Hey, So, I have run into a bit of trouble with developing Angel. The thing is, I love him a lot (Angel, that is), and since he is a blank slate (Unlike Brasstrace), I want to ask you what I could do to get around this barrier. First, I want to establish who Angel is as a character: Angel is Brasstrace’s brother. He was raised by her on their father’s ship while she set off on her life as a salvager. On their adventures, Angel picked up basic repair and basic first aid. He has practically no skills other than working in food prep and waitering before. Brasstrace is dead by the way. Part of her hubris of trying to be a non- violent salvager. Here are some of the problems I am dealing with: Angel has a job at the restaurant at Upside as a busboy. Initially, I did this because I wanted him to interact with other characters, as that would help develop him as a character and it would be easy to get into conversations. I want him to be dedicated to his job, but a loose schedule and a strong will to prove himself is a bit difficult to deal with. Furthermore, there is an abundance of staff at the restaurant. Initially, one may think that three people is not an abundance, but consider the amount of interactions that happen at the restaurant every day (The restaurant being a focal point on Upside). One character is enough to serve a group of people without contributing too much to the overall noise. Two or three characters becomes a bit redundant and asinine, as the plethora of emotes further saturates local text- or the RP environment. Pyro_Sander's character "Amis" is the normal waiter for the restaurant, and I understand that trying to coordinate working times IC or OOC is difficult and is most likely also asinine. That answer may be out the window. But here are other things to conside: I’m still pretty new here. It could just be me not knowing what to do or how to converse or establish my character outside of the bounds of their occupation. I understand that since Angel is non combat, going to “distress signals” or other combat events is out of the question. I am fine with that. My main problem is trying to find an outlet for him to develop- or maybe conversely me as a player. Check out my journal for a look inside Angel’s head: PDA file labeled "Dear sis"
Really I start off with my characters in very much the state you described. I start forming the rest of the details as they RP. Just to provide my current char as an example, I knew I just wanted a medical professional of some sort. I decided that cybernetics would be a cool thing to play around with, the "more than Human" dilemma. So I gave her a few cybernetic augments and threw her into the mix. It wasn't until I played her for a couple hours that her religion came about, then her lack of prior interaction with aliens, her rough attitude, and everything else. I didn't design anything for her until it was relevant to the situation she was in; I.E. she was asked about her parents, and I had to make up a story on the spot. This method is best for me because I sort of "listen" to the spirit of my characters, leaving them outside of my conscious control once they've formed their own shape as a person. Not sure how much that helps, but in short my advice would be to just go put him out there and see how he reacts with the world around him.
Thanks for your response Sermane! I remember you helped me out on my first character, Brasstrace. Great to see you again. Although, perhaps I wasn't clear. I've been putting him out there for five consecutive days (two hours at most each). The journal I wrote accounts for at least four of those five days Angel has been "on Upside". Interactions with other players and the environment; you know, the works. Perhaps it is just that I am having stage fright or writers block, since Angel has a stiff want to prove himself, yet a loose schedule doesn't help. Maybe a new occupation is in order- or something that wouldn't limit interaction for Angel. Maybe the problem is I don't know when Angel should or shouldn't be "working". Maybe I should just leave angel alone for a bit, and work on his journal. In the meantime, I could create a new character, and then come back to him later. What do you think? Or is there another way I could work around this interaction block? Yours, Tracey
I would recommend against journals, because your characters develop traits that are not related to the RP environment. I've had characters run away dramatically from their initial concept through the course of the first few conversations. I have a sort of hard time explaining how it ends up working, but I like to think I end up with pretty decent characters. I suppose you could get a start by developing a hard list of Angel's motivations. What does he want out of life? Friends? A good job? Then figure what methods he would use to start obtaining those goals. Then do it. I'm very much a one character person, so I usually commit pretty hard, but I've had a few that I've dumped early on because I didn't enjoy their direction, ultimately it's up to your enjoyment.
