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Creating Realistic Characters on the Fly

Started by Raelifin, January 28, 2007, 06:34:34 PM

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Kalos Mer

A method I've used recently is actually basing personalities and appearances of randomly encountered, improvised characters on the personalities and appearances of actual people I know.
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Raelifin

Quote from: DarkxarthMaybe a possible class and level?  Though the only way I could really see you needing this is if there's some chance one of your players would want to steal from/insult/attack an NPC.  Other than that, it looks like a good setup.
Eh, that's easily derived from background/description. What I do need is an occupation slot.

Here's an example:

    Jack, Tom, Henry, Gabe
    *Tradesman (Porter, Shoemaker)
    *Mid 20s, strong and able with a well-shaved brown beard. Has a scar on his right arm where he was mauled by a warg.
    *Level headed and helpful, not too bright but wise in his own way
    *Handsome, Calm
    *Hopes to live peacefully (will avoid conflict). Wants to marry a woman who is sweet and pretty.
    *Attacked by goblins at a young age while on a farm. Is scared of monsters and dislikes the wilds.

Darkxarth

Sounds like you've found a good method of creating three-dimensional NPCs.
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Raelifin

What I'm thinking about now is if I could make a good random generator for such seeds... Probably not. There are themes present in even the smallest element which would be damn hard to map to a generator. That and the sheer quantity of elements would be tricky.

Great... now I'm thinking if a form of basic AI could create one using "natural selection" in the form of user ratings online... >_> I scare myself sometimes.

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Quote from: Raelifin
Quote from: DarkxarthMaybe a possible class and level?  Though the only way I could really see you needing this is if there's some chance one of your players would want to steal from/insult/attack an NPC.  Other than that, it looks like a good setup.
Eh, that's easily derived from background/description. What I do need is an occupation slot.

Here's an example:

    Jack, Tom, Henry, Gabe
    *Tradesman (Porter, Shoemaker)
    *Mid 20s, strong and able with a well-shaved brown beard. Has a scar on his right arm where he was mauled by a warg.
    *Level headed and helpful, not too bright but wise in his own way
    *Handsome, Calm
    *Hopes to live peacefully (will avoid conflict). Wants to marry a woman who is sweet and pretty.
    *Attacked by goblins at a young age while on a farm. Is scared of monsters and dislikes the wilds.

so your problem isnt in creating NPC's, but in creating them on the fly? simple answer, dont create them on the fly. also, save all your NPCs from games in throwaway settings, and just let them collect.

one interesting approach toplaying NPC's is that they don't come into the PCs' world, the PC's come into the NPCs' world. i think once you've developed characters like Jack/Tom/Henry/Gabe (chose one!), that should come naturally.
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Before you accept advice from this post, remember that the poster has 0 ranks in knowledge (the hell I'm talking about)

Raelifin

Yes, I'm adept at DMing, just not when people are watching. ;) This is why I do so love Play-by-Post.

Here's another few examples of the seed in action:

    Sue, Kate, Jenny, Anne
    *Child
    *8 years old. Has long, strait, black hair and often wears a hair band. Prefers winter colors for clothing to match her blue eyes and pale skin.
    *Shy, curious
    *Wants to travel and find her father.
    *Her father disappeared when she was a babe and her mother is suffering because of it.

    Min, Sheyeen, Elys, Quin
    *Mother
    *Around thirty. Not attractive, has an overbite and a crooked nose. Usually wears baggy, drab dresses.
    *Cruel, Ugly
    *Wishes she could write music and run away from her responsibilities.
    *Was going to become a great musician or singer, but ended up pregnant and was forced into marriage. She hates her children and unintentionally attacks them with her own bitter experiences.

snakefing

One technique I've used with middling success is to embrace the "nameless archetype" but then deliberately subvert it in some way.

Starting from the generic innkeeper, crone, or whatever, I'd start by free associating a bit, to flesh out the most relevant aspects of the archetype: innkeeper -> fat, jovial, obsequious, etc. Then choose one aspect and reverse it - so, jovial <-> surly. This keeps the archetype in general terms but makes at least one element a little more distinctive. Then, if you need to, you can start asking yourself questions about the change: Why is he so surly? How does he stay in business? Etc. This can serve as the seed to improvise from.

This can take a little bit of time to work out, but if you can stall a little (get up to get a soda, go to the john, whatever) it doesn't take too long.
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Reversing archetypes in general makes for memorable characters.

Also, PCs tend to remember eccentric characters a lot.  Make a character a little insane, a drunk, a shameless womanizer, give him a lisp, or just make him eclectic, and it goes a long way.
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