making a notable roleplay character

[satyesu]

I've taken to roleplaying on a video game server with a good number of other people, but it seems all characters (including mine) fall into one category or another - the brooding antihero, the bubbly wizard, the jocular swashbuckler, etc. How does one make one that stands out?

[muravyets]

Make him or her a real person rather than a game piece. Develop the RP character exactly as you would your MC for a book. That's how I do it.

[spectrefox]

There always are archetypes for any genre of writing. For instance, I used to roleplay in World of Warcraft. There were those types of characters you listed and a lot more that seemed shallow, stale, and overused.

Writing an intensive back story always helped me to determine how my character roleplayed in the current time period. Did your character have a bad experience with a certain race? You can probably find others in your area/server that would have fun playing out a fight where your character learns that not everyone is bad after all!

There are so many people in a roleplay environment that creating cliche characters is going to happen. However, if you take that jocular swashbuckler and try and give him a unique goal, then he'll be just a little more interesting.

Mundane characters can also be a good, relaxing way to roleplay. A shop-owner is a good example. You can wonder around the city and try to sell your wares (which has the awesome side effect of making you in-game money, yum) and have a multitude of interactions with all kinds of characters!

I was always fond of the Don Quixote types myself.

Hope this helps,

Amalia