YOUR CHARACTER’S PLACE IN THE SETTING
Although intrinsically connected to the character creation process, it is necessary for you to think about how your character fits into the setting. Without putting some good thought into this, you might find yourself lost in the rapids of roleplay; unable to gauge what people are talking about, or referencing things that may not have happened (for example: anachronisms; inconsistencies in time).
When you are creating your character, think about these things:
Where does my character come from?
What have they been doing before now?
How have they lived up until this point?
What has happened around them in the last few years?
Pointers like these can help you immensely when it comes to trying to figure out the what, where, and how of a character, and usually they can all be answered by looking at the supplementary info of the setting, that being the lore, or history, of the world in question. By answering these questions, you will find it much easier to find your place in the world. By knowing your character’s origin, you can go as far as to research your character’s culture, and figure out certain cues and idiosyncrasies.
By knowing what your character has been doing before you start playing them, you can figure out what kind of knowledge they might have—be it worldly knowledge, experience in a particular field, or trauma. By knowing their living conditions, you can expand upon this; are they bitter? Timid? All of these things change radically depending on your character’s upbringing, way of life, and living situation.
Lastly, by knowing what has happened in the world around your character, you can know what your character should know, and how they would react to these things. Are they living worse due to a shortage in groceries? Are they protesting against their local government due to decisions they disagree with? All of these things help shape your character’s initial personality, while also helping you understand how the world around them has been working.
Equally important, however, is to note your character’s position in the social hierarchy after you create them: As you leave the train station, or ride into town on your horse, or get through the airport terminal, you are on equal footing as others: You are a person: Nothing more, nothing less. A problem observed among some roleplaying communities is that of “protagonist syndrome”; that is to say, people who either intentionally behave or subliminally act as if the story they are taking part in can only be solved by their expertise and their particular set of skills.
This pit can be avoided pretty easily by taking it easy, but an eagerness to help should not be confused for “protagonist syndrome”. It only becomes a problem when you shut out other people from pitching in as well. When someone makes the roleplay about themselves, and shuts out other people from trying to collaborate with them, they are often trying to be something akin to a story’s protagonist.
However, being the protagonist of a story is not an intrinsically bad thing in roleplay. After all, you are writing a story: Your character’s. Your character’s journey through the world you’ve placed them in is the story you narrate and navigate by taking them through all the sorts of obstacles you’ll find in your given roleplaying environment, and whatever the outcome might be at the end of the road will be the conclusion of your character’s story, and nobody else’s. Because of that, it’s incredibly important for you to craft your own story, rather than to be the protagonist in another player’s. Whether this story is about fighting an evil, going against the norm, starting an insurrection, or overcoming a deep, internal problem your character suffers from is up to you; what matters is that you are there, at the end of whatever road that might be.
As part of a shared roleplaying medium, it’s important to recognize that other roleplayers are also attempting to derive from the experience as well. As part of that social contract, there are obligations you as a roleplayer also have in respect to your peers.
For instance: “Powergaming” is another roleplaying taboo where a character forces or attempts to force an outcome onto another, whether this is to gain an advantage in a conflict or otherwise. Consider the above segments about being the author of your character’s own story, and you begin to understand why a situation where someone attempts to thrust an outcome onto you—such as losing a fight, becoming incapacitated or dying, isn’t just unfair: It’s also unfun.