[Guide]5-2 Method of Character Creation

It felt right to make my first instruction the very discussion that brought me to this topic, that being the 5-and-2 method of transforming an archetypical character into a multifaceted character.

There seems to be a great many role-play characters floating about the web that are very nearly carbon copies of one another. You might recognize such replicas as

• The Heartless Assassin
• The Tortured/Orphaned Hero
• The Badass with 0 weaknesses
• Ex-Slave boy/girl (who was experimented on)


Does this sound like one of your characters? All of your characters? If you aren't quite certain it's easy enough to figure out with a quick test. I'll explain the steps to identifying a poorly constructed character, as well as those steps used in the correction and growth of such a character, below.
Step 1: Choose 5 adjectives that best sum-up your character
Example
Mysterious, Efficient, Sadistic, Serious, Quiet

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Now, just in case you aren't aware of the fact yourself.. this sum up makes for a character without quirks or peculiarities. A character who is, realistically, unable to adapt to situations and occurrences around him/her. How will such a serious, mysterious, sadistic, determined, and quiet character navigate a real-life situation such as a job interview, a birthday party, or any environment in which he cannot be a brooding asshole?!

Building a character who is overtly one 'type' - in this case I shall refer to our character as abrooding lonewolf badass mofo - limits who you can interact with and what you can do without deviating from what you have determined is in-character. Which brings us to the fix for the problem!

Step 2: Replace 2 of the 5 adjectives from step 1 with their antonym
Example
Mysterious, Incompetent, Sadistic, Serious, Rowdy

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By replacing 2 defining terms we've opened a whole new side to our character. This provides him/her with depth, which allows for deviation from one mood or frame of mind, thus enabling more diverse situations of play. The character can still be a sleek motherfucker, but with 'incompetent' for a think word, perhaps he's a macro-minded person that tends to completely walk over the little things. Perhaps he's the proverbial bull-in-a-china shop, with a reputation for being clumsy in situations in which his entire focus isn't invested? Think on that. Now that we have the personality a bit more in hand, let's touch on the rest of the character.

Step 3: List the 3 most important events that effected your character
Example


• The birth of sibling (the second child)
• Mother leaving the family for another man
• Becoming an Assassin

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You'll notice that I chose the stereotypical title of 'assassin' for this character. The idea is to illustrate a proper connection between the characters personality and a believable back story, and combine the result with depth enough to make them a central character suited for roleplay.

Now, if you're having trouble settling on just three, you might want to try condensing down to the single most important event for each stage of the characters development (age-wise) or growth.

For instance - when this character was 8, his brother was born. The attentions of his family and their close friends refocused on the child as is to be expected, and the boy began to resent first the child, followed by the people around him, for what he perceived to be their 'neglect'

When this character was 14, his home life transitioned from tentatively uncomfortable to significantly fractured. His father lost his job shortly after the birth of the child, leaving the family to scrimp and scrape to get by. The man turned to alcohol to numb himself against feelings of failure and emasculation. At this point in the characters life, his mother can handle no more, and leaves her old family behind for a fresh start.

The character is now 18, and legally recognized as an adult. With this new-found freedom he reevaluates his life and finds that he has no attachment to the father who drinks to forget himself, and the brother that took his place in the family. He leaves to start a life of his own, which will eventually lead him into the lifestyle of an assassin. We'll discuss that in step 4.

Step 4: Connect your characters 5 defining traits to his/her 3 defining events
Example


• This character is mysterious due to his subconscious fear of being vulnerable to abandonment. This connects to his mother leaving.
• This character is incompetent in terms of being clumsy in his day-to-day life, which is considerably more relaxed than his profession. However, when his full attention is invested, he is an effective assassin.
• This character is Sadistic due to his general inability to relate to and connect with others. This is tied into his gradual emotional break from his family with the feelings of being replaced when his brother was born and abandonment by his mother. This trait bubbled to the surface of this characters personality after he became an assassin, and he became aware of life in terms of an expendable means of making money.
• This character is Serious due to his unwillingness to put his true feelings out there to be criticized or rejected as he felt they were when his brother was born/ sucked up all the attention he'd had as an only child.
• This character is Rowdy due to his histrionic personality disorder ( a chronic need for attention/approval ), prompted by his brother's birth and being left by his mother.

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If you cannot connect an event with a personality trait, replace one or the other, as this means the trait/event is out of character for the perspective you will be writing as.

Hey there! Happy to give this a look over. This is an approach I haven't heard of before, and I like how it was presented. It invites conflict through action and decisions, and forces the writer to think about character development in stages, which is something a lot of writers can learn from. Really enjoyed this little guide!

I don't see anything wrong with these. If it's your style, and you feel it's encompassing, then you're golden.

I'm of the mindset that when beginning a roleplay, less is more. I choose to break down different guidelines so is painstakingly easy to digest. For instance, you can list character creation guidelines in the sheet you provide so the Rules list is smaller on the main page.