Musings from Bristol
It’s important to recognise that character creation is never wholly in the hands of a single party. No player has the freedom to create any character they feel appropriate, since the organiser should veto a completely inappropriate character. Equally even if the organiser writes all the character briefing material how that character is actually portrayed is to the player’s interpretation of that character (even in a scripted play, a character such as Hamlet can be portrayed differently by different actors).
The question then is how to mediate the interaction between player and organiser which produces the character.
Player written, with organiser approval
In many UK larps players create their own character (perhaps using a point allocation system to define their soft skills or background merits) but have the option to submit a background to the organiser for approval. In some cases the organiser may include elements from the brief in event. It can also be used in a more subtle way, using information about the character’s personality to sculpt situations that will produce dramatic play when they interact with them.The drawback to this approach is it gives the organiser very little control and often they are inclined to accept what the (paying) player has come up with. It results in situations where the characters are ‘random people’ unconnected to the events around them (contrast with films or books, where often the characters are the only people who could have undertaken that particular story). It also limits the ability of players to create interlinked characters, since this only happens if they choose to design characters together. In larger larps this creates situations where IC groups are based around different OC groups.
Another drawback to this approach is that because the amount of written material about the setting and culture is often very limited, characters may be inconsistent and lack common cultural frames of reference.
Organiser written, with player requests
Characters are pre-written by the organiser. Players may be asked to express role preferences (e.g. would you prefer to play a soldier, scientist or prisoner?), interests (e.g. would you prefer investigation or romance based plot?) or list relevant OC skills (e.g. musical ability, understanding of Christian theology) and on that basis players are cast with particular characters where possible.The benefit of this approach is the characters can be written with carefully interlocking elements, either directly (such as a love triangle, or business rivals) or indirectly (such as characters with different opinions on certain issues, which are likely to clash in dramatic ways).
The other benefit of this approach is the work of character creation can be done well in advance, even before a date for the event is set. It also means the character briefs written in a complete format, ready to be reused (including posting on a game bank or supplied to another group).
The drawback to this approach is the concern some players have that they may not enjoy the character they are cast as. Use of casting questionnaires is always limited and it is often not possible to meet everyone’s requests. Some people may also have their likes or limits (such as not enjoying playing ‘villain’ roles, or not being able to play a character that requires use of latex prosthetics). It can also be very time intensive on the part of the organiser.
It is important to remember with this approach that no matter how detailed the character brief, ‘the reader is the maker of meaning’ (as I was taught in school). For example, suppose a character is written as a drug addict. Whether that means they are portrayed in an unwell person showing signs of brain damage or a happy relaxed fun-loving person will depend on the player’s own opinions on drug use.
Other approaches
These approaches represent polar opposites on the spectrum. There are a wide range of other options to consider. Here are a couple of examples:- In the larp Fatherland players expressed their initial role preferences and any particular concept they had in mind. They organisers then sent them six bullet points about their character, defining key features they wanted to include. The players then wrote their own background to include these points, and sent this to the organisers for final approval.
- In the larp Dragonbane an interactive multi-editor system called Nest was set up. Players were sent extensive culture briefs (100+ pages) and based on that gradually wrote their character, answering set questions about them. Each player was assigned a coach to help them with this and make sure the characters were appropriate to the setting. The coaches had the ability to view the whole character database and could establish connections between characters (family ties, love interests, past history, etc) and put the players in touch so they could work out details among themselves.
- In a fantasy campaign larp I play, players write their own character and submit them for approval. However before each game the organisers write a personal brief, telling them what has happened recently, what their superiors have asked them to do, rumours they have heard of other characters, and so on. Much of the plot for the event consists of player characters interacting to resolve issues that derive from these briefs.
There are other approaches can be used in person. An organiser might meet with a player, discuss their concept and play through narrated prelude scenes (perhaps in tabletop format) to insert story hooks into their character (e.g. for a vampire larp playing out the character’s embrace and first presentation). Some of it could be done as a group session or workshop (e.g. getting players playing a particular fantasy race together to develop a different body language, and discuss power relationships between characters as part of that process).
