I was wondering how others go about creating the characters they use for roleplaying purposes, and maybe this thread can be a good help as well
I personally sit and and think of what race to be, then the gender, and then I find an Elder Scrolls name generator, or sometimes a random fantasy name one, And then I build the character, I then think about what my character will do, and make my class/birthsign according. The part that I always do least impressive is a back story, but I get a satisfactory one to hold me over. And then I think of the limitations(These end up like New Years resolutions however ). And then it is play time.
How about you?

I start with a broad theme or concept. For my current character, this was a vulnerable glass cannon archer. Too weak to use melee weapons and too low on endurance (hitpoints) to handle melee combat, she would have to rely on magic to back up her bow.

I then created a build to support that concept.

I then created a basic background that more or less provided her history up until she entered the Imperial Prison - - no future, just her past.

I then met her in prison. I don't 'become'' my character; rather, I travel with her and occasionally offer advice that she may or may not take. When I met her, I had no idea what she would do in terms of living her life in Cyrodiil. She drives those decisions, as she is quick to remind me. That is to say, she does not simply execute a planned script provided by me. She sets her own path. I just have to listen carefully and help her work a few controls.

My first couple characters were just videogame stuff. Didn't put much thought into what I wanted them to be, so the 2nd one especially wound up becoming this jack-of-all trades. That would have been Renee Gade the first. She was trying to do every quest that was thrown to her (except the Main Quest). Her game got out of control. Leveling was going really fast, I hated the way all these creatures started popping up out of nowhere (where were they all before?) One day I stopped playing Renee Gade I, put Oblivion aside for almost 4 months.

Then one day I wanted to pick it up again, but Renee Gade I was history. I started from scratch. It was April 2009 and it was rainy outside. I only play Oblivion if it's rainy or overcast (or nighttime). ....But the thing is, I wanted this new game to be different from Renee Gade I. I put alot of thought into what I wanted my next character to be.

Turns out it was Igodah Go^Pe. I wanted a pure mage, basically. No Fighter's Guild. No Dark Brotherhood, etc. And i wanted my Major skills set up to be ones I rarely used, so that the game would run along much slower. I adopted a "dead is DEAD" policy, too. oo:

So that's my main rule about starting a new character for RP: usually there will be this idea. And over several weeks, the idea grows. Or it doesn't grow. If it grows, usualy I'll start getting really psyched to play. I only start new games if it's raining outside, too. It HAS to be raining for me to start a new character. :rolleyes:

There doesn't have to be alot of back-story, just a general framework. The "back-story" usually fills in as I get to know my new character over time.

I just find the character coming to me, when I open up the 'new' tab in the main menu. Several interesting, endearing characters have resulted, for instance, Tsarmina the Orc bowgirl.... The story comes afterwards, while I travel through the sewers.

I start with a character concept; 'what' they are rather than 'who' they are, if you will. Plate-wearing brute? Scholarly mage? Something way out in left field? Major skills stem from this and typically require very little thought. Unless there's a specific race I'm itching to play, I tend to default to Bretons for casters and Bosmer for non-casters. That's the rough shell done.

Where I spend the most time is working out who the character is. Where are they from? How did they end up in Cyrodiil? If they're from Cyrodiil, which city? What are their motivations? This is the biggest one for me; what makes them do whatever it is they're going to do? This bit will usually take me the better part of a week. It's important that I feel I have a well-defined persona before I start playing. It isn't until I'm in game that the little quirks in their behaviour become apparent.

Seems like an awfully short post given how much time and energy goes into getting my characters 'just so', but I can't think of anything I've overlooked.

EDIT: Spelling.

My ideas for roleplaying characters come from my own fantasy stories. Coming up with stories is one od my hobbies. I take characters that I've already come up with for my stories and adapt them to the game. I already have a backstory, which I in turn also have to adapt. I already know my character from the begining of the game. I also make it a point to play a character as I wish I was, rather than making a character that's like I really am. Video games are here to help us forget who we are (if only for an hour or twelve.)

I think of a man then I take away reason and accountability.

I spend two weeks making a house for my character and putting together a mod list that will support the character. The process of making a house forces me to think very deeply about just who this character is and why they're here and what I expect to do with this character once they're in game. Each house is different, and each house is designed to express something about that character in some way.

I'm about a week into creating another new character now. I have the location for the character's house picked out and am going through my modder's resource folders looking for architecture and clutter, etc, that will be a good fit for the charcter. I'm running behind my usual schedule because this particular character requires more manual tweaking of the game and of my installed mods than usual. The character will be a captured slave, sold to the propietor of the arena who acquires gladiators by buying slaves off the black market. As a result, a good deal of this character's life (I'm guessing somewhere between level 15 and 20) is going to take place entirely within the arena. I have to re-do much of the arena to make this possible, including revamping leveled lists, adding food stalls, a smith, slaves, slave quarters, and more.

I make notes as I go through this process. I write a biography of the character. I've mapped out family trees for a few of them (not for this one). When I begin to feel the character becoming clear in my imagination I begin to ask the character questions. If I don't know how my character will answer these questions then I know I'm not ready to start playing yet. When I reach the point where I know what my character will answer to any question I can think of, then I know I'm ready to take that character into the game at last and start roleplaying.

First, I think of what class I have in mind for my character, lets use a thief for example. Then I try to pick out the best race (non-beast, I'm not too fond of RPing as them) for it, which imo is the bosmer, though it can technically be done with any other race. When I pick the gender, I try to think of the back story, like for the bosmer thief, s/he could have had his/her home burned down, and resorted to thievery as a way to survive. Then, I try to spend as much time as I can working on the face, the tones, etc. Then I have to find the right mindset. Obviously, a little bosmer girl who just escaped prison isn't going to just jump right back into thievery again, now is she? She's going to try to find someone to stay with, and try to make a little legit money. That is how _____________ got into the province of Cyrodiil!

I usually start out with a broad concept too. Do I want a mage? A thief? A warrior? An assassin? A mix? From there I flesh it out a little. What race? If it's a mage, will it support or work against the Mages Guild? Will she be loyal and helpful, or more self-centered? Backstory, detailed personality and quircks usually develop as I go from there.

I like your style. That's the best weather for this game!

Like most broad ideas backed up with books and references in game to form a core.
Then I spend time exploring facegen untill some mixture of looks and facial traits come out.
After which is a backstory and idea of how much they would or would not do or items, spells and skills they would not touch on.
Then comes personality traits, often brought up in the first few hours of gameplay, followed by their interactions with Npc's out in the game world.

So sometimes I get very specific characters that take me into weird or beautiful roles.
Othertimes I end up with a more general explorer that is only slightly more fleshed out to just bash heads, and see sights.



Same here, though with my latest dunmer Osmundas Hlaalu being a Jack'o trades is pretty fun.
I think if you just mostly focus on majors with such a build it makes the role interesting to play.
As yes he can cast spells but not many, he can use magic items but not make any.
He can bash heads but is limited to rushing in and out quickly and only usefull with a blade no ranged attacks at all, he can sneak but rarely uses sneak attacks.
Which makes him powerful but tricksy, and has given me a load of fun to use.

I just think of ideas for classes, then I create a basic outline for a background involving that class. I decide the Race gender and name after I finish the basic outline, then I go into more detail for the background. Then I start up the game.

I just start with an idea-- either one that comes to me or one that I happen across somewhere. It's just very basic and very simple and for some reason intrigues me-- Orc mage, female Dunmer in heavy armor with a claymore, Bosmer with a battleaxe, dagger specialist, Nord with a warhammer.....

Sometimes it's a race, sometimes a gender, sometimes both, sometimes neither. Sometimes it's a particular style I want to try and I figure out the race and gender and such along the way. Sometimes it's just the bare bones of a race and/or gender combination and I figure out the character type along the way. In all cases though, I start with just the barest outline of an idea, then go to facegen. And that's when it first starts coming together. Sometimes I have some idea of what sort of face I'm looking for, but often I really don't (and sometimes I don't even know what race)-- I just start randomizing until I find something that strikes a chord for some reason. And as the face starts to come together, the character's personality starts to become established. And it just builds from there.

Often when I start the game, I still don't have any clear idea of who the character is or where s/he's headed, so I just start off with small things. Some of them start in the prison cell and go through the tutorial dungeon-- others start at a sewer exit save and go up the hill to the IC and do a lap of the city, rummaging through barrels and boxes and/or talking to people. They might find an item of clothing that appeals to them (me) for some reason, and that adds to my perception of their personalities. They might run across a particular NPC and have a good or bad experience with him/her, and that adds more to my perception of their personalities. And so on. When my understanding of the characters is enough that I really feel as if they want to go here or do this, then that's where they go and what they do. Even if it's something as simple as wandering City Isle or going across to Weye, I want to do it because it feels like that's what the character wants to do. Most often, by the time they've exhausted the few possibilities just wandering the IC, I have at least some idea of if they want to do some of the quests there or if they want to explore City Isle or if they want to head out to Chorrol or if they want to do something entirely different. And the few times that I don't, I just leave them parked until I do have at least that much of a grip on the character.

And it all just builds over time. A particular incident might be notable-- suddenly a part of their personalities will fall into place when they're faced with a certain situation or when they encounter a certain creature or NPC. Sometimes it's a sudden realization-- this is this sort of person. Sometimes it builds slowly-- I'll just start to get the feeling that a particular character is _____. Either if fades or it becomes a part of their personality, just depending on how things work out. Sometimes I'll get a fairly strong idea that a particular character has a particular aspect to his/her personality, then over time that will turn out to not be the case after all. And so on.

I see all of it in just the same way as I see any other person's existence. Sometimes we have a clear idea of where we're headed, but often we don't. Sometimes we have relatively rigid self-imposed rules and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we decide that we're this or that sort of person and that becomes the basis for part of our personalities and other times we end up setting that idea aside as times and situations change. That's what most of us do, and that's what my characters do. I just watch while they do it.


Another darned wall of text...............

I am the same way as gpstr. I usually start with only a general idea of what kind of character I want to play, and sometimes what questline I want to do with them. Sometimes I have a history for them beforehand, sometimes not. Then I start playing them, and their personality takes shape as I go along.

I start with a class and play according to that class. The one I made now is a Pilgrim, so I don't steal anything or murder anyone and try to take nice actions. However I went crazy with the skooma addicts in bravil (or is it skingrad?) and murdered them all... He doesn't like skooma addicts :celebration:

For me, it's all about the character. I prefer playing one at a time and having them develop in their own direction. It helps to have a role model to begin with. Someone exceptoinal that will hold my interest for a long time. Severus Snape was based on the movie character played by Allan Rickman (one of my favorite actors.)

When Sevrus died, (I play dead-is-dead) after more than 700 hours of gameplay, I rolled out Sarrah, based on Jenifer Conally's role in the movie; Labyrinth. Despite representing the girl-next-door, the character was actually quite complex and developed immensely over time.

I was looking for a new character (and still grieving over the loss of Sarrah) when I read a forum thread about the fact that there were no children in Cyrodiil. I rolled Angel as the first and only child, using the console to resize her. When I wrote about her on the forum, she was an instant hit. She was so popular, I got requests to start an RPG. The game ran through 3 threads in the Fan Fiction Forum before finally dying as one of the players dropped out. I continued on as a http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=862718 for a while, making it to a http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1073864-angel-the-fan-fiction-ii// and some of my most fun stuff before moving on.