Characters

I fell into the hobby of fictional world building while creating characters for online role-play games. I enjoy character building and exploring and discovering as much as I can about the environment in which my characters' live, is fun. Role-playing in your world whether it be on your own or with a group of friends can also be fun.

Character Building

The Characters in your world will be born from the Sentient Lifeforms that you created. You may decide to create all your characters from a particular time period in your World which may further limit your selection choices. If you're wanting to create a picture of your world during different ages, your character selection could also be made by selecting important figures who have influenced the changes in your world, worlds cultures and civilisations.

There are many ways to build a character as there are many ways to create a fictional world. Some of the methods that I have enjoyed are:

Character Adaptation

Taking an idea for a character from an existing fiction such as a play and then moulding that character and the character's story to your own world is not as easy as it appears. In yahoo chat, I met many role-players who were enamoured by a movie or story and created a character based on their perception of the character. The adapted characters did not necessarily fit in with the World around them and when the players found an aspect of the world that was lacking, the player might try to change the world to suit the character. Unless your world building is focused around a character then you may find yourself faced with many challenges and incongruities when moulding your characters if you choose this type of character building.

RPG Character Sheets

Character sheets are a useful resource for finding out about the abilities and basic characteristics of your character before you being to portray them. Role-play Games (RPGs) offer free templates and various types of character sheet templates that you may find useful.

One of the interesting things I discovered with RPGs were the different methods that you could employ to create a character. Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) uses a game of chance, Dice Rolling to decide many traits about the character. A player may find their hopeful hero does not have enough strength in a particular statistic to lead the life of a successful warrior simply because their dice did not role the outcome they desired. There are Dungeon Masters (DMs) who will allow a player a little creative licence in their game so that the player enjoys the game.

Many RPGs have game manuals or books that provide a decent amount of background for race choices and occupations. The resources provide detailed instruction on what statistics you should role for your character and other choices that you can choose without Dice. While RPG sheets can be helpful when building your characters, using the same background as an RPG to create your characters may again lead to conflicts and incongruities if your Characters do not fit with your World.

Unless you are using the same races as an existing RPG, my suggestion is to choose a character sheet that you suits your world and build your own race and occupation manuals around your world and civilisations first before you begin to create your characters. When you begin creating your characters you will then have as a foundation the common characteristics of your Sentient Lifeforms and the pre-existing limitations of your world to consider.

Suggested Format for Basic Character Building

 
Download the JPWB Character Building Sheet JPWBcharactersheet.pdf or use the template as part of your geofiction.

1. Using the shared traits of your Sentient Lifeforms begin to complete your character sheet by filling in the known traits.
2. You don't have to choose a name yet for your character. You may decide to leave this to the very last. Don't get hung up on choosing a name it doesn't make the character.
3. Physical characteristics are usually easy to describe. They include such things as height, weight, colour of eyes, hair or flesh, number of teeth, scars, shape of ears.
4. Statistics. If you play Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) or a similar role-playing game you will be accustomed to the use of statistics. Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are all traits that can be described through the use of a number scoring system. Even though it is not necessary I still roll the dice and leave this up to chance most times for my characters.
5. Languages can be useful if you have a world divided by different dialects. Depending on the intellect and education of your character and how well travelled they are, they may know more than one language.
6. Combat and weapon skills may also provide your characters with depth. Even if they are a character that does not engage in combat, you should know how well they can defend themselves in a fight.
7. Proficient Attributes may include skills such as singing, dancing, cooking, hunting, running, swimming, leaping, economics, space travel, flying aircraft, teaching. Some of these may overlap with racial traits. Consider the different levels of achievement your character may have with these skills and what areas they could improve in.
8. Special abilities take into account powers or magic that may exist in your world.
9. Weaknesses are characteristics they could turn out to be strengths in some situations. Weaknesses can also give added depth to characterisation.

In-depth Character Building

If you enjoy character development, especially if you are a role-player or storyteller then you may want to learn more about your character. How you develop a character can be personal. You may decide to develop the character as your role-play or develop the stories beginning with a very loose history.

A well rounded character will not only have positive characteristics but also negative characteristics. Unless your world and character's are extremes then Hero's will have flaws and Villains will have likeable characteristics.

The second character sheet template defines relationships especially relatives and friends. By creating a family tree you may discover opportunities for creating more Characters in your world.

Understanding the history of your character can go along way to developing reasons for current behavioural patterns. The third character sheet looks at the character history and how it has assisted in developing patterns of behaviour such as:

• speech patterns