So in an attempt to turn the game I'm starting soon into a heavy character motivation driven game more so than, "do job get money, get cool stuff" game, I am requiring my players to fill out a questionnaire about their characters personalities. And though the twenty offered in Runner's Companion are good, I was wondering if any of you dumpshockers have any ideas for questions that really make you understand your character as a person and not a block of statistics. So I plead thee Dumpshock, give me your best questions.

Paraphrase the following, which I used on an internet dating forum, eventually finding my wife:

"Forget loving long walks on the beach and being able to 'dress up' or 'dress down'. Everybody says those things. I want to know what you would die for."

(I got some interesting answers.)

I like it! Thanks! keep them coming people!

You want them Shadowrun-specific, or not so much?

Thoughts on the Humanis Policlub? (Swearing and threatening violence not allowed.)

They don't need to be shadowrun specific by any means. Just getting ideas for the game I'm goign to run. If you're got a good one toss it on up!

"What is the major turning point in your life? The second? The third? The fourth?"

"Who inspired you the most growing up?"

"What is your favorite thing to do when you have a lot of free time?"

"How many beer can you drink and still shoot straight?"

"Would you mess with Texas?"

This one will probably make it in their somewhere.

IIRC, it's a question asked in the Canadian Armed Forces. I might have been misinformed on that one, as there's probably no amount of beer they can drink and still not shoot straight.

- What would your character be willing to kill for
- Where does your character "draw the line" for their criminal activities
- What is a cause you're character would risk their life for without any promise of payment
- (Big One)Why did you become a runner
- What would it take to make you stop being a runner
- What metatype does your character like the least and why

My, and this is very subjective, so take it with a a couple grains of salt, point of view in questions is that they tend to make the character to rigid at creation.

When I fill these questions I immediately after loose interest in the character. I usually need to take them on a "test drive" before knowing how to answer, and whether I could answer, said questions.

So, in order to bring something of value to the thread, I thought how to implement said questions without making it look like homework...

The result, how about you, the GM, warn the players that the campaign will be more focused in character growth, like you said, and make adventures where, in order to complete them the players face the question in an RPG fashion.

As an example:

What would you be willing to do for love?

Introduce a love story, make the players the situation. Now, to avoid having six love stories going at the same time (bleh), you make them face a situation where they may have to kill one of two -tragic- lovers, for money. This shows you where would the characters be willing to go for money, whether highly emotional situations move them, and maybe, if they feel regret after the fact.

This makes the questionnaire more interesting, in my point of view, and might help your campaign without the players feeling like they're following a script.

*Sings in the key of off* Are you... Experienced? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EXPERIENCED?

I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave...

Sorry, couldn't help it. But it does count. Look at my character, Nas, as to why.

A very valid point, and one I'm now thinking about pretty well. But I've had a history of players coming to the table with cookie cutter infiltrator or street sammy. And having nothing behind it, so their characters have no quarrels with offing a scientist working on the cure for super cancer to save his daughter from a slow painful death.

• Does your character have family?
• What happened to them?
• If any, what are your character's, ahem, pharmaceuticals of choice?
• What can make them squee like a fangirl?
• What can make them scream in fear like a little girl?
• How does your character feel about mages? Why?
• Technomancers?
• Really expensive cyberware, you say? Where and how did you get it?
• Name a drinking buddy.
• Which teammate pisses you off the most?
  
  
• What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you?
• Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?
• What would you do with a drunken sailor?
• What fills you with UNSPEAKABLE RAGE?
• What do you do when nobody's looking?

I agree with this - sometimes (most times) I don't really "know" my character until I've played a few times. I do try to bring some basic personality to the table, but my most-rewarding characters (to me) have developed a personality (to me) after many games.

It's a trick question. You can always shoot straight (Wanted notwithstanding). Just not in the right direction.

I've been toying with an idea out of FATE. Establish some kind of baseline with regular questions, then have the player to their left make up a scene or anecdote in which the original character is the primary actor. For instance, I tell a story about Jack Hammer and the time that he walked into an ambush knowing he was going to get blown up and shot at and not caring because he's a scary cyborg, and his player has already established he's willing to take risks for the team. Then Jack's player turns around and tells a story of something dumb that Mr Clock did because we've already established he likes to dig deeper than he should.

Ideally such scenes or stories should be interactions between two characters at a moment of stress or crisis, but there's nothing to stop them being observed, or even relayed third-hand.

Let's see...

I would say there are a few categories of interest.

1) General Background

- Familiy
- Life before becoming a Shadowrunner
- Why did you become a Shadowrunner?
- SIN (Is it still there, and if so, is it still being used? Was it lost in the Crash or has it been removed actively? etc)
- Lifestyle (Where and how do you live? How do you pay for it? What do you do in your free time? etc)
- How do you seperate the regular life and the life as a Shadowrunner?

2) Worldview

- View towards Technology (Matrix, AR, etc)
- View towards Magic
- View towards Metahumanity
- What about the weirder things out there (Ghouls and such)

3) Friends & Foes (Contacts & Enemies)

- Who do you know?
- How did you get to know them?
- How far do you trust them?
- Who does not like you? And why?
- Who is out there to get you? And why?

4) Moral Outlook

- Wetwork? yes/no
- What about children?
- Will you do just about anything for money? Where are the limits?
- Would you do something without getting paid for it? What could that be?

Bye
Thanee

Thank you everyone for all of your awesome responses! If you have any more keep them coming! Once I dwindle my list I have down to about thirty or so, then I'll post them in the first post to see what you all think.

Everyone is different when it comes to answering questions to develop their character or doing so through play. I made a rather comprehensive sheet and system for developing characters that some people jump on and fill out, and that some ignore for a while. I try not to pressure them too quickly.

For Shadowrun, I would narrow it down to just a few questions to start:

1. How did you lose your SIN?

2. Where did you learn your skills?

3. Describe one of your character's distinguishing features.

4. Name one thing your character is passionate about.

5. Name one of your character's prejudices.

6. What is one goal your character wants to accomplish through Shadowrunning.

7. What is one goal your character wants to accomplish outside of Shadowrunning.

8. Name one family member of friend outside the team that your character is still close to.

My most frequent GM for a wide variety of games (my brother) has always had each player write a 3-5 page short story from a first person perspective in the voice of their character. The short story should focus on some sort of defining moment in the character's life. I've found that the exercise often goes a long way towards defining who the chracter is, without having to give a lengthy point-by-point bio, which can be somewhat rigid. Finishing this assignment gives a small, but relevant bonus. In this case 10-15bp to spend on something related to an event in the story. This probably works best for groups that don't mind writing alot (we do frequent smaller writing exercises during the course of the campaign...a couple paragraphs here, a page there), but can be rewarding if you really care about character development. The majority of the group is composed of grad students/recent MFA grads so your mileage may vary as far as weather or not you feel like writing alot is a chore.

Where are you on the Kinsey scale?

Can't believe I forgot about that one.

Good one

While answering a questionnaire sometimes works, often I have only a basic concept in mind & the above applies (this also is the reason why I don't play in games where the GM hands out extra points at creation for subjectively well written backgrounds.)

Example: 3.5 game years ago, the "two-weapon fighter" I made later became the marginally crazy fighter/warlock chick with compulsion - Use Magic Device. One of my more memorable characters, & was a blast to play. That just doesn't happen with a planned concept.

I wrote up a nice questionnaire (for the OG) that got some good comments. It included items like:

What as the name of your first pet?

Where were you educated?

Describe one formative memory (aside from your village being attacked and all your family being killed).

Put these traits in order, from best to worst: (10 traits, including 3 'deadly sins', 3 virtues, and 3 ambivalent items)

What are your feelings towards other members of the parties? (Or for new groups, other character classes)

What would make you retire?

What would you die for? What would you kill for?

Where does your character live? Describe it? In detail. Show your work.

I have both of The Accountant From Hell's Lifestyle Living Spaces mapped out in my head. Of course, one is a shipping container, but still...

Hah! He sure rides the green wave in his luxury shpping container apartment. Sleazy accountant: "No Mr. IRS. Me? I'm poor, you can't tax me. I live in a shipping container..."

And this is in CanRay's mind:

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-ga...ping-containers

Actually, My idea was a "Step Up" from a Coffin Hotel. An old, low-end "U-Store-It" that used old shipping containers, and then modified them slightly to make them somewhat livable. A bare fluorescent bulb and a single set of power plugs, with a bad matrix connection. He's got an UCAS Army Surplus Cot with a Colt Asp in a Bed Holster, a chemical toilet, and a bunch of MREs and bottled water, a Rating 6 Medkit, some C3, and not much else. A bolt hole for when the fertilizer hits the ventilator, and not much more. High-End Squatter Lifestyle.

You may be fooling the IRS and your GM.

Not me.

I'm a lawyer and if I know something trickier than my kind, that's accountants.

I can dig that. You also forgot about the fact that his container is in the back of the lot where there are holes in the fences near the sewer pipes so he can hunt devil rats in his spare time, and to have a tasty dinner every now and again.

How do you think he survived having his SIN erased and was able to work himself up from the streets to being a Shadowrunner?

Hey quick question for you guys: How much backstory is too much? I've been trying to write up my character's back-story in first person perspective and I'm at two pages (I might hit three). I wanted this character to be believable... besides I rather liked my SURGEling with fox ears and fox saying:

As a GM, my limit for a players backstory is 30 pages. Not too long, and its the most I've ever written for one of my own.

You have to motivate me and tell me what you want. Use as few words as you need.

Who do you assassinate first, the accountant or the lawyer?
Proper answer is business before pleasure, but that's just me.

If you were a hotdog, would you eat yourself?!
It's a simple question, Norm!

It depends on your GM, and how much he's willing to read. My issue has always been how short can it be (most players write a paragraph). I had one player who wrote, literally, about forty pages of background, plus another ten of maps, diagrams, and linguistic research. I showed him which five pages are for my reference, and which ones are for his.

Have you ever killed someone? Why? When? How? What was it like?