Part 2: Writing a Character
You've done a little reading and brainstorming, and you've got a good idea of who your character is and maybe how you want to play them. But how do you go about putting all this information together and doing so in a format that's both easy to share with other roleplayers and gives you something to reference as needed for their history? Simple! We make a character sheet.
Note: As mentioned previously, there are roleplay add-ons you can use to fill in character information. However, for now I want to focus solely on how to build the character. In the next post, I'll show you how to transfer the information created in this post into an add-on like MRP.
Note: As mentioned previously, there are roleplay add-ons you can use to fill in character information. However, for now I want to focus solely on how to build the character. In the next post, I'll show you how to transfer the information created in this post into an add-on like MRP.
The Basics of a Character Sheet
If you've ever played any sort of tabletop roleplaying game such as Dungeons & Dragons, you know that a character sheet is a piece of paper with a list of your attributes, skills, and your possessions. Also included in many sheets is a section to describe your character and it's broken down into things like race, eye color, age, and maybe a small section for a background. The purpose of a character sheet is to give your Game/Dungeon Master information to help them design both combat and roleplay encounters that are fun, challenging, and keeps both you and your character invested in the story. While you won't necessarily have a person in charge of creating a story for your character in WoW (sometimes you might), the character sheet we'll create serves the same purpose of giving ourselves and our friends something to use to help them share in a mutually crafted story and to give everyone something tangible to play with that goes beyond what you can convey via in-game interaction.
What I typically do when I'm designing a character is to open Notepad or other document editor and type the following:
- Name
- Age
- Height, Weight, Hair and Eye Color
- Appearance/Physical Description
- Personality
- Class/Job
- History/Background
- Other
Remember, you don't have to do it this way, and it's up to you if you even want to write up any information about your character. These are just practices I've picked up over the years to help make it easier and faster for me to flesh out my characters. What you do with this information and how you adapt it to suit your needs is entirely up to you.
Now that we have our outline, let's break down each section and talk about what we put there.
Name
This is, of course, pretty self explanatory, but there are some loose guidelines for naming. For first names, don't sweat too much about it "fitting." With so many players on roleplay realms, it can be difficult to have a name that's unique or not already taken, and bear in mind that an add-on like MRP will alter how your name appears for other players with MRP. For example, your game name might be Ikilldoodz, but if you put "Sally Smith" into MRP that's the name that will show in the chat windows and what other players with that add-on will see when they hover over your character portrait.
There are no hard and fast rules about naming conventions in WoW; however, surnames vary by race. Draenei, for example, do not traditionally have surnames, though some might adopt a surname in order to feel like they're part of Azeroth's culture. Dwarfs have names like Bronzebeard or Stonehammer. Blood elf names invoke the sun or the light quite often. A good idea is to look at NPC names in game or in stories involving your race to see what themes are used in each race. WoWHead offers a list of NPC names in each zone, so look up your race's capital city or a zone they populate in greater numbers and check out the names that way.
Age
Determining a character's age in WoW can be an arduous and nigh impossible task. With an ever fluctuating timeline and lore related to racial lifespans changing with almost every expansion, it's enough to give anyone a headache. Wowpedia has a page dedicated to keeping track of the different lifespans and provides links to their sources. You can give your character a "hard" age, but it's equally valid to use terms like "young," "old," or "middle-aged." Just be aware that what's old for a human will be incredibly young for a night elf. Pay attention to your race's lore and go for an age you feel you can believably play. A naive teenager is not going to have the wisdom of a forty year-old veteran, and you should keep this in mind when determining how old you want your character to be.
Also, while you don't have to be an expert on lore as I've said, you might want to take a quick look at the most recent timeline given to us by Blizzard in their Ultimate Visual Guide. Wowpedia uses this timeline to keep their unofficial timeline as accurate as possible and includes more historical events. This will give you a better idea of where your twenty year-old orc might have been born, or whether or not it's feasible for your goblin to have been around during the Sundering (hint: not really).
If you really want to, you can look up information from the Warcraft RPG books, but be aware that Blizzard has said these are no longer canon. Still, I think it's possible to get some inspiration for them in terms of racial age and other factors, just don't rely on them as your sole source of information.
Please, don't beat yourself up if you later discover your age is wrong/impossible for your character to be, or if Blizzard changes the lore or, as is sometimes more accurate, finally clarifies a bit of information that can alter a character's age. Back when I first started, it was thought it was the year on Azeroth was 32 and blood elves only had a lifespan of about 400 years. That's changed drastically since Cataclysm and, to be honest, I've given up on providing a concrete age for my blood elves.
Height and Other Physical Attributes
Some players go the extra mile and will come up with exact numbers for height and weight, and there are some reference materials to help you if you want to go that route. Or you can go with terms like "average," "short," or "above average." Saying your character is of average height and weight for their race doesn't make them an average character; there are many ways to stand out that have nothing to do with physical appearance.
For hair color, just look at your in-game model. Try to limit yourself to hair colors available to your race, and while it's fine to use terms like "auburn" or "mossy green" instead of just plain "brunette" or "green," you might want to steer away from metaphors like, "her hair is the color spun gold." The same goes for eye color. "Emerald green" is fine for a blood elf, just don't go for "glowing orbs of jade."
You don't have to stay within the confines of your in-game model choices, but please be aware there are reasons in lore blood elves have glowing green eyes and orcs born on Azeroth are green-skinned. It's your responsibility to read up on your race's history and normal physical characteristics, and if you want to bend the rules a bit, be prepared to explain why your character is atypical when questioned.
Appearance/Physical Description
Here's where we start to give the details that really paint a clearer picture of your character and help them stand apart from the generic character models. This is where you talk about any distinguishing characteristics such as scars or body modification. Perhaps your character has a nose that's obviously been broken a few times, or puts beads in the braids of their hair. Maybe they always have bags under their eyes from hours of poring over tomes, or they're perpetually smiling. Do they have wrinkles or freckles? Think about what might stand out most to a person seeing your character for the very first time and go from there.
Some roleplayers will tell you not to make your character pretty/handsome, or warn you away from outright saying they're attractive. This is mostly because far too many roleplayers out there try to be perfect beings with no flaws whatsoever, including physically. I understand the sentiment and I, too, caution against trying to make a perfect character; however, I also believe that it's perfectly acceptable to make a character that is conventionally attractive for their race. The trick is in how you describe their appearance and make it clear that, for your race, a person might find your character physically attractive.
It's important to avoid telling other players how they're character should react to seeing your character. Don't tell them they're mesmerized upon seeing your character, and don't say everyone fauns over them wherever they go. Focus only on describing what they see so that they're allowed the freedom of choosing a reaction, if any. Like before, stay away from awkward metaphors. No "flawless alabaster skin," or "abs sculpted by the Titans themselves."
Do try to offer clues about a character's lifestyle such as calloused hands or dusty boots with lots of travel wear. Perhaps your gnome like to tinker and thus always has a spot of grease or oil somewhere on their clothing or face. Tease people with hints about who your character is and make them interested in learning more. Spend a little time on describing the sort of clothing they wear, whether it's the full plate armor you've spent hours farming for transmog, or if you picture them wearing something far simpler when sitting down for a pint at the local tavern.
Do try to offer clues about a character's lifestyle such as calloused hands or dusty boots with lots of travel wear. Perhaps your gnome like to tinker and thus always has a spot of grease or oil somewhere on their clothing or face. Tease people with hints about who your character is and make them interested in learning more. Spend a little time on describing the sort of clothing they wear, whether it's the full plate armor you've spent hours farming for transmog, or if you picture them wearing something far simpler when sitting down for a pint at the local tavern.
Personality
In an add-on like MRP, this will typically go under the same section as your physical description, but for our purposes I wanted to talk about this separately because, in my mind, it is separate. This is the part where you offer a hint of how your character might respond when interacting in others. Do they get wide-eyed and obviously nervous in crowded rooms, or do they enjoy meeting new people? Are you more likely to see them reading their favorite book of poems underneath the shade of a tree, or hanging out at the Brawler's Club cheering on their favorite fighters (or participating themselves)? How might they react if approached by a stranger?
This is one of those things that gets easier with time and practice. For starters it's OK to say they're shy and quiet or loud and the life of a party. As you get to know your character more and/or get more practice writing, you'll be able to come up with a variety of ways to describe your character's personality to others. Be warned, however, that if you paint your character as a jerk who ignores everyone around them, then it's less likely other players will have their characters approach yours. After all, do you ever walk up to that one person at the party who looks angry and always ready to start a fight?
Class/Job
First of all, you are not restricted to the class you rolled in-game. Just because you play a Holy Priest on your raid team doesn't mean your character has to be a healer or even a Priest. Maybe they're just a simple tailor or a florist. Nowhere is it written that you must be a member of your faction's military. You can be a regular civilian whose thrust into an adventure and discovers they have some seriously powerful latent magical abilities or physical prowess, or be a tavern server who's never stepped foot outside Elwynn Forest despite plenty of opportunities. Just as in real life, Azeroth's cities need artisans, craftsmen, and teachers. Have fun with the possibilities.
That said, if you've rolled a mage, don't try to play a warrior or some sort of hybrid. Also, if you roll a Death Knight, be a Death Knight. For the former, too many people have tried to be both magically and physically powerful so as to make themselves invulnerable to any harm. Whether or not that's your intention, that's how people will judge you. For the latter, Death Knights have their own lore and offer abundant opportunities for excellent story telling and roleplay. Really, there's not a need to try to make them any more dramatic, or to just use a Death Knight because you don't want to put the time into leveling a paladin. (Yes, I have actually seen this in game.)
History/Background
Here's where things can get complicated and a little frustrating, if they haven't already when determining an age for your character. Remember our rules and let's keep it simple and start small. You don't have to start at your character's birth, nor do you even need to have a clear picture of what their childhood was like. "History" can be as recent as a couple of weeks or months ago, and this is why I told you before to look at the recent events in game.
Certainly go back to revisit the timelines linked above and your race's information, but also know that a background section that only focuses on the last year or so of a character's life is every bit as valid as the one who talks about everything from the day of their birth. Write as much or as little as you like/feel capable of doing. (And if you're planning to put this into a roleplay add-on later, brevity isn't a bad thing at all.) Be tragic, funny, or somewhere in between. Give your character reasons for being the person they are, and run with whatever idea strikes your fancy.
If writing isn't your forte, or you aren't yet ready to write several sentences describing your character, go ahead and just write a few notes or bullet points. Something along the lines of, "Was at Theramore," or "Volunteered to help restore the Vale of Eternal Blossoms." Anything that gives you an idea of who your character is and helps you picture them and "get into their head" so to speak is great. Don't force yourself, and if you wish, read other players' histories to see how they've done it. The great thing about doing this in Notepad/other document editor is we can make a few notes and go back to other sections. We can save it and come back to it later when the words are easier for us to find.
It doesn't have to be perfect on the first, second, or even third draft. I'm going to repeat that: It doesn't have to be perfect. You are learning and getting practice in for roleplay. You are allowed to make errors in your background. WoW isn't always clear in game about when an event happened, and even if you study all the timelines and read every page you can, there are still a few things that are vague or in gray areas. And like I said above, what's lore compliant now might not be in a few months when the devs decide to change a point in history, or clarify a position.
Please don't let an overly zealous lore nerd get the better of you. If someone whispers you about your profile and starts in on everything you've got wrong (or they think you're wrong about), it's fine to ignore them. Ask for critique and advice if you want, but if you don't ask for it and someone invades your space to try and make your story fit their idea of what lore should be, they're being a jerk. Most of the time these folks are well-meaning and may not realize how rude this practice is, but that still doesn't make it OK or mean you can't use the game's ignore function. If you are uncertain about something, do your best to read what you can or ask a trusted friend to help you try and figure out what's right. We can go back and edit anything in our profiles as we need to, and nothing is permanent.
Other Considerations
Everything above gives us a fairly complete picture of our characters; however, there are some minor features we can add in if we like to sharpen that image a little more. Is your character an only child or do they have siblings? What about other relatives? In WoW, it's not out of the realm of possibility that your character may be the last person of their family's bloodline alive, but equally possible is the presence of a large extended family. What's their position in society? Are they noble, rich, poor, etc.? Was their family once powerful and now in decline?
Birthdays are another point of consideration. Some players have fun throwing birthday parties for their characters, or other sorts of anniversaries such as weddings or even memorials for those that have been lost. All of these things add just a little more seasoning and give us even more hooks to use for roleplay.
Flaws
Give your character flaws. It doesn't have to be anything huge such as a permanent case of douchebag-itis, but give them something that makes them imperfect. Give them a fear of heights, or even hayfever. Be silly or serious with this. Maybe their jaw cracks when they yawn, or they refuse to eat their vegetables. Perhaps one foot is larger than the other, or there's a gap in their front teeth. Give them an Achilles' heel to be exploited by the bad guys.
We may all aspire to be perfect in real life, but if we were all perfect and never made mistakes life would be incredibly boring. It's important not to make your character flawless because flawless characters never get sick, injured, or lonely. Imperfect characters do and that makes it easier for us to identify with them and even like them. The more relatable a character is, the easier it is to write for them and interact with them.
That said, do be respectful and mindful of what you're calling a flaw. Mental illness is not a flaw, neither is a physical disability. There will be a post later in this series about roleplaying delicate subject matter, but I'm going to go ahead and repeat myself and say these are not flaws nor should you portray them as such. I will also say I lose a lot of respect for folks who try to roleplay a mental illness or disability they do not themselves experience in real life. These are not costumes real people get to put on and take off at their leisure and seeing someone use it to have fun and laugh about it? It rankles and makes that player look like an ass.
A Note About Race
Up until now I've assumed you will use the race you rolled as for your character. There are some players who choose to step outside of the in-game restrictions and make hybrids, dragons, or use another race in lore such as a high elf. For beginners, I caution against this simply because to do these sorts of races well you need to be well acquainted with the lore, and because many folks react negatively to these sorts of characters because it's often done very, very poorly. For hybrid races like half-draenei/half-orc, there can be some icky and gross circumstances surrounding the birth even if there are examples of these racial combinations existing in lore.
Other things to stay away from as a beginner are characters disguised as other races, such as a human using an Orb of the Sin'dorei to live openly among Horde races. It can be done, and done well, but it's also tricky and may be the sort of thing that's kept as guild canon only versus forcing every other roleplayer in game to accept this as your race.
That's it! (For now.)
We've got our character sheet and are ready to put it to use. Next post I'll talk about using add-ons like MRP and TRP2 and tips on how to fill in the various sections. Just a head's up that the next post will be very image heavy, but I'll try to keep it reasonable.
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