Lets Make A Character Together!

Hey guys! Sub here to go through how I go about creating a interesting character that I want to play and have fun with. The reason for doing this is because I haven't been playing on the server as much as I want too, and since track season is going to be ending in the next week I will have free time to get back into the RPing. I also want to come in with a fresh face and felt that I could make my character, and maybe help some of the newer, less experienced guys with making a character thats unique as well.

Now before we get started let me just say ; everyone has a different opinion on how to create a character. This is in no way how you HAVE to create a character, it is simply a format of how I like to do it. If you got a better way, share in the comments!


From what I see you can break down character creation into three different types and I have actually done all three.

1) Pick a name, pick a job, and go. This is the quickest and most simple way to create a new character, you got next to no idea who they are, what they like, dislike and you're willing to just improve it out till you come up with an idea that fits. This strategy usually takes a couple of rounds till you really start to develop the character, most of your backstory will come out on the fly or maybe just not even present. This was how I came up with my first real character I ever played, Seth Brode. His backstory was constantly changing and wasn't fully cemented until the creation of my second character. The pros of this : Its quick. Thats about it...you're going into this character blind, your RP isn't going to be that good because you don't know what makes the character tick, if anything they are simply going to be a replica of yourself and boring to play. Thats why this approach takes multiple rounds till you understand what to do with the character. Who knows, maybe even needing to change the job you originally wanted for them. Seth was supposed to be a middle classed doctor when I first made him. Took me two weeks before I decided he was ex-military.

2) The Basic. This strategy requires a bit of thought and some time to think on it. Your not coming up with an entire family history or anything, but you got a name in mind, a basic idea of who your character is and why they are who they are. If I had to pick this is most likely the best one to do for anyone starting out, or even more experienced roleplayers. Another thing I like about this approach is how it gives you something to work with but still allows for some improvisation. As an example my character, Emilia Denevarcus, was made up with this method. I knew what I wanted to do with her and what kind of a person she was. I didn't have all the pieces yet, but they fell into place nicely. Remember how I said it gives you room to work? Well Emilia actually started out as a ex-military mechanic. It wasn't till I found that idea boring that I decided to make her a pilot. The pros ; I explained them already, go read it again if you need to.

3) The full story. With this character creation you have got a full fleshed out backstory ready, family, relations, religion and more all ready to go. Your character has motives and a purpose for every action he/she takes. There quirks all visible and you hit the ground running. Now, I do like this but its not for the “newer” RPer’s. If your doing this, you're looking to make a special character because you know what your doing and want to do it well. (Not saying new guys can't) With this you have a very solid foundation with your character it allows you to not stop and think, “Hmm….why do I work here?” Because you already know. Hell you probably already know that every time this character drinks alcohol they swirl there finger around inside the glass.


Now that you have seen what I think are the three approaches to character development, lets get to why we are here. Making a character and how to go about doing it.


Now a few things you have to get out of your head right out of the gate is what kind of character do you want to make? Is he a security officer, maybe she is a doctor or an engineer. Just start thinking. Nothing needs to be set in stone but just yet, or ever, this is only to get those gears rolling.

I already have an idea for my character, I want him to be a security officer. A middle aged man and something else at the moment that I cant quite get yet.

That's all you need to get in your head. Now get a very basic and short idea of what is going to make your character stand out. Maybe they have a robotic arm, scared of mice, love to read old earth literature. You don't need to expand on it right now just start to get an idea in your head. This should also be the point that you pick your characters gender if you have not done so already.

My security officer is going to be a corrupt officer, taking bribes and maybe a bit of racketeering. This is my bare bones idea. Why is like this I don't know yet, what I do know is that he cannot be ex-military at this point because I have already done that.

Thats all we have of this first part and we are now onto part two.

My personal favorite part of creating a character. This is the point that you start to decide all manner of things for them. Name, Back story, Skills, and even there Beliefs. This is going to be the central part of this guide as it is going to cover the most areas and be most complex. (not really)

Name - Its simple! Come up with a name! Now there a few ways to go about it, personaly I like to find a culture/race and use names of that group. Preferably a race I am not. This helps with creating a more fun RP. For this character I am thinking some form of spanish heritage.

Ciro Acosta.

Backstory - Now you don't have to do this one now but I feel the need to do it, I want to know what makes Ciro tick.

Alright, Ciro was born to a middle class family in Lowell City. Living with his Mother and Stepfather along with two sisters Ciro had a very normal life as a kid. A natural athlete he excelled at all the sports he did while in school but struggled to keep up with his grades at times. His last year of highschool his oldest sister, Estela enlisted into the military for one of the many corporations. His older sister was never anything “special” in school she did fine, but never exceed. Ciro was envious of the new admiration his sister was given. Even more talk of his sister came when she sent a message home stating how she was now in flight school and was going on to be a pilot, already promoted to ensign.
Ciro had little interest in joining the military for one of the corporations, instead he went to a college, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Finally settling on Criminal Justice as his major. Ciro would have found no pleasure in killing for money, but maybe protecting others and stopping crime would be a more practical use of his life. During college Ciro continued his athletic training but found a new way to practice it, his roommate, David Salone convinced him to attend a jujitsu class with him one day. Claiming it would be a great way to work out and learn practical knowledge.
After graduating from college Ciro tried getting a job at different police forces but was having trouble getting hired. Eventually a private security firm gave him a job as a fill in. Whenever another body was needed Ciro would fill in. His new job was filling him with more credits then he knew what to do with. A portion was sent back to his family, to show how he was better than his sister. The envious vision he had of her grew as she stopped writing back. He simply assumed that she was jealous of his new wealth, but Ciro was wrong. A few weeks later a handwritten letter arrived from Estela’s CPO, Chief Pilot Officer, stating that her plane was shot down, the ejection seat left the aircraft too late and exploded with the rest of the plane. The CPO signed her name, Emilia Denevarcus. The woman even made a personal stop to the house a year or two latter, to personally say how sorry she was for there daughters death.
Ciro began to work with the same group of men at his firm now. These were the kinds of men who knew how to make “items fall out of the cargo bay”. The team consisted of five men, Ciro being the new guy, even with the lowest cut he was stilling making more credits than he ever dreamed. His sister couldn't do that he thought to himself. Eventually the firm closed down due to being bought out by another company, NanoTrasen. As all the men Ciro worked with all found their way onto the chairman’s good side he made sure to tell the new owners how hard the five work. Ciro picked up another security job soon after, working as a security guard aboard a high class research station, the NSS Aurora.


And that is my backstory for Ciro. I kind of like it actually. Now this took me about two days to do, I believe I went through seven different ideas with him before finally settling with this one. He was a smuggler, a pirate, a lot of things. But I feel this one is the best and gives off the most human of all my ideas so far.

Other things - This is the part where you put your other things you need to use. Seing as I did a nice backstory, I don't need anything here.

Conclusion - At this point your character should be more or less finished and ready to go. So get out there and RP! Now, feel free to go back and change your things that you wrote. Maybe you dont want to be a scientist because you had a better idea, constantly be developing your character it allows for much better RP.



Side note.

I am looking for critique on this as well, help me make this character unique and different. You guys all make great characters, tell me what you think!