When I create a character, I give them an 'ultimate goal' and a really loose timeline of things I really want to happen to the character. Everything else that can and does happen between creation and the possible achievement of that ultimate goal, if it's for the good of the story (mine, someone else who I'm OOCly or ICly friendly with, or with a group I hold in high regard), I'll at least put a lot of consideration into doing something drastic for the good of a story. I had a character in another game that got stabbed, broken, burned, put in a coma, left for dead, branded, cut up, temporarily blinded, enthralled, kidnapped, tortured, mentally tortured, and cut open so things could be hidden in her (mule for illegal arcane goods), all for the sake of "making a better story". Sometimes these things would sideline me for a few weeks/couple months from major action, but only once -- and that would be the blinding incident -- was I OOCly unhappy with the whole thing.
Now... breaking character for the sake of story... I try to make characters that have enough flex in any direction that I don't have to break character. There is one exception to this, though:
I have another RP group I run with, in another game. I like the people in that group, save one person who... I think we all just feel so sorry for the guy, that we can't bring ourselves to kick him out. We suspect that he might have a bit of a handicap, but we can't confirm because it seems that not only does he hold a regular job without an advocate/assistant, he has a driver's license and is the caretaker for his elderly parents. Responses from him take a very long time (he will sometimes just go unresponsive for up to a few hours in the middle of a conversation), and he seems... unable to understand the consequences of his IC actions. My character, specifically, hates his character. Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hates his. She also holds him in the highest suspicion, and thinks he's useless and a coward. Granted, my character's default setting when it comes to men is that she hates them, but they do have every opportunity to get in her better graces. This was explained to him OOCly when he first joined the group, and several times since then. He and I have had several conversations (at his request) on how to get his character into her better graces. I've even told him exactly what to do, but he constantly immediately backs up these actions with his character saying or doing something that puts him in an even worse place than where he was before -- it's always one step forward, two steps back with him. It's to the point where for the sake of the group's RP, I HAVE to ignore him ICly or it'd just be neverending IC bickering.
If my character ever gets turned into a monster, she's turning into a Tonberry... and "Everyone's Grudge" is going to one-hit KO him.
Similarly, he gets a lot of... well... what I'd call 'pity RP' from me. It's not stuff that is for the better of the story, it's just stuff so that he's not sitting in the corner doing nothing on slow days, and that I sort of retcon in my own mind to not really have happened because... it wouldn't have happened. Stuff that breaks the 'mechanics' of how my character works/interacts with the setting's environment. Or just how she interacts with other people. Someone is not going to sneak up absolutely silently on her while they're wearing plate armor and coming from the direction she's already looking and they're not using a sneak or invisible spell/ability. Or pick her up with one arm and run with her like she's a football when she weighs 100lbs more than what they say their max lift/carry ability is. Or for her to stay seated at a bar next to someone she hates and have a polite conversation with.
... I'm tired and rambling, going to shut up now and take a nap...
Now... breaking character for the sake of story... I try to make characters that have enough flex in any direction that I don't have to break character. There is one exception to this, though:
I have another RP group I run with, in another game. I like the people in that group, save one person who... I think we all just feel so sorry for the guy, that we can't bring ourselves to kick him out. We suspect that he might have a bit of a handicap, but we can't confirm because it seems that not only does he hold a regular job without an advocate/assistant, he has a driver's license and is the caretaker for his elderly parents. Responses from him take a very long time (he will sometimes just go unresponsive for up to a few hours in the middle of a conversation), and he seems... unable to understand the consequences of his IC actions. My character, specifically, hates his character. Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hates his. She also holds him in the highest suspicion, and thinks he's useless and a coward. Granted, my character's default setting when it comes to men is that she hates them, but they do have every opportunity to get in her better graces. This was explained to him OOCly when he first joined the group, and several times since then. He and I have had several conversations (at his request) on how to get his character into her better graces. I've even told him exactly what to do, but he constantly immediately backs up these actions with his character saying or doing something that puts him in an even worse place than where he was before -- it's always one step forward, two steps back with him. It's to the point where for the sake of the group's RP, I HAVE to ignore him ICly or it'd just be neverending IC bickering.
If my character ever gets turned into a monster, she's turning into a Tonberry... and "Everyone's Grudge" is going to one-hit KO him.
Similarly, he gets a lot of... well... what I'd call 'pity RP' from me. It's not stuff that is for the better of the story, it's just stuff so that he's not sitting in the corner doing nothing on slow days, and that I sort of retcon in my own mind to not really have happened because... it wouldn't have happened. Stuff that breaks the 'mechanics' of how my character works/interacts with the setting's environment. Or just how she interacts with other people. Someone is not going to sneak up absolutely silently on her while they're wearing plate armor and coming from the direction she's already looking and they're not using a sneak or invisible spell/ability. Or pick her up with one arm and run with her like she's a football when she weighs 100lbs more than what they say their max lift/carry ability is. Or for her to stay seated at a bar next to someone she hates and have a polite conversation with.
... I'm tired and rambling, going to shut up now and take a nap...
