Musings on Character Creation
As a roleplayer, it bothers me to see some roleplayers only create the same spectrum of characters over and over again. What's the point of only making lawful-good/good/attractive/tragic backstory characters in general? It's like reusing the same ingredients to make different dishes over and over again without considering another kind of ingredient because it's unfamiliar or unlikable to you.
Instead of pan-frying, why not try baking your OC's in a delicious rich backstory? Make them old, with a lot of stories to tell. Are they a tasty, heart-warming lasagna with some bitter eggplant in the middle, or a light and fluffy sweet cake? Or perhaps they're like instant ramen, sorta trashy and bad for you but damn do you want some every now and again. Or perhaps your OC requires a breadbowl to be? A wheelchair or cane to get around?
In many of my roleplay experiences, I haven't seen a lot of physically/mentally impaired folks. Sure, depression and PTSD is a thing. But what about wheelchairs? Birth defects? Mute characters? Trans? Asexual? Androgynous? And as traits that aren't to further the plot, but just simply an aspect of their lives that they simply live/work with.
Everyone seems to want to roleplay the hero. But not everyone can be a hero. Sometimes they're just accidents. Sometimes they're just a civilian, caught in the wrong time in the right place. Or maybe they were just born to be the villain.
This isn't a call out to anyone in particular. It's just... as writers, we should push ourselves to create characters that our outside of our normal predictable spectrum. Trans, multiracial, powerful, mundane, male, female, agender, asexual, anti-heroes, villains, endomorphic people, short/tall people, old, young, and from all different walks of life. Write a lot of heroes? Why not write someone who is just plain average and has an average life, or try your hand at a villain? Are most of your OC's attractive, tall, and strong? Try writing a character who is meek and not the best looker.
The word of literature has so much delicious story and character food to offer. Why not sample all of it?
