 'enough'?

Its been stated in the thread already but I will re-iterate to hit the point home. Its a matter of personal taste really and you deciding what type of story you want to tell. With Alberdyne I opted to show JUST ENOUGH history so that I could reveal the rest of the story piece by piece as I got stuff done.



-Should I ignore stereotypes and go with a cliche, or push myself for originality?

Stereotypes can be fun especially if you twist them around and make them unique. (Like a Barbarian Thief or something)

Those are my 2 cents I hope I helped in some way.

~~Pavel