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Question:

When you're creating a character/writing an app/starting a game, do you consider how they might grow over the course of the game? Not necessarily pre-plotting, or establishing relationships in advance, but maybe more like, establishing where they are in their life at the start, and how they'll grow if things go a certain way? There's no way to control the other characters, so obviously this can change as things happen, but I'm curious - do you apply the idea of a character arc to roleplay, or do you make a character to have fun with and then wing it? Sometimes one or the other? A mix of both?

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igpayatinlay.insanejournal.com

Tiff wants me to put my answer here too, but you asked so you get the comment reply.

I strongly consider character arcs if the character is meant to be in a period of growth/transition during the course of the game. If I'm playing a canon character who is somewhat established in their life, at a primarily social game, I don't always do it, and kind of roll with the punches.

However, I get much, much more enjoyment from playing a character who I know will have some sort of an arc to them, whether it's specific plots or just a Point A and Point B. And, I'm prone to struggling a bit when playing a character who is content in their marriage/relationship, in their career, and in their home life, because everyone loves writing some measure of conflict. Essentially yeah, I want growth, and I think about it before hand. Even if it's just a maturing (like, I don't intend for Jack to have a radical shift of his beliefs so much as a period of solidifying who he is as a young man), I want to think about how a character might move through the game. I have hopes for Harlow to REALLY get shaken up by some of the much more radical characters, given that she's being forced out of her solitary shell here. She has to think about things of serious import, choose what kind of a woman she wants to become, and assert herself a hell of a lot more than she does now. Her self worth currently isn't very high, but I think as she starts to feel less ashamed of her abilities, and more in control of them, this woman is really going to bloom. And I'm so flipping excited for it, whenever and however it does happen.

Only twice have I written a character that was just for the fun/lols/jokes, and they were both at the same game that was panfandom and kind of crack-ish. Maybe I take RP too seriously, but I really like considering ways to create a solid character, shift their perspective, or ask a hard question, or put something immobile in their way, etc., and examine what happens as a result.