Question Character Creation and how indepth

From reading many of the posts, I've come to a strange conclusion. Just how indepth are people creating their characters? By this I mean I'm not that great in D&D and I'm not afraid to admit I'm kinda lost on some magic concepts. Perhaps my reading is more limited and my knowledge is less accessible but, to me, it seems from reading the articles that people go to way lengths when 'thinking' about a characters abilities. Why he/she is able to perform some sort of act that, given in my day seems more blown down to scientific terms than a just because thing.

Now I'm not knocking this and perhaps I may be over reading some of it, but it appears to me at least that people look to much into how something is done and if someone was to do it and a reader disagrees with the how it can become a full blown battle on the 'whys'. A good example is in Star Wars and light sabers. As a teen who only read comics and didn't put much thought into the mystical items, I found it entertaining without the reasons behind how Luke was somehow channeling a part of him through his weapon. Now if someone was to come up with such a concept, people today question the 'how' forgetting the reasons for why it was just used in the story.

Am I over analyzing the threads an people are just having fun with dreaming up the things? I know some have access to the 'bible' as they say on things but if I were to just write a story and use it for fanfic and I did do some thinking on powers and such, how much would people read into what I wrote saying 'him or her' couldn't do such and such? Now I do know that there are certain aspects that need to be applied in the Whateley realm.

One reason for my reluctance in commenting so much about abilities is that I am a 'noob' when it comes to them and for once I'm tired of wanting to be taken as a inadvertent buffoon as I try to learn the workings.

I read books for entertainment and I never tried to go to indepth in the whys as it seemed to take the magic away from it.

Well for me personally, I usually come up with the idea for the power, and then eventually at some point explain it in more detail.
Like with Tink, I wanted a fairy girl. Then I realized that she needed to open doors and operate things with hands that were too small and not enough mass. a quick thought and I went "hey a PK field works". Then as I was going over her speed, a bird her size can go about 40mph, but I wanted her sometimes able to go faster, and I wanted her to have some more protection, so hey, a separate PK field around her wings for speed.
Then after a while I realized that she would need a lot more sleep, and her muscles aren't strong enough to do some of the things I want her to do unless I moved the PK field all over her body. So hey look she's now an energizer. It all built up gradually and based around the character and her actions.
Now if I'm preparing something for a more serious effort, then I take the time to write out the details. I may never tell the reader what it is, but I have something. It may be 'magic' but it makes sense for the setting.
That's why I've told some people stop worrying so much about the why's and just start writing, it will come to you eventually and then you can fit it in as a "Hey so that's how my power works, thank you very knowledgeable mentor, teacher, wandering scientist..."

The characters exist in the back of my mind, in my subconscious. My muse brings them into the light, and translates as they tell me who they are. As for how in depth... I can tell you what Min's favorite food and drink is, what her past is in probably more detail than my own, and how she's likely to respond to any hypothetical you could name.

Powers come second, personality first.

Definitely.
With Fate Sucks, I didn't even know what Estelles power was going to be until I was on the third chapter. I had her family and situation all figured out, the power was very much secondary.

Domoviye wrote: Definitely.
With Fate Sucks, I didn't even know what Estelles power was going to be until I was on the third chapter. I had her family and situation all figured out, the power was very much secondary.

So how did you decide on the power?

***

Well, it seems like the depth of Character Creation depends on what your story is focused around. Like Domo's Fate Sucks is about a girl whose Fate Sucks. But with Tink...

No, that's still more of a personality-based story... How about... Either 'A Light in the Dark' or 'It's Better to Give', are about exploring a powerset, so power-creation comes first.

But, they seem to shift to more of a personality-based stories unless you base a 'Dial H for Hero' or Ben 10, where powers keep changing, so it easier to keep the main focus about the power-set... Or some archaeological dig story where the story is more about the ancient civ that's uncovered than the archaeologists themselves?

For example, for Kaydis, it's like "Alien arrives on Earth", so the backstory and stuff don't really matter, as much, and plotting interactions with characters/Earth Culture, comes first.

This is how we do it in canon. We make a reference sheet with anything important on so everyone will know how to portray the character if they need a cameo for a scene:

Wicked (EX-4/AV-2 GAG6E)
Name: Elaine Ethel Cody, Ph.D. (Nee Nalley) (Aerospace, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering)
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Age: 26
Hair: Bright Red, but not Ginger, worn to mid back
Eyes: Bright, vivid and unnaturally green
Face: Soft oval, Irish farm girl with good cheekbones
Build: Curvy, 40's Pin up
Race+: Scott/Irish mix, bisexual, Episcopalian
POB: Atlanta, GA
Assoc: Whitman and Poe Cottages, Alphas, Gearheads, NASA

General Description: Elaine Cody is that mom, the cool one who wants her kids getting into crap, having adventures, fixes cars, knows when manners are important, knows when they're not and lets kids be kids. In a couple of years her son's friends will probably have some embarrassing dreams about the cool mom who certainly doesn't look like she had three kids they won't ever tell Wyatt Jr or Stephen Eugene about.

Personality: Elaine is an Earthy, no nonsense kind of woman, surprisingly traditionally minded as far as her marriage goes, as as fiercely protective of her children as you'd expect a bear avatar to be. She can tell a joke that will scorch the paint off the wall, but can wash off the grease, dress up in lace and chiffon and be a delicate flower you won't expect to even know what 'damn' means beyond the structure to harness a river. As Wicked she's flippant, more than a little catty and enjoys beating male opponents and rubbing their noses in it.

Powers: Lanie is a Lvl: 4 exemplar and a Lvl: 2 avatar with a bound spirit of Grizzly, a powerful figure of the Five Fold Court, which gives her gifts of strength, endurance, 'natural weaponry', resistance to cold and physical damage, and a ability to manifest a truly terrifying 'Bear Image' around herself. The Bear also protects Lanie from mental assaults and intrusions. She is also a Gadgeteer 6 specialized in systems and their understanding.

Skills: Elaine holds a PH.D in three engineering disciplines and is a civil astronaut. She teaches cars in the shop as well as in her discipline fields.

Other Assets: REDACTED

Weaknesses: REDACTED

Notes:
Husband: Wyatt Cody
Children: Wyatt Jr (8.) Constance Elisabeth (8.) Stephen Eugene (6) (And a half!)[/quote]

lol... EE, I think the question was more about the process before the character sheet, than after it.

But yes, I can confirm that all main characters in the gen 2 database (and yes, there is one of those) have such a sheet. As well as the background characters.

Malady wrote:

Domoviye wrote: Definitely.
With Fate Sucks, I didn't even know what Estelles power was going to be until I was on the third chapter. I had her family and situation all figured out, the power was very much secondary.

So how did you decide on the power?

***

Well, it seems like the depth of Character Creation depends on what your story is focused around. Like Domo's Fate Sucks is about a girl whose Fate Sucks. But with Tink...

No, that's still more of a personality-based story... How about... Either 'A Light in the Dark' or 'It's Better to Give', are about exploring a powerset, so power-creation comes first.
.

With 'A Light in the Dark' I just wanted to have a blind protagonist. When I was thinking about powers I was debating several of them, but aura sight seemed like the best choice.
'It's Better to Give', wasn't dealing with a power, it was "Let's put Santa Claus into Whateley". I could have given Mary several different powers, I just went with one I'd used with another bit character earlier.
The only time I developed a power with a character at the same time was for "How Far".

When I was making Fate Sucks, I finally decided on Estelle's power when I was wondering what was going to happen at the event the cultists attacked. I knew it couldn't be something obvious that would be easy to do, and I was thinking it would be based around an energizer ability. I thought about Bishop from the X-Men, and Buster and went with it.

I think that it is a different process for each person.

I have 2 characters in a story I'm working on, yet the story arc was the first thing I plotted. What had to happen to the characters in their past to give them the type of responses the story needed has pushed me into a very detailed history for them. The relationship between them is developed by sharing their life stories with each other.

I was forced to start their story arc 2 years before they would arrive at Whateley, just to develop them to the point needed for that.

1. Thank-you to those of you who supplied your thoughts.

2. Thank-you E.E. for providing a worksheet on how you keep track of your characters. As I've just used my memory and never wrote anything down and with the help of another writer, it's very informative.

3. I can see, and know, that each author has their own style of writing, creating and so forth. I'm sure some have created plots, sub-plots and so forth and may have let them stew for months, if not years before coming back to them. I'm also sure that its possibly hard on some writers who are used to moving through their stories at a faster pace and to write here causes you to slow down for obvious reasons.

Sometimes it seems so overwhelming in how writers write. To say that they just put it down on paper, or pixel, is an understatement. It just doesn't really happen and with ADD it, to me, can become frustrating to just sit in one place for a length of time to do so. A part of me wants it done now whereas another says to slow down, do research as many of you have done. Kayda's history being a good example as with Loopholes and many others.

I welcome more comments and insight if you're willing to provide it.

Edit: Another is how to, of course, keep track of all the data.

If you have a problem sticking with a story focus on short storie. That's how I got started, and I just kept increasing how many words I wrote. That's why I like to post short chapters of 1 to 3K, it seems to work best for me.

I'm lucky if I can 'stick' to once section of a story. I can assure you on the few stories that I wrote, my editor must have pulled out enough hair to make 3 wigs, 2 toupees and a few mustaches. Not sure if he had enough to make a beard or side burns.

Could always try how I do it. I freely admit to ADHD... and I write several stories at a time. I find it helps to literally write as many as I can think of as close to at once as possible. For example, 3 different ones today. I could probably pull the 4th one that is currently talking to me, but I'm feeling pretty good about things right now, so I'm not.

For me, the reasons behind detailed character abilities with scientific analysis and so forth can be summed up with Sanderson's First Law .

Sanderson's First Law wrote: Sanderson’s First Law of Magics: An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.

The WU as a setting was designed as a hard magic system - the way powers interact with real physics is closely examined, and the consequences of these interactions are followed to see what happens. It's not necessary for a good story, but it's a deliberate design choice in the case of the WU, and therefore fan fictions that adhere to that design aesthetic will fit in the WU better than those that don't.

That said, you can avoid in depth considerations pretty easily if they don't interest you. The trick is to avoid the situations where they come up. Which is mainly power testing. For example - Wallflower didn't realize that she had supernatural sight while invisible until it was pointed out for her in powers testing. As long as a power isn't too reality-bending, a POV character who isn't interested in that level of detail will let you avoid worrying about it. But it will limit your ability for your characters to abuse their powers the way Jade and Ayla do.

When working on Gen 2, we had 3 levels of characters:

Primary, which use the character sheet like EE posted - in enough detail that other authors can write our characters well

Secondary - these are like heads of organizations or fixers - of some importance. Eventually they might have a full character sheet, but they need at least SOME. typically age/class, cottage, appearance (ht, weight, etc) powers, and maybe a little background.

Extras. These are 'fill' characters that are defined minimally. They're in the background, with maybe name, maybe code-name, frequently not powers, and almost no background info. Some are simply "Student N"

Note - if in a story, I need an Exemplar-4 / PDP-2, I can use an Extra and flesh him or her out. This is how I've filled out Charge, Magic Mikey, Quickdraw, Speakeasy, Amber, and many others - I grab one who's minimally defined and flesh them out. Some, like Charge, end up primary characters even, but the others get enough definition to be more than extras.

In Gen 2, we have a catalog of character sheets, abbreviated character sheets (secondary chars), and a spreadsheet of extras with name, code-name, cottage, year, etc, etc. If I need a junior Whitmaniac, I can do a filter and grab one easily. Unlike Gen 1. I've spent way too much time digging through lists of juniors or cottage residents or by specific power to find one that 'fits'.

We defined over 700 characters, BTW, in all 3 categories. Fun stuff. Just ask Nagrij, Neo, Morpheus, Wasamon, Mal, or the others. We got creative. So creative that we had to do a 'sanity check' on a few.

Heh, more than just "a few" as I recall, Elrod, considering we spent nearly a whole afternoon going over them. We do occasionally get a bit too creative for our own good...

But it was a lot of fun being able to fill in so many characters.

NeoMagus wrote: Heh, more than just "a few" as I recall, Elrod, considering we spent nearly a whole afternoon going over them. We do occasionally get a bit too creative for our own good...

Could we get info on those cut characters as WhatCouldHaveBeens? Or as info on what be a difficult character for the Whateley-verse?

I wonder if we should maybe provide a 'teaser' of a minor character so they can see how creative we've been.....

Naaaahhhhh. That'd spoil SOMETHING.

But yeah, if you want to reveal a "cut" character, I don't see any problems with that.

elrodw wrote: I wonder if we should maybe provide a 'teaser' of a minor character so they can see how creative we've been.....

Naaaahhhhh. That'd spoil SOMETHING.

But yeah, if you want to reveal a "cut" character, I don't see any problems with that.

Might take a while to remember which ones were cut out right, and the ones that weren't cut but were significantly modified might be too spoilerish...

Well, one of the ones cut was my character Anenome, who was basically a mass of tentacles living inside a skin suit so he could pass as 'human'.

Can you send me the details on Anenome? I'll use him in something.

Morpheus wrote: Well, one of the ones cut was my character Anenome, who was basically a mass of tentacles living inside a skin suit so he could pass as 'human'.

Cool! ... Why was he cut?

Malady wrote:

Morpheus wrote: Well, one of the ones cut was my character Anenome, who was basically a mass of tentacles living inside a skin suit so he could pass as 'human'.

Cool! ... Why was he cut?

It was a combination of reasons. The two primary ones that I remember (now that Morph reminded me of this one) were 1) she functioned pretty much like a shifter, and we already had a few of those so we didn't want to overdo it; and 2) that extreme a case of GSD would be very difficult to survive through the manifestation process, so should be quite rare, and again, we already had a few other examples of that situation. So the fact that Anemone had both of those flags meant we ultimately decided to cut him/her.

Am I remembering that about right, Morph?

Anenome was a severe GSD case, who was probably even more severe than Fubar. He was a mass of slimy thin tentacles, who could shape and solidify the slime to create simple shape weapons, and he could create skin suits to hide within, so he could look perfectly normal. And he could create skin suits of different appearances as well.

He was cut largely because his GSD was so severe, that it would be extremely unlikely he could have survived the transformation into such a form without dying, or without some complicated explanations. It was decided that he was just a little too problematic to really bother with.

Once again, thank-you for the insight and the collaboration that all of you went through to achieve the 2nd Gen. I, myself, would not want you to divulge to much info for as a reader it would be like reading the last chapter and although I would read the rest later it would spoil it for those who have not.

As for writing multi stories at once, I may try that. May never see the light of day, but it may help. Thank-you all.

Another one of the characters cut was one of my most colorful creations: Mold girl. She had transformed slowly into an edible mold while looking mostly human, being able to walk, etc. When any part of her was eaten she could mind control the eater for awhile. Problem was, she was addicting, and in Hawthorne for her own safety.

The reason she was dumped is the same reason Anenome was.

Well that and the gen 2 team feared what I could do with mold zombies.

Nagrij wrote: Another one of the characters cut was one of my most colorful creations: Mold girl. She had transformed slowly into an edible mold while looking mostly human, being able to walk, etc. When any part of her was eaten she could mind control the eater for awhile. Problem was, she was addicting, and in Hawthorne for her own safety.

The reason she was dumped is the same reason Anenome was.

Well that and the gen 2 team feared what I could do with mold zombies.

and the Dylans on campus would be a steady supply of willing mold zombies.

Dawnfyre wrote:

Nagrij wrote: Another one of the characters cut was one of my most colorful creations: Mold girl. She had transformed slowly into an edible mold while looking mostly human, being able to walk, etc. When any part of her was eaten she could mind control the eater for awhile. Problem was, she was addicting, and in Hawthorne for her own safety.

The reason she was dumped is the same reason Anenome was.

Well that and the gen 2 team feared what I could do with mold zombies.

and the Dylans on campus would be a steady supply of willing mold zombies.

One of the most sought after girls by the druggies.

Eat your heart out boys. No wait, that's mine.

Oh and Happy Valentines Day. My Heart goes out to you.

On a date: Are we eating in or eating out?

I better quit.... for now.

I've found that the best way for me to stay productive is to have a weekly obligation to deliver some amount of text. When I was writing Go Boldly, I wrote more in ten months than I had in the previous several years combined. That was really stressful though, because I was pretty much publishing it in real time with little to no buffer during most of the story. It's not just that I was riding the deadline, but also that I didn't have room to go back and revise things a few chapters later if I realized they needed to change. I had to either get it right the first time, or find ways to deal with it if I wrote myself into a corner. So I think what I might start doing once the holiday chaos is over is to track down a writing group or so. That way I can still have that obligation to deliver so I stay motivated, without having to actually finalize everything immediately.

As far as character creation, I tend toward discovery writing , so mostly I just wing it at first, establishing the character by actually writing them in a scene. Then once I have a basic feel for them, I add their information to the character file for that story and (usually) flesh out some of the details that may not have been immediately referenced. This is not a great way to do things for group projects where people need to plan around each other, but it seems to work fine for me writing on my own.

What is this buffer you speak of? I do it all live. No safety net here.

Likewise, I post them as I complete them.

Nagrij wrote: Another one of the characters cut was one of my most colorful creations: Mold girl. She had transformed slowly into an edible mold while looking mostly human, being able to walk, etc. When any part of her was eaten she could mind control the eater for awhile. Problem was, she was addicting, and in Hawthorne for her own safety.

The reason she was dumped is the same reason Anenome was.

Well that and the gen 2 team feared what I could do with mold zombies.

Um...Nagrij, you do realize this character actually didn't get cut, but was just significantly changed, don't you? Lollipop would greatly appreciate it if you didn't say she was gone completely.

Edible Moldova girl by the name of lollipop????
Man there are so many jokes I could make about that.

RIP mold girl, you have been changed to no longer be living mold.

silly Neo, we are talking about character ideas that were cut. The person you just brought up, is significantly changed from inception. So much so, that we aren't really speaking of the same character here. Lollipop is awesome... but she isn't the first incarnation Lollipop; she's 2.0.

Nagrij wrote: RIP mold girl, you have been changed to no longer be living mold.

silly Neo, we are talking about character ideas that were cut. The person you just brought up, is significantly changed from inception. So much so, that we aren't really speaking of the same character here. Lollipop is awesome... but she isn't the first incarnation Lollipop; she's 2.0.

You'll note, Nagrij, that I didn't actually reveal anything about Lollipop other than her name, and the fact that she USED TO BE, made of edible mold. Just thought it might be fun to see some of these guys try and guess what she does now, since it seems highly unlikely that they'll be able to get it right.

NeoMagus wrote: Just thought it might be fun to see some of these guys try and guess what she does now, since it seems highly unlikely that they'll be able to get it right.

Does she represent the Lollipop Guild?

You asked for it. She manifests an extra part that is surprisingly tasty and heals people when they taste it long enough.

First, she is in fact a member of the lollipop guild.

Second, no, she animates lollipop zombies now. (Duh!)

Then again, I could just have zombies on the brain... or do I?

How much detail on the character depends upon how much use the character has. For important/POV characters quite a bit is needed. The whole who, what, where, when, why. For secondary recurring characters, less, but something important, a personality quirk, etc. For the background, maybe a name, a look, a power, whatever.

Coming up with characters is different, and usually for me the story defines most of the character. In some cases a name will identify a character, or a power, of something else. Life experiences also help come up with characters and histories.

In some cases ideas merge and split. I have one scene planned, and had the background of the character all worked out, but no powers (other than a Gadgeteer/Devisor with no physical enhancements) or codename. Later something triggered a codename and powers but no other information, so I merged the two.

The key facts are these: Do you have a very good memory - sufficient that you can remember all about your character as you continue to write? Or are you like me - I tend to mix up small details, so I write a "character guide" to make sure I get things like middle names, grandpa's name, pet cat instead of dog, girl he just broke up with in high school, etc, etc, etc. My Kayda reference sheet is now about 13 pages - including all the chars I've defined, her enemies, the spirits, Lakota myths I HAVE to know, etc.

The second fact is thus: Are you writing solo, or in a shared uni? If you're writing solo, you can leave off details until you get to a character. In a shared uni, however, other authors have to know what's what with your characters so they don't accidentally misinterpret something and box you in somewhere.

You'll notice he said accidenatlly box you in. Deliberately boxing you in to watch you squirm is, of course, still fair game

NeoMagus wrote: You'll note, Nagrij, that I didn't actually reveal anything about Lollipop other than her name, and the fact that she USED TO BE, made of edible mold. Just thought it might be fun to see some of these guys try and guess what she does now, since it seems highly unlikely that they'll be able to get it right.

My first guess is that she's a PK super girl. She picked that name because she's the tootsie-roll center. She might also fight with a white PK-reinforced staff.

My second guess is that she has Kaa eyes:

That's a disturbing picture.

Domoviye wrote: That's a disturbing picture.

Yes, yes it is.

Kettlekorn wrote:

NeoMagus wrote: You'll note, Nagrij, that I didn't actually reveal anything about Lollipop other than her name, and the fact that she USED TO BE, made of edible mold. Just thought it might be fun to see some of these guys try and guess what she does now, since it seems highly unlikely that they'll be able to get it right.

My first guess is that she's a PK super girl. She picked that name because she's the tootsie-roll center. She might also fight with a white PK-reinforced staff.

My second guess is that she has Kaa eyes:

Look deep into my eyes, you will do as I say. First take out your wallet and then give me all of your money and credit cards. Next put on this dress. Clean my house, do my laundry. My will is your will. After your done Danny you will be my kitten. But first tell your sister Kayda that HypnoSis is back in town.

Mawahahaha

I actually had a character with eyes like that, named teh Seeker, though I didn't submit him for Whateley, at least not yet. Who knows what the future will bring.

A fundamental part - and we in Gen 2 had serious help with this - is to make sure you understand the EFFECT you want with powers, and then generally use the simplest set of powers that gets that effect. You want the focus on the character, not some weird set of powers.

And yeah, I start with what effect I want, then get the powers as I fill out the rest of the character sheet.

Well, to be fair, it was the effect I was going for that made people uncomfortable. And I can respect that; it's why we reworked Lollipop, after all.

One thing I haven't seen posted and something I use once I have a good grasp on a character is to write an "Interview" with the character, answering questions using the character's voice. It really helps to to begin thinking of how that character would not only answer the questions but how they would act, etc.

A friend of mine tried this and has modified his "Interview" so that it reads more like his character is on a talk show.

Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Nuuan wrote: One thing I haven't seen posted and something I use once I have a good grasp on a character is to write an "Interview" with the character, answering questions using the character's voice. It really helps to to begin thinking of how that character would not only answer the questions but how they would act, etc.

A friend of mine tried this and has modified his "Interview" so that it reads more like his character is on a talk show.

Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

I might try that, but I got enough voices in my head. I don't want anymore.

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

While this is true, understanding and working around practical limitations of powers can also help you develop your character's life and personality. For example, the character that I will soon be posting (I promise!) to the Combat Final thread is a shifter with an eagle form. The problem is that in the WU, low level shifting obeys the conservation of mass, and a eagle and a teenage girl have very different masses. Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests. This in turn shaped her backstory (most particularly her relationship with her parents, who are overprotective because she's so frail) and part of her personality. And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

Restrictions breed creativity.

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests... And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

... She has Celiac Disease so bad that she's 1/5 the average weight for her age??!!

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests... And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

... She has Celiac Disease so bad that she's 1/5 the average weight for her age??!!

Naw. I put her at 50 lbs. That's still pretty low, but she lost some weight while manifesting. It makes for a big eagle and a small girl, but her mutation compensates, making her her stronger than expected in both forms.

I haven't done the research necessary to see where she would be before the mutation starts, but hopefully my numbers aren't too ridiculous.

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests... And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

... She has Celiac Disease so bad that she's 1/5 the average weight for her age??!!

Naw. I put her at 50 lbs. That's still pretty low, but she lost some weight while manifesting. It makes for a big eagle and a small girl, but her mutation compensates, making her her stronger than expected in both forms.

I haven't done the research necessary to see where she would be before the mutation starts, but hopefully my numbers aren't too ridiculous.

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests... And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

... She has Celiac Disease so bad that she's 1/5 the average weight for her age??!!

Naw. I put her at 50 lbs. That's still pretty low, but she lost some weight while manifesting. It makes for a big eagle and a small girl, but her mutation compensates, making her her stronger than expected in both forms.

I haven't done the research necessary to see where she would be before the mutation starts, but hopefully my numbers aren't too ridiculous.

Research... [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

I've seen those, but what I don't have is a good feel for when a girl goes from "small and fragile" to "OH GOD OH GOD SHE'S GOING TO DIE!" Once her mutation kicks in I can fudge the numbers, but until then I have to obey real numbers. Of course, since she's going to loose weight when she manifests anyways, I don't actually need to give her celiacs. But I like what it does to her character personality wise, so I'm keeping it.


Anyways, we've drifted off topic, so back to my original point, which is that exploring a character's powers can give you new and interesting ideas of what to do to them, which will shape their personalities in ways that you hadn't anticipated.

I mostly give characters really odd/twisted thought processes and hand them powers that complement them (and make them WORSE haha). Other times I start with weird powers and give the character a warped personality to fit them. This works better is psychics, because, you know. The specifics (like how much they can lift) aren't necessary until they start using them intensively or as part of the conflict, but limitations are best set as early as possible so you know how the character will have to face problems. I haven't actually written anything out yet (as prose. I have outlines), so I might not be the most reliable source. I spend a lot of time thinking about ramifications, though.
Also if something about the powers is going to change in the future (like discovering it works differently underwater. I dunno), it is probably best planned out early so you can foreshadow it (y'know, if making people play the guessing game is a thing you like) and avoid plotholes. Although the reason I'm doing it is because I don't want to write anything until I've read at least one Canon storyline to the most recent. Procrastinations.

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

Nuuan wrote: Personally I feel the character's powers are secondary, and getting to know your character's emotional and mental state, how they react to certain stimili, etc. is much more important that writing down that character "A" can teleport distances of no more than exactly 9672.34 feet or Character B is an exemplar 3 or 4 because he or she can lift a bus.

Dealing with that gave me the idea to give her celiacs as part of the explanation of why she is so small before her mutation manifests... And none of that would have been created if there hadn't been a problem with turning an 100 lb girl into a 20 lb eagle.

... She has Celiac Disease so bad that she's 1/5 the average weight for her age??!!

Naw. I put her at 50 lbs. That's still pretty low, but she lost some weight while manifesting. It makes for a big eagle and a small girl, but her mutation compensates, making her her stronger than expected in both forms.

I haven't done the research necessary to see where she would be before the mutation starts, but hopefully my numbers aren't too ridiculous.

How many remember this Disney movie. Shows how Disney fixed the mass problem. Oh and just go towards the end unless you want to view most of the ending. Its 6min long.

Okay, now that I have all this lovely information to sop in, where do I go to talk about putting it into a story? In other words where can I discuss an idea without the fear of losing it to someone else in writing? Story creation, tidbits of thoughts as with planning it out?

Those willing to help and so forth.

In otherwords, putting it all down so that when I ride the horse under the tree where the rope is waiting I don't .... Well you get the idea.

This place is pretty good about not stealing ideas.
Are you looking at selling stories or just fun writing. If it's fun, do it in the Tunnels, after pm'ing Kristin to become a fanfic writer.
If it's for money, ie non Whateley, feel free to send me a message and I'll help you out. I have too many of my own ideas I don't want or need anymore.

It's fanfic, set in the 2nd, possibly 3rd gen. Not sure when 3rd gen would be 2026?

I'm looking at filling out some character sheets and such as with characters themselves. Not sure if I want to start a fanfic request yet as I only have a formulated idea and nothing solid yet. I'm also a very slow writer and not as fast as many of you are.

That an nerves.

Edit: Oh and your catching up with me Dom. Soon you to will be a Master. Ha ha ha. Whatever that implies.

From what Kristin said 3rd gen is going to be stories set in the universe but unrelated to Whateley. For the rest I'll send you a pm later tonight.

I'm a lousy writer (or should that be, lousy attempted writer?), but as character creation's very much a YMMV topic, I'll add my 2p worth.

I generally start off by thinking of a concept, then let the character emerge. In the case of Rumex (my abandoned attempt at a fanfic) I centred more on the character creation than other attempted tales.

I decided from the start to have a female character who doesn't change gender but has a manifestation event and has a fairly low level but unique power. I decided to go for some form of plant-based powers.

From that point on, I knew that she had to be interested in biology and environmental issues, preferring to spend time out in nature rather than inside. That lent itself to her manifestation occuring as a result of being rather reckless in attempting to stop fellow teens from destroying a local nature area (probably not an official nature reserve though), and gets thrown in a large clump of nettles. Nettles aren't fun things to brush against, and a significant proportion of skin contacting them even less fun - with a remote chance of causing anaphyllaxis in the real world, or a manifestation event in the Whateleyverse.

Given her environmental nature, I thought of a kind of plant ESP for her main power - being able to determine what a plant needs in terms of conditions. From a distance, it would probably be as generic as too much / too little shade, but getting closer she could determine more about its situation right up to touching the soil around its base, where she'd deduce its nutritional requirements.

However, on its own, even with a scholarship, that would almost certainly be insufficient to grant attendance at Whateley. So then I developed the concept of being able to vastly accelerate the growth of plants - but to keep the power distinct from characters such as Thorn, restricted it to herbacious plants. Still not especially powerful, but combined with mildly photosynthetic green hair and tough skin (so she can't be penetrated by nettle spines, thorns or other plant defences - given the nature of her manifestation it seemed logical to give her the grace of being unable to get into the same situation again) could tip the balance in favour of admission, especially if a biotech company offered to sponsor her (after all, being able to deduce the nutritional requirements of plants would allow for the development of tailored fertilisers). On those lines, I also decided she'd gain a memory boost (not to the extent of being eidetic though) and have a pre-existing aptitude for science - initially the natural sciences (biology, ecology) but in light of her abilities, she'd voluntarily throw herself into learning as much chemistry as possible.

I got as far as writing her manifestation, immediate aftermath (probably overdoing the risk aversion measures taken by the hospital sightly - although given the sparsity of mutants in the population, they'd probably have dealt with fewer than a dozen before her) and initial, basic powers testing (before anyone knew her abilities - so just skin thickness, enhanced density, strength and stamina [very good by human standards, mediocre by mutant standards]) - but then hit a wall with filling out the few months where she discovers her powers (due to their nature, she'd likely iteratively discover what they were and their extent), attracts the attention of a biotech company and travels to Whateley.

So overall, I developed a decent character concept and manifestation event, but only a very basic, sketchy outline of What Happens Next.

mittfh wrote: From that point on, I knew that she had to be interested in biology and environmental issues, preferring to spend time out in nature rather than inside. That lent itself to her manifestation occuring as a result of being rather reckless in attempting to stop fellow teens from destroying a local nature area (probably not an official nature reserve though), and gets thrown in a large clump of nettles. Nettles aren't fun things to brush against, and a significant proportion of skin contacting them even less fun - with a remote chance of causing anaphyllaxis in the real world, or a manifestation event in the Whateleyverse.

ouch.
when I was 9 I wound up sliding face first through a patch of nettles. shorts, t-shirt and running shoes.

baking soda and water, make a paste and slather it over the stung area, it pulls the barbs and toxin out.

the hives ( swelling ) goes down after the irritants are gone.

How indepth do I go for my characters? I give them a valid name for their country of origin (or if they rename themselves after manifestation, like with Lucy and Nanashi), eye color (since manifestation gives you any eyecolor in the rainbow), height and weight at the start of their story, a song that fits them, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, hair color, some typical quotes, their family situation, clothing preferences/requirements, what clubs they would try and join, what their training team is (and their role in the party) and their cottage and room-mate.

I once posted a link to a REALLY in-depth character sheet form on the Old Board. Let's just say that with nothing filled out, it takes up at least TEN pages in OpenOffice.