 Ten Questions For Any Shadowrunner, For building richer characters |
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 Sep 6 2013, 03:50 PM
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#26
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Prime Runner Ascendant  Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022  |
QUOTE (Sendaz @ Sep 5 2013, 11:57 PM)  Karma awards are not so odd. I knew one GM who awarded a small weekly Karma bonus to those who kept In Character Journal/Diaries of the runs. What became funny was how your perception crept in as obviously it was from your POV, so it didn't have to be totally factual, but rather how you told it. I kept a journal for my L5R Character. Crane Samurai from the Kakita School. Really miss playing that character. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) |
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Sep 6 2013, 04:08 PM
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#27
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
Okay... Still can't get the Linking to work, so here you go... Long Text, so bear with me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Apparently I am missing a question, and I don't have access to the original file (at home). I tend to move the questions around to link ideas better as I work (putting relevant questions next to each other for example) as it helps me to visualize the character better if similar things are grouped together. Sadly, I have not done so with the main Questionnaire, which I should definitely do at some point. Will get to it eventually... Bugs me that I am missing Question 5, though. Anyways, this group of questions here has not been updated recently, and I am likely to add some things to it, eventually. 50 Questions [ Spoiler ]
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Sep 6 2013, 05:33 PM
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#28
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
TJ: Why not use a Google Document for the questionnaire? That would make linking to it and updating it a snap.
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Sep 6 2013, 05:38 PM
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#29
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685 @ Sep 6 2013, 10:33 AM) TJ: Why not use a Google Document for the questionnaire? That would make linking to it and updating it a snap. I don't know... I just have not done so... Not a big fan of online data storage, especially since I tned to have very little call for such things, me not having any portable devices that can take advantage of it. |
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Sep 6 2013, 05:47 PM
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#30
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Sep 6 2013, 12:38 PM) I don't know... I just have not done so... Not a big fan of online data storage, especially since I tned to have very little call for such things, me not having any portable devices that can take advantage of it. You don't need a portable device to make use of online data storage like Google Docs. For instance, here is a Google Documentified version of your questionnaire. If you have a gmail account, I can set it up so you own the document, or you can click on file -> make a copy and copy it in your own Google Drive (if you have a gmail, you have one, even if you haven't used it.) Thereafter you can update it easily, and your players can easily copy it to their own Google Drives for use in filling out. |
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Sep 6 2013, 05:57 PM
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#31
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685 @ Sep 6 2013, 10:47 AM) You don't need a portable device to make use of online data storage like Google Docs. For instance, here is a Google Documentified version of your questionnaire. If you have a gmail account, I can set it up so you own the document, or you can click on file -> make a copy and copy it in your own Google Drive (if you have a gmail, you have one, even if you haven't used it.) Thereafter you can update it easily, and your players can easily copy it to their own Google Drives for use in filling out. Well, that is true, and I do have gamer buddies with Google Drive Accounts... Pretty spiffy... I like it. Sorry, though, no gmail account to my knowledge (Where would I even begin to look to see if one exists; and under what name would I look?)... I tend to limit my online presence (primarily email accounts) as much as I can... I am that odd blend of Seasoned Matrix Veteran with a very Heavy Dose of Matrix Paranoia thrown in. I will admit, though, that I do keep some Accounts in various places, though, so you are right, I MAY have a login I am unaware of. |
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Sep 6 2013, 06:44 PM
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#32
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Given how the many tentacles of Mountain View stretch, I'd give it a try logging into www.gmail.com with your Youtube account if you have one. If that doesn't work, just sign up for a gmail account and you get everything.
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Sep 6 2013, 08:10 PM
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#33
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685 @ Sep 6 2013, 11:44 AM) Given how the many tentacles of Mountain View stretch, I'd give it a try logging into www.gmail.com with your Youtube account if you have one. If that doesn't work, just sign up for a gmail account and you get everything. Heh... Youtube Account... You funny. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Thanks |
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Sep 6 2013, 08:34 PM
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#34
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 271 Joined: 1-September 09 From: Denmark Member No.: 17,583 |
The issue have already been covered fairly comprehensively, but I'll thrown in a couple of comments as well, based on a guide to charactermaking I once took part in making for LARP games.
1) All the physical stuff. Age, weight, height, haircolour/-style etc. What do people see when they look at you? 2) Where does the character live? Why there? 3) Who's the character's family and friends? What do they do, and how do they look? What's the character's relationship with them. 4) What was the character's upbringing like? Which events shaped their life and brought you to where they are today? Come up with a pivotal event in your character's life per 5-10 years of age. 5) What's your character's personality like? Why? 6) What's your character's hopes and dreams for the future? Everybody have hopes, dreams, and goals. Decide what your character's short-, medium-, and long-term goals are. What does he/she/it dream of, and believe will make them happy? Note that there need not be any connection at all between what will actually make the character happy, and what they think will make them happy. The pennyless bum might believe that becoming a billionaire would make him happy, but in reality he might really be happier having a middleclass life with a loving family and sufficient income to live comfortably. Chasing the billionaire lifestyle could well make him overlook the woman who could have made him happy. And when he realises the truth, she might well have moved on in her life, closing that door to him. 7) What's your characters weaknesses? What skeletons does he have in his past? Having bad stuff and problems in a character's past is not a weakness. It's a potential plothook and a help to your GM. No decent GM is "out to get you", so don't be affraid to give them something to hang a story on. 8 ) Look at the character. Can you envision meeting such a person in reality? Does it "feel" real? Or have you managed to come up with a cheap cliché? A) Aim to design a PERSON. Not a set of stats or a specific movie or book character. Being inspired by something is fine, but try and make something original at the end of the design phase. B) Depending on how much you have to roleplay your character, actually knowing something about what the character is supposed to know something about, is a great help. If you don't know the difference between hardware and software, or if you believe it's got something to do with the quality of the cloth it's made from, you probably won't be able to pull off a convincing hacker. Especially if you are playing with anyone who actually does know something about said topic. Besides, researching something you know nothing about in order to play a character more convincingly is a great excuse to learn something new (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Hope this sparked a new thought or two in someone. Sorry if it was simply a repeat of what's already been written. |
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Sep 6 2013, 08:52 PM
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#35
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Sep 6 2013, 03:10 PM) Heh... Youtube Account... You funny. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Thanks For lack of anything better to do (well, actually, for reasons of procrastinating against doing any of those better things to do,) I filled out your 52-question form for my last character, Emily Sansnom. Fairly warned ye be; that link is not safe-for-work, if you have the kind of work that will actually sift through 5,700-some words and get offended at frank and explicit answers involving an 81-year-old Léonized woman's past and present sex life. |
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Sep 6 2013, 08:57 PM
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#36
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,039 Joined: 23-March 05 From: The heart of Rywfol Emwolb Industries Member No.: 7,216 |
QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685 @ Sep 6 2013, 04:52 PM) Fairly warned ye be; that link is not safe-for-work, if you have the kind of work that will actually sift through 5,700-some words and get offended at frank and explicit answers involving an 81-year-old Léonized woman's past and present sex life. So if a cougar is a fairly older woman picking up younger men, would she qualify as SaberTooth? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) |
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Sep 6 2013, 09:11 PM
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#37
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Sendaz @ Sep 6 2013, 04:57 PM) So if a cougar is a fairly older woman picking up younger men, would she qualify as SaberTooth? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) She hasn't gone for a man, younger or otherwise, since 2056. I think that makes her a panther, not a cougar. And since 2061, she's been the younger woman. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) |
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Sep 7 2013, 02:05 AM
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#38
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Prime Runner Ascendant Group: Members Posts: 17,568 Joined: 26-March 09 From: Aurora, Colorado Member No.: 17,022 |
QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685 @ Sep 6 2013, 02:52 PM) For lack of anything better to do (well, actually, for reasons of procrastinating against doing any of those better things to do,) I filled out your 52-question form for my last character, Emily Sansnom. Fairly warned ye be; that link is not safe-for-work, if you have the kind of work that will actually sift through 5,700-some words and get offended at frank and explicit answers involving an 81-year-old Léonized woman's past and present sex life. Pretty damned awesome ShadowDragon8685... My answers on the form also tend to be NSFW. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) |
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Sep 7 2013, 04:37 AM
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#39
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Sep 6 2013, 10:05 PM) Pretty damned awesome ShadowDragon8685... My answers on the form also tend to be NSFW. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I miss playing that character... The GM was weaving a tale where we were digging ourselves in deep and deeper, but then he drew Real Life aggro. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) |
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Sep 16 2013, 11:46 PM
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#40
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 23-February 04 From: Honolulu, HI Member No.: 6,099 |
Some other potential questions:
Under what circumstances would you break a promise. Under what circumstances would you betray a confidence. Under what circumstances would you betray a comrade/friend/family. What criteria do you use to determine the relationship of another person to yourself (related to above). What is the worst thing you could think of doing. Would you do it? What if you were offered incentive. How big would that incentive have to be. (Beat grandma over the head with a snowshovel for a million dollars?) |
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Sep 17 2013, 05:27 AM
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#41
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 102 Joined: 28-January 13 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 71,172 |
It's a fun exercise to ask your players to tell you a story of a time that they did break a promise to someone. Or when they betrayed someone they loved. What happened? How did your character feel? Was it easy or not? Questions that force a story are always the best. It paints a reality that helps them build their character, rather than them building their character exclusively around a two-dimensional idea. Fleshing it out is fun and rewarding for both the GM and player.
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Sep 17 2013, 05:48 AM
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#42
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Target Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: 22-May 09 From: I'm the short round guy in the corner. Member No.: 17,187 |
I really like doing background for a character. In fact I have been asked to tone it back in several games. My storyteller this time around has said that our group has been running for about two years as a team and nobody else in the group has wanted to work on back stories. I have been writing them into stories and asking if they think I did their characters correctly, and so far no one has seemed to mind, but I am always afraid I am going to step on someones toes with an action they don't feel they would have taken.
I think I will start using these questions to get a better idea of how they see their characters so that I don't royally screw up. Of course, I am currently sitting at 19 pages worth of back story for my character, with roughly half of that being time spent with the team, so my storyteller might ask me to wrap it up soon... |
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Sep 17 2013, 06:23 AM
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#43
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 102 Joined: 28-January 13 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 71,172 |
I don't think you can ever write too much. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
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Sep 17 2013, 01:38 PM
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#44
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Voran @ Sep 16 2013, 07:46 PM) Some other potential questions: Under what circumstances would you break a promise. Under what circumstances would you betray a confidence. Under what circumstances would you betray a comrade/friend/family. What criteria do you use to determine the relationship of another person to yourself (related to above). What is the worst thing you could think of doing. Would you do it? What if you were offered incentive. How big would that incentive have to be. (Beat grandma over the head with a snowshovel for a million dollars?) Ooooh, those are good. I'm adding them to the Questionaire document. |
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Sep 17 2013, 03:31 PM
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#45
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,039 Joined: 23-March 05 From: The heart of Rywfol Emwolb Industries Member No.: 7,216 |
QUOTE (Voran @ Sep 16 2013, 07:46 PM) Some other potential questions: Under what circumstances would you break a promise. Under what circumstances would you betray a confidence. Under what circumstances would you betray a comrade/friend/family. What criteria do you use to determine the relationship of another person to yourself (related to above). What is the worst thing you could think of doing. Would you do it? What if you were offered incentive. How big would that incentive have to be. (Beat grandma over the head with a snowshovel for a million dollars?) Would it be wrong to be able to answer yes without a qualifier? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) |
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Sep 17 2013, 04:13 PM
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#46
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
QUOTE (Sendaz @ Sep 17 2013, 11:31 AM) Would it be wrong to be able to answer yes without a qualifier? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) yes |
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Sep 17 2013, 08:07 PM
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#47
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 23-February 04 From: Honolulu, HI Member No.: 6,099 |
That's the fun of it. You'll have the ones that want to be idealistic and say never ever ever. You'll get the sociopaths that go "Betray? What does that mean? Friend? What is that?" And you'll get the rest with the sliding scale.
You'll back your family to the grave huh? What if one of them is a child molester? Hos vs Bros? |
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Sep 19 2013, 02:08 AM
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#48
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 121 Joined: 1-April 11 Member No.: 26,456 |
Honestly, I loved reading through a lot of these questionaires. Each one seems to have either the wording I like to really flesh out a character with the right method or a new question that can give it some perspective.
For instance, when scouting out a location, I'm not just scouting with my favorite runner Rina; she's nibbling on Gnarly muffins, chugging down White Devil energy drinks and casually watching "Café Black"; her favorite trid about a love-torn mercenary while she is staking out an area. It's fluff that means very little, but adds to the verisimilitude of the world. |
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Oct 24 2013, 02:59 PM
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#49
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
It's atrocious that this thread has gone fallow. I hope people have found and are using the Amended TJ Questionnaire I put up on Google Docs for all and sundry to make use of.
Especially since I'm sure that more folks would have more and interesting questions to propose. And since I'm trying to push that thing... I present the Questionnaire filled out by my most recent character, Zoé Devois. She's an elf who SURGE'd at 13 and now looks like a fantastical space alien under low-light conditions. The game is a high schoolers game, so... She's not exactly a cutthroat murderess or hard-boiled hacker yet. |
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Oct 24 2013, 07:28 PM
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#50
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 590 Joined: 30-January 12 Member No.: 48,557 |
The going's pretty slow, but I am working on a couple of the lists posted on this thread. I've been trying to work out a new character for months and I figure answering a questionnaire or two might give me a more solid idea of the guy. More on that when I get one completed.
As for new questions... What was the first job you ever pulled as a runner? Recount your last brush with death, if any. Is there any person you would consider your nemesis? |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 5th June 2025 - 03:48 PM |
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