My life has been full of RP. Not that anyone reading this blog will say it, but I have no confusion between reality and my stories. I understand that they are stories and will stay stories. Honestly… if I met half the fantasy characters that I know of I would probably run away crying.

But… there are times that you just look at something and go “How neat that would be!”

Such as having a hearthstone. “Honey, I’m home!”

Being able to summon food for people. Talk about being able to solve world hunger.

However, life doesn’t work that way and even in a fantasy world not everyone has access to the conveniences that you see the main characters take advantage of. You characters aren’t perfect. They make mistakes. People do that.

I did some writing workshops during GenCon last week and even though I’ve written for a long time I found so much useful information. I’m going to give you some of this information in relation to how you can use it for RP. Why? Because I think that everyone can use it. I’ll be using Araatris, my baby demon hunter for my examples.

Steps 1-4 (5-8 will be in the next article)

Character exercises:

Step 1

Write five sentences about your character. Each sentence should be about a different part of your character’s life.

1. Araatris misses her parents.

2. Feeling as though she’s failed, Araatris doesn’t think that she can have a relationship.

3. Araatris has chosen to fight against the Burning Legion to keep the same thing from happening to others.

4. Araatris was a tracker and small games hunter prior to demon hunting.

5. Araatris is healthy and sturdy for her age.

Step 2

Add two more sentences to each of the above on the same topics.

1. Her parents were well-to-do mages. They doted on their only daughter.

2. She’s refused all invitations from eligible males. She believes that giving in would mean she’s weak.

3. She’s already killed a satyr. She viewed the destruction of Dalaran.

4. Her parents’ wanted her to learn survival skills and independence.

5. She is average height and weight. She is agile.

Step 3

Write a single sentence in opposition to the above sentences.

1. However, Araatris’ parents wanted to drive her life.

2. Her mind is an active playground for romance.

3. She’s terrified of fighting demons.

4. Araatris is better suited to stealth than tracking.

5. She has a scar over her left eye.

Step 4

Add two more sentences to each of the above on the same topics.

1. They wanted her to become a mage and follow in their footsteps. Araatris, should they have lived, would have opposed them.

2. Araatris imagines what it would be like to find someone who would treat her as her equal. She wonders if it would be nice to have someone protect her for once.

3. Araatris thinks of demons more of monsters. She has to remind herself that neither warlock nor demon hunters are necessarily monsters, but that they use the monsters.

4. She tends to be more comfortable in the background while she surveys the situation. She will do anything it takes to get the job done and doesn’t allow honor to restrict the way she fights.

5. She is blind in the left eye. She has learned to compensate for the lessened field of vision.

Stay tuned for next week! *grin*

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under RP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.