Building a better character again

[Rawknight 0]

Building a better character

 

I thought I’d do one of these, seeing as I’m a former world champion, so I’m going to focus on the roleplaying side of this, what with me being a massive RPG (as in old school pen and paper RPGs) fan.

 

Know your wrestler.

 

This is the hardest bit, and the most important. What does your wrestler think about stuff? How does he react? When confronted with a challenge will he take it straight away, think about it, be sarcastic or just brush it off and ignore it? How does he treat opponents? Is your character respectful of authority? Does he keep lasting friendships or betray people out of hand? Is your character just a total enigma, and if so how the HELL do you expect to play him?

 

Be consistent.

 

If your character reacts a different way to stuff from one day to the next, why does he do it? Is it because he’s a manic depressive psychopath on the edge, or is it because you’re just not thinking through. Strong characters should act how you’d expect them to act. That’s not to say you shouldn’t throw the odd curveball occasionally, it’s just that having HVT quote Shakespeare wouldn’t work.

 

Make your moveset and style fit your character.

 

This is as important as having a good moveset. Big grunting lugs should WRESTLE like big grunting lugs. Psychopaths should stop to torture their opponents to get that sadistic fix. Showoffs have to show off. This applies to other people writing your characters. Don’t have serious guys making rookie mistakes their characters naturally wouldn’t make. Making them make rookie mistakes their characters WOULD make is half the key to winning however.

 

Promo if it helps.

 

This is not another RP based fed. This is the SWF where promoing is optional. Optional but fun! If you want to add that layer of depth to your characters then write it in. That’s how we, the humble others know the whys and wherefores of your character.

 

Interact with other characters.

 

Never be afraid to PM people and ask, set up feuds and alliances. I’m not saying everyone should be in stables or anything, but having characters talk to each other through cooperative promos builds everyone’s understanding better. Some of the favourite character building stuff I wrote are the little sequence of backstage segments where TBS and Duran were playing good and bad conscience to the freshly heel turned Va’aiga.

 

Oh and the final rule… stay away from Stereotypes and play your own version of archetypes. The third of my three main characters Sean Fate never got brought in cos he’s yet another goth – but he did once cut an entire promo about his chokeslamming hand and mailed someone a tombstone in a backstage segment. There’s ways to be more than “just another leapy cruiserweight” “just another fresh faced rookie”, “just another natural heel” or whatever.

[Dace59 0]

My god, I've got people in putting. Good good.

Pretty much sums up a lot of the stuff you've said before man and it's good to have it all down.

 

This was my original aim when I put up this idea and the ball the starting to roll. So keep it coming people, as everyone should read these articles, for one reason or another.