Heroica Theatre

[Kintobor]

An interesting read, Flipz! I find this new piece of your's both highly entertaining, and highly informative! You'd be surprised where Karie was originally going. I won't say it though, it's just not that interesting. The acting background came in with my personal love for acting and the stage, and I spun it into the person who is Karie Alderflask. I have a basic idea of where Karie's going, but not a concrete one. The whole ordeal with the Apprentice is, for me, a role players dream come true. I had a calculating, manipulative, madman leave a boot mark on my character. Now to see how that affect's Karie from here on out.

Fly, little fledgling PC, fly!

*Karie flies off into the distance*

[Waterbrick Down]

Great entertaining article Flipz, it's good to see this topic updated. I agree Zepher, Pie, Scuba, and Corny are some of my favorite back-stories to watch unfold because they are paced at such an amazing rate without their characters being solely dependent upon them. A tip on back-stories, remember, characters don't necessarily have to have those, what we like to call "big defining moments". There are plenty of banishments, family massacres , desertions, and treacheries out there, sometimes it's the simple yet unique things about a character's back-story that can make them come alive and peak interests. A great example is LordoftheNoobs' character is a gnomish ex-janitor, talk about ordinary, yet totally unique. Like Flipz said, keep it loose and let your character be written by the present and not just by the past.

[Flipz]

A tip on back-stories, remember, characters don't necessarily have to have those, what we like to call "big defining moments". There are plenty of banishments, family massacres , desertions, and treacheries out there, sometimes it's the simple yet unique things about a character's back-story that can make them come alive and peak interests.

I disagree, slightly; we all have these moments, but they aren't as big--nor as tragic--as we tend to make them in fiction. Look at Tarn Valco, with his mentor/father figure Rystael (I apologize if I butchered the spelling ). I'd argue that Tarn has several defining moments involving his relationship with that character, but none of them seem to be overly big or tragic. LordoftheNoobs' character Grimwald Gjinko is likely the same, whether LordoftheNoobs has explicitly defined him that way or not.

That is another tip I should note: don't be afraid to deliberately pull from yourself, because I guarantee you'll end up doing it anyway without even realizing it. If you don't feel the need to create a "defining moment" from scratch, good, just run with your impulse; odds are you are subconsciously pulling one or more of these moments from yourself or someone very close to you, and your understanding of how that moment defines the character may be even stronger for it (to say nothing of the potential self-insight you can gain, if you so wish).

[Waterbrick Down]

I disagree, slightly; we all have these moments, but they aren't as big--nor as tragic--as we tend to make them in fiction.

Agreed, I meant to dissuade people from thinking that those examples I mentioned are the only types of "big defining moments".

[LordoftheNoobs]

Well thank you both for mentioning my character, I was starting to think no-one was paying attention to him! :P

Yeah, I just sorta threw his background together, nothing special, haha. And there is no big moment in his life really, just a lot of little ones.

[Flipz]

And there is no big moment in his life really, just a lot of little ones.

It's very special, and a great example for the rest of Heroica. Not all defining moments need to be big, and that's a beautiful way of putting it.

The most interesting characters are the ones who are the most real. And Grimwald is very real. Don't ever apologize for how you roleplay your character.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Flipz

[LordoftheNoobs]

Ooooh, I think I figured his backstory out, bear with me now:

Back in his youth, he got a job as a healer/field doctor in some unspecified war, then fell on hard(-ish) times and went travelling around aimlessly, doing odd jobs here and there, and eventually found his way to Eubric where his skills weren't recognised (tragic!) and he got a job as a Janitor somewhere.

He did this job for over a decade, before finally deciding to join Heroica in order to escape from his monotonous lifestyle, and rekindle his wanderlust.

There. How's that? :D

Also I'm honoured that the king of role playing himself has taken such a liking to my character! XD

[Flipz]

Ooooh, I think I figured his backstory out, bear with me now:

Back in his youth, he got a job as a healer/field doctor in some unspecified war, then fell on hard(-ish) times and went travelling around aimlessly, doing odd jobs here and there, and eventually found his way to Eubric where his skills weren't recognised (tragic!) and he got a job as a Janitor somewhere.

He did this job for over a decade, before finally deciding to join Heroica in order to escape from his monotonous lifestyle, and rekindle his wanderlust.

There. How's that? :D

Also I'm honoured that the king of role playing himself has taken such a liking to my character! XD

That's an excellent example of internal (read: behind-the-scenes) backstory development--but don't lock yourself to it. (I mean, just look at what the internal development for mine was! ) Just roll with what you have for now, and try different ideas until you find what ultimately fits.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Flipz

[CMP]

Nice article, Flipz.

CMP too has nice backstory, but keeps it loose and doesn't shove it in anyone's faces.

It's funny, I'm really glad you say that, yet I really enjoy how Boomingham is constantly waving his backstory in front of everybody. It's a hard thing to pull off right, but it's one of the reasons I like Boomingham so much - he pulls off pretty much living in the past and yet still doesn't seem at all disassociated with anything going on around him.

[Pyrovisionary]

Ok then, after reading that, I'm thinking on how Sarge is interpreted by other characters: "Scruffy, drunk, idiot, fool, junkie, annoying and business asset." And that's exactly what he is?! If he dislikes the Party leader he is going to do everything in his power to piss them off!

Edited April 6, 2013 by Skyrimguy

[Scubacarrot]

Backstory is both what I love about Roleplaying and the bane of my existence. My backstory for Guts is a short novel, basically, with a lot of things covering a lot of different subjects. Of course he's influenced by his backstory a TON, but I don't think that limits further development in Quests, so I will have to disagree with you on that. I don't think you need to have a partially blank character to be able to develop later. You can have a perfectly fleshed out character that can still evolve and change. Or at least that's what I hope is happening. It was a lot of fun for me to figure out what things happened to Guts to make him the tired old man that he is now, but it can indeed limit you, in the way that there are some things that your character would never do. A bad thing? Probably not, as limitting yourself to stuff is a key ingredient of good roleplay, I feel. Also an issue I have is, what is a good way to display this? I have tried twice with flashbacks, but I don't really like that way, as it is basically you talking to yourself. So that leaves the character revealling it himself, but with Guts being a distrustful guy and all, there is a good chance you will never get to see everything, which is kind of sad to me.

Ok then, after reading that, I'm thinking on how Sarge is interpreted by other characters: "Scruffy, drunk, idiot, fool, junkie, annoying and business asset." And that's exactly what he is?! If he dislikes the Party leader he is going to do everything in his power to piss them off!

I don't want to tell you how to play your character, but if you are going to do that, you should make sure your character pisses off the other characters, and doesn't start to annoy the players. Does that make sense?

[Flare]

I would complain that I don't know how to really get Benji's backstory to fit with whats happening around him, but its not really fair to complain since I'm in the unlimited quest with the king of anti-roleplay

[Masked Builder]

Had I know more about what Roleplay was when I created my character, or had cared, I might have crafted a better story for Alexis. I'll probably spend a good bit of time now on developing my second character. Thanks for the new sections Flipz!

[LordoftheNoobs]

I really think that many characters here are lovely in their own ways, even if they might seem a bit cliche, they're all very good, and I really like each and every one of them.

Just for the record, my favourite is Monk Pretzel. He's... He just rocks. Yeah. :D

[Pyrovisionary]

Backstory is both what I love about Roleplaying and the bane of my existence. My backstory for Guts is a short novel, basically, with a lot of things covering a lot of different subjects. Of course he's influenced by his backstory a TON, but I don't think that limits further development in Quests, so I will have to disagree with you on that. I don't think you need to have a partially blank character to be able to develop later. You can have a perfectly fleshed out character that can still evolve and change. Or at least that's what I hope is happening. It was a lot of fun for me to figure out what things happened to Guts to make him the tired old man that he is now, but it can indeed limit you, in the way that there are some things that your character would never do. A bad thing? Probably not, as limitting yourself to stuff is a key ingredient of good roleplay, I feel. Also an issue I have is, what is a good way to display this? I have tried twice with flashbacks, but I don't really like that way, as it is basically you talking to yourself. So that leaves the character revealling it himself, but with Guts being a distrustful guy and all, there is a good chance you will never get to see everything, which is kind of sad to me.

I don't want to tell you how to play your character, but if you are going to do that, you should make sure your character pisses off the other characters, and doesn't start to annoy the players. Does that make sense?

Ok. Maybe that isn't the best approach then...

[Cutcobra]

I have a backstory for my character but it still hasn't been told. Anyways, how is my character interpreted by you guys?.

[LordoftheNoobs]

I find Heckz to be a really quirky, funny character, like a real joker, but not over the top. Yeah, he's cool.

[Professor Flitwick]

Thothwicks backstory is an amalgamation of several episodes of Downton Abbey!

[Scorpiox]

Thothwicks backstory is an amalgamation of several episodes of Downton Abbey!

I half expected it to be based on an episode of Lost and Ashes to Ashes.

[The Legonater]

Backstory is both what I love about Roleplaying and the bane of my existence. My backstory for Guts is a short novel, basically, with a lot of things covering a lot of different subjects. Of course he's influenced by his backstory a TON, but I don't think that limits further development in Quests, so I will have to disagree with you on that. I don't think you need to have a partially blank character to be able to develop later. You can have a perfectly fleshed out character that can still evolve and change. Or at least that's what I hope is happening.

Ditto. I shouldn't have to tell anyone that I have a well developed backstory for Dyric - not all of which is revealed yet, of course - but despite that, I have still had a lot of room to develop. If anything, his development has lead him away from his past, which is something I find really interesting.

I, personally, feel it important that each quest affects the character in its way. A lot of you have noted that I tend to play Dyric as a sum of his experiences, and I really feel honoured by that. Its definitely how I've tried to play him. Dyric takes something out of every Quest, and they all have affected him greatly. It's reasons like this why Zepher's quests are some of the most fun for me, because they really dramatically affect the characters - for example, Quest 19 had the characters thrust into a massive war, which turned out being for nothing except to fuel Wren's grab for chaos. War of any kind, and especially like that, should definitely affect the characters, its just up to the player what exactly the character takes from these experiences.

[Palathadric]

Just for the record, my favourite is Monk Pretzel. He's... He just rocks. Yeah. :D

Oh, wow! Thanks!

Good article, Flipz! Thanks!

I do have a general back story for Monk Pretzel, but it's nothing too big. I think I must have mentioned at least some things before. I guess he still hasn't had too many serious conversations with people that have gone much beyond his attempting to convert them. I don't really see him opening up seriously to people who refuse to convert, unless he feels like he can "impart some wisdom."

[Cutcobra]

I find Heckz to be a really quirky, funny character, like a real joker, but not over the top. Yeah, he's cool.

Yeah, he'll probably become more serious in the future. And I can't wait to see your character in a quest .

[Scorpiox]

As for backstory... it is something I've heavily tried to move away from over my Heroica career. In the past, Haldor was very much dominated by his past, and I believe that I relied on it too greatly to roleplay actions and build relationships. Now, I prefer to drop hints to past events whilst moving ol' nordo's personality on with the use of reactions to current situations and opinions of people and events; and I would say that it suits me far more so than my old methods did.

Concerning flashbacks... I would say that I hate them. As Zepher so eloquently put, they're basically 'playing with yourself', which I don't enjoy in terms of development. I find it a tad lazy, to just move along your own story by yourself because other players are too unpredictable, and I consider the same sentiment for planned roleplay events. At the end of Quest #38, I gave one a try to see what I thought of using them, and it turned out awefully. I would have much rather introduced Leif and Gerdur more subtly over a longer period, as such would build interest for their characters up until I was ready to do something with them; as they are both possibilities for my second character at level 50. Thoughts?

Edited April 6, 2013 by Scorpiox

[Zepher]

I'll add my voice to the no-flash backs group. I don't like them. They are long, hard to read through, and don't really revel in the events of the game. I have seen some I've liked, and many I have though were not up to par with the other stuff that player had put out. Just my two cents.

I forgot second characters had to be connected to our first... I'll have to think that out.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Zepher

[The Legonater]

I don't really like flash backs in general. I found they are rarely done in an interesting, engaging way, and usually feel like a cop-out. I far prefer when stories are told linearly - like in Les Miserables, for one (I mainly use this example because I just saw the movie). Obviously, this kind of format is a lot harder in an environment like this, and I wouldn't suggest it. Personally, I'd say to describe things as much as possible if you want these events known. Besides, hearing a person's past filtered through that person can be a lot more interesting than seeing it without any perspective.