1. Character Design II

3. Character Depth Story-Driven Character Design
Personality
Moral beliefs
Attitudes
How character behaves in a given situation
Etc.
Story-Driven Character Design
Personality
Moral beliefs
Attitudes
How character behaves in a given situation
Etc.
Interactions between characters is one of the most important aspects of a story.

4. Roles, Attitudes, Values
Steve Meretzky recommends creating a character backgrounder which gives information such as
Where was the character born?
What was his family life like as a kid?
What was his education?
Does he have phobias?
Describe his important past romances.
Describe his political beliefs, past and present.
Does he drink tea or coffee?

5. Ethics Moral philosophy
Defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct
Deontology vs. Utilitarianism

6. Ethics: Deontology Means justify the ends
Nobody can know the consequences of their actions
Do the right thing because it is right
Lying is wrong, killing is wrong, etc.
E.g. Batman

7. Ethics: Utilitarianism
Ends justify the means
Whatever it takes to achieve the best ends
Lying to protect someone is good
Killing innocents to save more innocents is good
“for the Greater Good”
e.g. Robin Hood

8. Ethics: Virtue

9. Consider the following
“The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal; the centre is not central. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous. You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.”
- G.K.Chesterton

10. Roles, Attitudes, Values
How to express your character to your audience
Actions speak louder than words
Avoid expressing a character through their own dialogue
Place characters in situations where action reveals character
Give the player time to understand

11. Mr. A

14. Attributes Status attributes Character attributes Change frequently
Change by large amounts
e.g. health points, stamina
Character attributes
Change infrequently
Change by small amounts
e.g. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. From Fallout Games, strength perception, endurance, etc.

15. (Character Attributes)

16. (Status Attribute)

17. Character Dimensionality
Zerodimensional
Characters exhibit only discrete emotional states
No continuum of states
e.g. nameless orcs and goblins in Lord of The Rings only feel one of two emotions: fear and hate

19. Character Dimensionality
Onedimensional
single variable to characterize a changing feeling or attitude
e.g. Gimili from Lord of the Rings is hostile and suspicious toward elves at first, but over time his respect for the elf Legolas grows until they are boon companions (more so in the movies than the books)

21. Character Dimensionality
Twodimensional
Described by multiple variables that express their impulses
Impulses don't conflict
e.g. Denethor from Lord of the Rings, has variety of strong emotions—pride, contempt, despair—but he never faces a moral dilemma. His senses of duty and tradition trump all other considerations, even when they are wildly inappropriate

23. Character Dimensionality
Threedimensional
Multiple emotional states that can produce conflicting impulses
This distresses and confuses them, sometimes causing them to behave in inconsistent ways
e.g. Frodo from Lord of the Rings

25. Character Dimensionality

26. Character Growth Decide which characters will grow and how Physically?
Intellectually?
Morally?
Emotionally?

27. Archetypes
Common types of characters seen in stories

28. The Innocent Motto: Free to be you and me
Core desire: to get to paradise
Goal: to be happy
Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong
Strategy: to do things right
Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence
Talent: faith and optimism

29. The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal
Motto: All men and women are created equal
Core Desire: connecting with others
Goal: to belong
Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd
Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch
Weakness: losing one's own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships
Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretense

30. The Hero Motto: Where there's a will, there's a way
Core desire: to prove one's worth through courageous acts
Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a "chicken"
Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage

31. The Rebel Motto: Rules are made to be broken
Core desire: revenge or revolution
Goal: to overturn what isn't working
Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom

32. Archetypes Good to use as supporting characters
Good starting point for characters
Good for bringing out contrast
Not a substitute for designing characters

34. Character Music
Evil or bizarre characters often get themes in a minor key
Good or heroic ones get themes in a major key
Instruments playing in unison, especially to a monotonous rhythm, suggest enforced conformity (e.g. the Imperial March)

35. Voice and Language: Vocabulary
Indicates the age, social class, and level of education
Grammar and sentence construction
Though not really valid, we associate articulateness and long, complex sentences with intelligence.
Accent
Tells us place of origin, social class
Delivery
Speed and tone (e.g. slow speech stereotypically suggests unintelligent)
Vocal quirks
things like a stutter (Porky Pig), lisp (Sylvester the cat)

37. Voice and Language Consider the Simpsons Homer Marge Bart Lisa
limited vocabulary → not well educated
Marge
middlesized vocabulary → middleclass outlook
Bart
crude or ironically sophisticated → comical
Lisa
rich vocabulary for her age → intellegent