Creating a backround story for the character and playing in character

[bLu48o]

Ok so i want to start a brand new character ,probably a mage or a assasin.. :ninja: and i really want to play like "in character", a thing witch i never did before.So if you guys can give me some tips on how to create a good backstory for a character of even come up with some simple one's yourself it would be great :D.And also how do you even play in character? I mean i know about not doing all the quests with one character and other s*it but is there anything else i should know? :dry:

Thanks in advance.:D

Edited July 25, 2012 by bLu48o

[Psiberzerker]

I just ask myself, before every decision, "What would she do?" It's pretty much that simple. As for backstory, that could be a lot more complex, if you're willing. What was s/he doing in Helgen? How did s/he get captured? What are the motivations, goals, and so forth. This is the essense of Role Play, don't do anything OOC, and try to experience it through his/her eyes...

 

Also, don't run straight for the Aretino boy, until you hear about it honestly. Wait for referances from NPCs, before heading for things you shouldn't already know are there.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Psiberzerker

[Relativelybest]

While I like to play characters, I usually don't bother with an exact backstory. I find it's a bit limiting to decide things so early on. Most of the time I only have an idea who the character is when I start playing, and then I use that character's actions and thinking to piece together and idea of where the character came from. So, I basically roleplay backwards. I think that's more fun, personally.

 

For example, my archer hates giants, so I eventually decided she was orphaned when a giant killed her parents. I don't know where the family lived before that or why she doesn't have a home. Possibly they lived in that destroyed house outside Whiterun? Dunno.

 

My mage character, on the other hand, definitely grew up in Whiterun and spent most of her time saving up for magic books until she could take the cart to Winterhold. That's just about all I know, though - realistically, she should still have family in Whiterun.

 

I still have no idea where my semi-feral catgirl barbarian came from or how she ended up in Skyrim.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Relativelybest

[PharmakosChroster]

Roleplaying is actually a pretty complex activity, something Jung refers to as "active imagination," and which is called "channelling" when done in shamanic practice. The interesting thing is that your subconscious is very good at creating non-conscious personalities. They populate your dreams, for example. They go about their activities without any conscious input from you at all - but it's your own brain running each and every character in your dream. To really have a good roleplaying experience, try not to consciously think, "What would this character do now?" Just allow your subconscious to pick and choose for you. You'll find yourself wondering at why your onscreen avatar did something, and slowly you'll start to understand the character's personality. When I'm writing a story, I am constantly surprised at the actions of some of the characters, who often go in entirely different directions than I planned and make decisions which I don't quite understand.

 

A good place to start is to pick a handful of traits you'd like to see in your character and concentrate on those, allowing the rest of the personality to emerge through the character's responses. If you practice letting go and allowing your unconscious to run with the ball, you'll often find yourself amazed - and possibly disturbed - by what you character does. My current character Sleestack, for example, is a gruff, no-nonsense Argonian warrior who hides his softer, gentler nature beneath a show of fierceness and indifference. He has rejected the overtures of almost every Daedric lord so far, and tends to become violently angry over the abuse of innocents by the strong... which is why I was greatly surprised to discover that he became the champion of Namira and started gobbling people up like Tic Tacs. I realized eventually that Sleestack sees himself as kin to the dragons, and that he honours worthy opponents by devouring their flesh. It fits well with his sombre, humourless, and taciturn nature, but also with his strong inner moral code. This is a good example of how a character can become quite complex if you give them free rein to run where they please rather then trying to force them to comply with a long checklist of personality traits. In short, a good roleplaying experience is emergent rather then crafted from whole cloth.