Geas

make a mortal?

As in, do you write up a history, a character etc. for them? Have them all mapped out in how they will act etc.

Or do you make a character and let them become what they become?

Well I sorta never plan anything, getting up in the morning is an exercise in creativity on which side of the bed I'll fall out of.

So I make a mortal character by giving it a name, pick some atributes from the list and then see what happens.

I usually just give the character a personality, and work the background story of the character as I play them. I might pre-plan a simple background idea, like where they were from, but I develop it more as the character grows and I get more used to the personality.

I generally forget about the background of the char for when he's a bit more grown up, else, you can end thinking about your char beeing an old prince, or a pit fighter, and some experienced player will either ask you about that royal past and give proofs, or will appraise you and say: "you aren't strong enough to be a pit fighter"

But actually, what I do is think of a combination and mixing of aspects of Geas to make the most succesful char, pvp and powergaming talking. After that, I start to develop it, and if in that time, he gets some rp now and then... welcome

I usually create a character to achieve something with it.. I make a concept, or idea, what I want to achieve, then set up character concept might look suitable for the goals, then make up a background, find his motivations and such.. and yes.. sometimes rp reasons and original intentions make my character completely unplayable

Though that is a price I pay.. at least I think RP is for fun.. and to gain new experiences and try things out in RP that you'd never do RL

I usually come up with a vague background (where char grew up, whether parental relations were good or bad, maybe even why they left home), and then ad-lib more details as they come up in the rp. My hope for each char is that it'll eventually get complex enough to start doing things even I don't expect.

For myself, my characters have usually a totally finished and usually very long background and it seems they are all a bit the same (well... for those who know me, the characteristics are easy to resolve... ). I tend to like writing stories so this happens to take quite a while before a char of mine gets actually into the game. Yet i'm always open to adjust the story to whatever happens ingame.

I usually start with some traits and basic history for the char, and try to see what the char might be in the future.After that its just inventing more and more as the char lives its life, though with some random spouts of imagination and creativity along the way.

I attempt to take an aspect of my own persona (for instance, my occasional tendency to lie) and blow it out of proportion. I lie all the time, more or less constantly, so that when I'm telling the truth you can't be sure. It's enough to make me more conscious of everything that comes out of my mouth in RL, helping me to cut down on such tendencies. So I guess something good came out of it.
I also outsized my good aspects, like my willingness to help. Except in this case, it's a willingness to get involved in everything. Curiosity killed the halfling, you know.

I create the character with the endgame in mind, but create a pre-history for him/her. Most of the times I have a concept of what I want to achieve, and shape this pre-history to naturally lead into that concept.

With Ferranifer I knew I wanted to be a lich. Therefore, she is the daughter of an outcast elven witch, who was mobbed to death by an elven lynch-squad.

I do this with all my characters:
* Clear scope of what i want to be, gameplay-wise
* Background story that fits for the past of the future I want
* Try to develop the story of the character as I play to naturally fit with the background

Alas, I always end up playing the same character

Oh, and I usually try to roleplay aspects of personality which I am not in real life, as opposed by what Josephus mentioned (though who knows if he was lying when he wrote that). For example, in RL I'm actually quite a nice and kind person, though a bit sarcastic and quite prone to smartass comments, whereas my characters are usually mean and nasty, with no regards to others whatsoever and very prone to brutal, direct action.