Characters

Having trouble creating characters for your short story? Here's an idea you may not have considered: use character creation sheets from role-playing games.

This is by far my favorite method, with its completist's eye for minute details and tons of suggestions for filling in blanks you didn't even realize existed.

In case you're a complete stranger to the entire concept of role playing games (you're a writer, so I doubt it, but I have met a few), way back in the pre-home-computer 1970's, a guy named E. Gary Gygax fathered the roleplaying game (hereafter referred to as RPG) as we know it today with a tiny, independently-produced rules set for a traditional fantasy game called Dungeons and Dragons, which added depth and dimension to strategic tabletop warfare games involving hand-painted metal figures.

D&D was built around the concept of a game master or referee, who creates a story-like adventure, while players create characters who make the story happen in real time. The game exploded, gained complexity, and ran offshoots into every genre imaginable. Thirty years later, there's D&D for fantasy, Traveller for science fiction, Vampire and Werewolf for horror, and so on.

I'm barely scratching the surface here. If all of this is news to you, my friend, you are missing out on a whole bunch of fun. These games are a natural for writers, and can be wonderful experimental tools for trying out different methods of storytelling.

In these games, you create a character to role-play during game sessions, using a data sheet as your guide. These are perfect for adapting to your character creation process. I use Steve Jackson's GURPS system. GURPS stands for Generic Universal Roleplaying System, which is one of the reasons I use it. It isn't based in any particular genre or universe, so you aren't limited to creating sword-swinging barbarians or laser-blasting Han Solo clones. The sky's the limit.

Creating a character in GURPS begins with basic ability scores: Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity and IQ. Each ability score has a point value between 1 and 20, which is important for gaming but may not be important in creating heroes and villains for fiction. Fortunately, GURPS provides a handy chart with basic verbal description for each level. A character with a Dexterity score of 7, for instance, is described as “clumsy.” These thumbnail descriptions help create detailed, believeable story people.

The creation system is based on skills, advantages, disadvantages and quirks. The strength of this system lies in its balance. You start with 100 points. Skills and advantages cost points; disadvantages and quirks have negative point values. Carefully balance the two, spend no more than 100 points, and presto! Instant fictional person.

This can be freely adapted for your short story in any manner you choose. I use only a handful of skills and advantages, highlighting what the character will be capable of in my story. I select only one disadvantage, which is the fatal flaw – the key weakness your story's hero must overcome.

There are a ridiculous number of skills, advantages, disadvantages and quirks in the third edition rules set (the fourth edition is now available; I'm not familiar with it, but it probably contains even more depth than the third), which is great for jumpstarting if you come to the system with nothing in mind at all – no story idea, no characters, no inspiration whatsoever. Browse the list of advantages and ideas will come.

I have used this system many times. While it did not always produce a publishable story, it is excellent practice – and big fun. Give it a try! The basic rules set and character sheets are available at the Steve Jackson Games website. Here's the character sheet I did for Rod Spencer:

NAME: Rod Spencer