Hello all I am relatively new to Shadowrun my first character being a Ork Drone Rigger.

Surprisingly I used to play other Tabeltop's like D&D and WoD, but those games kinda fell into nothingness for me due to lack of actual Roleplaying. So when I was invited to partake in Shadowrun the GM told me to sit down and think like my character would think, listen to music that sounds close to what my Ork would listen to, start using language from the setting, etc. Well I found it tough at first to even understand what Goblin rock was besides it being Rock, namely because I couldn't stand heavy metal, heck not even light rock. After a while it kinda grew on me. It's been a month but everytime I'm getting ready for the game I just pop in a CD to my Stereo System and listen to Bands like Metallica, Led Zepplin, Dragonforce, etc.


Does anybody else find themselves doing things like to get into character before game?

I have some general music to which I listen to get into the Shadowrun frame of mind (I even have some sets put together on CD).

For each character I try to develop mannerisms or hooks that put me into his skin. I recently made a Voodoo tradition magician, Uncle Zola, who hails from New Orleans. I've checked out some websites for Cajun dialects, and have been bending my pathetic imitation of Canadian French to something that I can at least pretend is Cajun French. Voice and Shadowrun slang work wonders for putting me in the right frame of mind.

Peter

I had a character based on the song of Vena Cava by Angelspit. I use music to get into the mood of playing. Depends on the character. I find that writing a diary by the character is the best way to get into character, but it is very process intensive.


-Chrysalis

Welcome to DumpShock!

I'm not sure if anyone else preps for character, but I do.

Right now I'm running a rigger also. His theme songs are "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC and "Widowmaker" by WASP.

On my way to our games, I usually sneak up a couple of dirt roads in my Chevy Tahoe with the tunes blasting.

There's nothing like spitting a little gravel and raising a little dust to make you wish you really had a couple of Roto-drones on the roof rack.

Best character idea I had was get away from stereotypical caucasians who live on the street and yet talk like a Boston university professor. So I played a fixer from the 187th Street gang in New York. Gang affiliation: Le Eme. I listened to a lot of Cartel De Santa to get a handle on what a guy who is wide as he is tall with tattoos running up and down his body where you don't speak English no good.

Watch Boondock Saints for all of your Irish character needs.

Depends on the game and the character but I usually have something I do to get into character. Be it a theme song or peice of music, the make up and costume or just the style of the internal monologue.

Sometimes just visualizing the character's actions before time in gets the mindset in place.

Whenever I get ready to roll with Bulldog I make sure to bump some DMX really...damn...loud. It works wonders on getting myself in the right frame of mind.

Can't go wrong with music. Every character I make for any game has a playlist of at least a dozen to twenty songs that sum up the mindset, attitude, and demeanor.

I pick a particular movie character I like(watch their movie first) then ask my self "What would *insert character name* do here" Eventually your character will develop a unique personality, but starting with an awesome character helps.

My most recent sami, "What would Malcolm Reynolds do"

I've found going to the shooting range, putting my mp3 headsets in one ear under the hearing protection and blowing away paper targets with SA fire to get me in the right state of mind for playing my latest Gun Bunny character. Heavy Metal and gunfire mix really well.

I've been pure GM for a looooong time. But the above is an awsome thing to do. Not only will it help in getting into character but it'll help you remember stuff.

I used to write a "journal" as my character as a log of what we did so I (the player) didnt forget what the hell we were doing. One of my GMs would read it each week (or so) to see what is going on. So I started writing it in more of my character (had to at that point) and I worked out a color coding system (each color meant a certain languge, like black was english, red was japanese, blue was spanish, etc). And my journal then looked very rainbow-ish. But I did that since someone might find the journal and read it.

the journal (the all the ones I did) really helped me keep in character.

but the last time I really played (for more than a session or two) is back when SR3 was out...

I generally watch something on my MythTV box before the group comes over to get me in the mood. From movies (Street Kings is modernday SR) to TV shows (the shield anyone?) etc. It allows me to move to the more SR-isq mentality. Then right as the group gets there I change it to something very non-SR.. like some comedy or such.. and it throws them off kilter...

The last two characters that I have played have been clones of icons. I had a hacker who was basically Tommy Chong so I'd watch a few Cheech and Chong movies in the down time to capture the essence of the character. I'd repeat a few phrases, get the accent and the mannerisms right, and go from there.

My current character is basically an ork ripoff of Jim Kelly (the afro'd black martial artist from "Enter the Dragon"). To get into character I'll watch enter the Dragon or some other blaxploitation movies from the 70s and listen to some funk to get into my smooth talking afro'd martial artist groove. Keep it smooth, but above all... Keep it funky.

These are also made of awsome, and not only do they help immensly at staying in character you'll probably see a karma increase at my table.

The only trick is when a character is supposed to have an accent and the player drops it mid game. You either have to nag or just let it go which sorta spoils the RP.

But when it works well, it's awsome.

Sadly I find too few people do accents for Shadowrun, but I've got some experience with the awsomeness of accents from my stint with Deadlands.

After I complete a character, I always write a small short story of a previous run. It's almost never more than 6 pages and I never show it to anyone else, but I always love what the character turns into.

I actually have a hard time dropping the accent or verbal cues and carry it out of character until I fully decompress after the game.

i try to dress in a similar fashion as the charcter would . . well, aside from the armor, as that is kinda hard to get, but including some of the weapons, as those are, oddly enough, easy enough to obtain . . so it starts at home before actually leaving the house to go to the game . . i try to get into the right mindset . . if i'm gonna play a troll or so, i am told i walk and act differently . . it's most of the time compared to more confidence and bluntness . . if i decide to play my face character, most people get annoyed at me, because i seem incincere to them . . mostly because i keep my voice even and in the same volume most of the time and keep my face as straight as i can . . my pokerface for lack of a better word . . with sneaky characters, i don't wear camo or something . . but i act more inconspicuous then i would otherwise . . one game, they actually forgot about me being in the same room as the rest of the group and did not notice, when i got up, went into the kitchen and to the bathroom afterwards . . they did notice as i sat down again though O.o