Usually, I take a step back from the character and try to consider another angle for them that make use of the connections and activities I've already had them play.
For instance, when I was just starting out with free form forum RP, I played in an X-Men game, though I actually didn't know that much about Marvel comics other than the basics. I had to study up considerably to be familiar with various characters and references to things that happened. Since all the characters were young, naturally, my first angle was "A skeptic who sees the X-Men as child soldiers and slowly comes around to Xavier's ideals." When I managed to play that out, I looked at what I'd established about his family life. At the time he was a distant, genius stranger sort. I wanted to make him feel more personable as he got closer to other characters, so my friend and I who had RP'd together before many times built a surrogate sibling relationship between our characters. When that had happened, I had the tools in the background to give him a "sense of loss" storyline, because he had a sibling who died in childbirth and that would help elaborate on why he was so protective of his friend. Later, after a massive time skip, I tried to take the angle of "filial piety" for him because of his relationship with his family and their sordid past of social control and experimentation. So from the start he went from a know-it-all leader type to a strategist, from a sensitive, quietly wounded boy with survivor's guilt to a responsible older brother, and much later, hardened by his experiences (He wasn't totally wrong about the whole child soldiers thing.), from a fervent believer in a peaceful future to an aspiring tyrant with good intentions.
Of course it was a game played when we were all pretty young and there was considerable excess. I was committed to not playing more than one character, so I had to load a lot of these things onto a single plot line. Some of these ideas worked better than others and thus the length of each character arc is inconsistent. This is why the use of alts can help a great deal.
If you look closely and compare the background of your character to the experiences they've gone through in RP, you can usually find one or two potential story lead-ins that will be engaging to you as a writer. From there on you can explore aspects of your character that perhaps did not receive as much attention before. At the very worst it'll help you recognize that you have an idea you want to play, but it'd be better suited for one of your alts if you make any.Â
If none of these solutions work, then you can quietly retire the character, but I personally try to avoid this as much as possible. I like characters to have an end, and having them slip away into obscurity because I fall out of love with them is something I plan to avoid when I create them. They need to have themes or aspects that I fundamentally find interesting, and room for growth.
For instance, when I was just starting out with free form forum RP, I played in an X-Men game, though I actually didn't know that much about Marvel comics other than the basics. I had to study up considerably to be familiar with various characters and references to things that happened. Since all the characters were young, naturally, my first angle was "A skeptic who sees the X-Men as child soldiers and slowly comes around to Xavier's ideals." When I managed to play that out, I looked at what I'd established about his family life. At the time he was a distant, genius stranger sort. I wanted to make him feel more personable as he got closer to other characters, so my friend and I who had RP'd together before many times built a surrogate sibling relationship between our characters. When that had happened, I had the tools in the background to give him a "sense of loss" storyline, because he had a sibling who died in childbirth and that would help elaborate on why he was so protective of his friend. Later, after a massive time skip, I tried to take the angle of "filial piety" for him because of his relationship with his family and their sordid past of social control and experimentation. So from the start he went from a know-it-all leader type to a strategist, from a sensitive, quietly wounded boy with survivor's guilt to a responsible older brother, and much later, hardened by his experiences (He wasn't totally wrong about the whole child soldiers thing.), from a fervent believer in a peaceful future to an aspiring tyrant with good intentions.
Of course it was a game played when we were all pretty young and there was considerable excess. I was committed to not playing more than one character, so I had to load a lot of these things onto a single plot line. Some of these ideas worked better than others and thus the length of each character arc is inconsistent. This is why the use of alts can help a great deal.
If you look closely and compare the background of your character to the experiences they've gone through in RP, you can usually find one or two potential story lead-ins that will be engaging to you as a writer. From there on you can explore aspects of your character that perhaps did not receive as much attention before. At the very worst it'll help you recognize that you have an idea you want to play, but it'd be better suited for one of your alts if you make any.Â
If none of these solutions work, then you can quietly retire the character, but I personally try to avoid this as much as possible. I like characters to have an end, and having them slip away into obscurity because I fall out of love with them is something I plan to avoid when I create them. They need to have themes or aspects that I fundamentally find interesting, and room for growth.
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AV by Kura-Ou
Wiki (Last updated 01/16)
My Balmung profile.
AV by Kura-Ou
Wiki (Last updated 01/16)
My Balmung profile.
