Nothing to do with mechanics, just character personalities. Honestly speaking, as a GM and player what range of characters are you comfortable playing? For example do you have an easy time playing arrogant nobles and bored shop keepers, but a harder time playing a slang-speaking rogue or street thug? Maybe you can play old crones just fine, but are less at ease playing a Femme fatale?

Related to that, how do you devise your charater's personality? Do you let it emerge naturally through play, construct a detialed character history/personality before-hand, model the character on real people or images, etc.

I usually play two types of personalities:

The quiet person who observes and comes up with thought out creative planning

Or the take charge no-nonsense leader.


I do not like playing evil or selfish characters at all.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;588616Nothing to do with mechanics, just character personalities. Honestly speaking, as a GM and player what range of characters are you comfortable playing? For example do you have an easy time playing arrogant nobles and bored shop keepers, but a harder time playing a slang-speaking rogue or street thug? Maybe you can play old crones just fine, but are less at ease playing a Femme fatale?

I can do a lot of different characters. What annoys me running characters in English is that I have a French accent I cannot get rid off, so that limits my vocal impersonations and there's always that element that's "there", you know.

When I run a game in French I can do all these things convincingly. I might come with mannerisms, different vocal patterns and speech expressions, but I'm not "face" either, I mean... I don't force myself in that sense.

I've run dozens of NPCs at once in a room, for instance, with the ability to differenciate them all and not lose the players' attention in the process, so I like to think I'm decent in that regard.

Running the game in English is tougher for me. I'm never satisfied. But then my players tell me my games are great so... I must be doing something right.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;588616Related to that, how do you devise your charater's personality? Do you let it emerge naturally through play, construct a detialed character history/personality before-hand, model the character on real people or images, etc.

I can come up with NPCs or PCs on the spot. I can also create very detailed characters when I am asked to or whenever I feel it's warranted. Most of the time, whether I come up with 24 pages of background (Wheldrake and Uriel Manoa, another of my vampire characters, are both within that range) or a paragraph (characters like Ebrenost, my (O/A)D&D fighter, fit the two paragraphs parameters), the character's personality on paper will evolve rapidly through play, and a compound will emerge organically. I will come up with anecdotes for my character as I play. I will remember people that never existed. Come up with motivations I didn't know where there a moment before. And I become the character in the process.

Quote from: Benoist;588627What annoys me running characters in English is that I have a French accent I cannot get rid off, so that limits my vocal impersonations and there's always that element that's "there", you know.

What you're saying is all of your npcs remind your players of this guy:

Quote from: _kent_;588636What you're saying is all of your npcs remind your players of this guy:

[snip picture]

Well to me that's how it ends up feeling like occasionally, and that frustrates me when it does. Apparently, according to my players, that's not the case. Still, that bugs me. At the same time, I wouldn't get rid of my accent for the world. So I guess when you can make abstraction of it when I run the game, it's cool. Apparently it hasn't been a problem with anyone but myself.

You can ask estar and thedungeondelver, for instance. I've played with them vocally.

It is a mistake to put on voices for characters. It is difficult enough to vary the language that npcs use but unless you are a professional actor your repertoire of voices will severely limit the variety of your characters.

I think of npcs as three distinct kinds.

First there is the ubiquitous and the mundane. These are the non-classed non-adventurers. I improvise these usually plucking a representative from a movie.

Second are npcs who are adventurers of similar competence and degree of integration into the campaign to the PCs. I work hard at making these npcs interesting, frequently creating new classes for them. I find it difficult to bring these guys to life in conversation at the table. I can visualise them and their behaviour. I can think their thoughts and write about them but dialogue in real time in character, switching from one character to another is very difficult.

Third are the strange and insane great beings in the campaign. I love playing these guys and find it easy and a great laff. Taste precludes any more than a few encounters with the players though.

Quote from: Benoist;588627I can do a lot of different characters. What annoys me running characters in English is that I have a French accent I cannot get rid off, so that limits my vocal impersonations and there's always that element that's "there", you know.

.

I wouldn't feel too bad about that. At least you can run games in multiple languages. I can only run a game in English (and even then regional accents are still hard to ignore).

Benoist, have you tried not using accents at all?

I'd just assumed your character would be played by a good french actor Benoist.


As for characters I play? They range the map. I once surprised my group by intentionally going against my "common" types on more than one occasion. Including the slow but fierce farmer turned warrior/demon hunter in a Japanese themed fantasy game. (Very superstitious, he spit on the ground anytime something supernatural was mentioned) up to my super positive optimistic scientist in a Sci fi game.

 In the latter my group found his demeanor and approach scary--because he just didn't get down at all, about anything except truly truly terrible things (the loss of the crew of their ship in large numbers made him sad.)

Yet I've a tendency to play either outspoken and fierce, or soft spoken and thoughtful.

Quote from: _kent_;588648Benoist, have you tried not using accents at all?

You mean when I run the game in French? Sure. I do that too. Don't get me wrong: that's what I meant when I said I wasn't getting out of my way to be "Face" in the A Team you know. I don't come up with accents and mannerisms for every single NPC. It's just that it's something I do. They just come up in the game.

When I run the game in English I have tried occasionally but now that you mention it that's when it really sounds fake to me, and as a result I have stopped doing it almost entirely. I prefer to get the tone and personality right rather than try to compete with my own accent.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;588646I wouldn't feel too bad about that. At least you can run games in multiple languages. I can only run a game in English (and even then regional accents are still hard to ignore).

Do you have a Boston accent, Brendan?

Quote from: Benoist;588653Do you have a Boston accent, Brendan?

My answer has to be: kind of and not really sure. When I was a kid I had a heavy Lenny Clarke style Boston accent, but I moved to california for five years as a kid and it mostly went away. We moved back when I was thirteen and some of it came back. When I listen to recordings of myself I don't hear a Boston accent but at least one person thinks I am just overcompensating on Rs and that you can hear it with other words I use (but I don't see it). My whole family (except my dad who doesn't despite being raised poor in revere) has a very heavy Boston accent though. I think it may creep in when I am talking with my family or people with a heavy accent.

I would say my game groups (taking all the players across them together) is about a fifty split.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;588616Related to that, how do you devise your charater's personality? Do you let it emerge naturally through play, construct a detialed character history/personality before-hand, model the character on real people or images, etc.

Typically, I will pick two or three personality traits or 'quirks' and see about blending them effectively.  Sometimes these will come to me after reading a book or viewing a film, sometimes after skimming a medical (psychological) article, sometimes it will just sound fun.  I gave a PC in a Vampire game a light German accent and he always messed up aphorisms, usually by mixing the beginning of one with the ending of another.

But after I have a rough idea of how these will work in play, the personality emerges as the game progresses.

As a Player: Typically, I roll on a random personality table that I have written. The table provides me with three things: a motivation, a method, and an instinct. (I modified this from a blog post I had read some time ago.) Motivation is what causes the character to act in the world. Method is how the character pursues his goals. And Instinct is how this character acts when things go awry.

Motivation (roll d12)
What drives this character to act?
1. Creation, Earth, Nature
2. Curiosity, Exploration
3. Faith
4. Fame, Glory, Notoriety
5. Family
6. Greed
7. Influence, Power
8. Information, Knowledge, Secrets
9. Justice
10. Loyalty
11. Peace, Stability
12. Pleasure, Revelry

Method (roll d12)
How does this character pursue his goals?
1. Apathetically, Lackadaisically
2. Dedication, Devotion, Single-Mindedness
3. Diligence, Studiousness
4. Duplicity, Sweet Talk, Treachery
5. Insight, Knowledge
6. Elegance, Grace, Poise
7. Honor, Incorruptibility, Trustworthiness
8. Indiscretion, Negligence
9. Jocularity, Whimsy
10. Precision
11. Stealth, Trickery
12. Zealousness

Instinct (roll d12)
How does this character act when things go awry?
1. Aggression, Hostility
2. Ambush, Fight Dirty
3. Dig In, Double Down, Stand Your Ground
4. Diplomacy
5. Fire Needlessly Big Gun
6. Intimidate, Posture, Taunt
7. Invoke Faith
8. Invoke Law, Invoke Tradition
9. Observe, Maneuver
10. Run For The Hills
11. Stall
12. Tell Tall Tales

These set the initial conditions for how the character is portrayed. I use these as a basis and then expand upon them through play. Characters often evolve in ways that I would not have aniticipated at the start of the campaign.

As a DM: For run-of-the-mill NPCs I don't do a whole lot with them. Maybe a unique feature (a scar, a gimp leg, etc.) For specific NPCs I use the same method I do for writing a PCs background and then, if neccesary, will consult Mythic:GME to help create depth during play.

Edit: Beyond this, I don't really write up any PC background.

As a player I have and will play anything. Gotta push yourself, y'know? So classes or professions I haven't done in a while, personality archetypes that've been left behind, anything that'll break group assumptions of me... always gotta keep it interesting. Not "special snowflake" interesting, but breaking out of any routine or mold.

As a GM I've also ran the multitudes-at-once and the table stared at the juggling, and gave compliments. Pulling off the "soireé" or better the multi npc argument is sort of a joy to me. The trick is to never let it drone on greater than a minute or so before asking your players what they're doing. The players come first though, so I find it's often a good idea to tamp down the acting pyrotechnics until people feel comfortable at the table. Never upstage them, as they are their own show (it's why our RPG stories are so often more interesting to ourselves than others).

Accents are a bit of a pitfall if you start out with them and keep them corny, though they can help be baselines quirks to organically create an identity. However I note for NPCs if you can hold onto an internal core viewpoint with an external personal face and let things grow speech affectations and mannerisms develop; if it's a recurring NPC an actual accent sometimes develops! It's rather exciting to me, but then playing with masks of persona has always been one of the big allures for me about RPGs.

Yeah, my "method actor" value must overshadow my others in the RPG personality checklist...