Forums » RP Discussion » Characters and Open VS Closed RPs?

Do you have characters you only ever use in open RP and characters you'd rather keep to closed/planned RP?

I think the only character I really use outside closed RP is Lyam, because he has enough motive to... actually just be anywhere. My other characters have things going on, or would feel out-of-place roaming around on their own. I'm curious if others feel the same?

Since my characters are their own things that aren't really affected by possibly canon-altering events in RPs (meaning, all their RPs are AU versions of them, with lots of room for wild changes), they're all technically able to pop into 'random lolz xD' open RPs without there being the issue of them feeling 'out of place'. That said, since most open RPs have a particular.. well, vibe and higher possibility to go batshit crazy in a matter of a couple of posts, I do think that some of my characters are better suited for those than others based on their personalities.

So far, I've seen that Clickjaw doesn't seem to fare well in open RPs, 'cause it's happened a couple of times that people just don't really know how to react to a monstrosity like that, or, as seen in some Forum Games, don't even bother reading what Click does or has to say. On the other hand, Sprite seems to do rather well in the chaotic no man's land that are open RPs, as her personality allows for her fit into deep, literate and in-depth RPs just as well as slapstick, wildin' open RPs.

At the end of the day, I think it's all up to your preferences. If you feel like pulling a particular OC out of their comfort zone and plopping them in a spot that's at the mercy of a partner who could be just about anyone won't bring you joy, I'd defo not recommend doing it.

I don't have too many characters that are HARD exclusive, and none that are open only, but there are a few who need to be carefully planned around.

The powerful goddess (Ice) with an agenda and drive, as well as the VI network that is sometimes also a bird thing and always knows too much, are plot elements, not really independent characters. If I'm using them I'm probably at least pseudo-GMing or they're giving information to the actual character I'm using so that they find the plot. Kinda opposite, Avi and Sox I just don't feel comfortable putting in most open RPs. I'm not.. opposed to it, just hard to find things where I'm good with putting either of them in the spotlight, I think very much for the kind of "they have stuff going on or would feel out of place" reasons. Avi can go basically anywhere, but it doesn't always feel right even if it's not nonsensical or anything, yunno?

In complete contrast, the powerful goddess (Water) without an agenda and with an... appreciation of vices, who can't intentionally harm people and tends to get easily distracted, is fun to let play. She just wants to explore and meet people (partners, whatever) and have new experiences. Victi, similarly, is an eager adventurer who likes to take risks and do stuff. I'm very careful with them, they're pretty potent and Victi especially has a LOT of tricks in those floofy, zappy tails, but people seem to really like both of them! They're lightly chaotic but can also help get things to happen, they can enable other characters to do cool stuff really well, and they're just FUN! Both are good in most places I feel okay putting them from my experience so far.

Other characters lie in between in terms of how weird they are to fit into stuff. The victim-and-instigator of eldritch horror and the giant psychic Hive-Minded bug are obviously complicated and... actually I should try using the warpriest more, just haven't for whatever reason.

Anyway-anyway, main point, I deffo agree! Not all characters fit into all things. Some just... don't make sense showing up in places, others just don't feel right wandering around, plot-element type characters aren't built for wandering, and some critters are so heccin' weird that things need to be planned out carefully to make them work well so can't just be plopped into stuff easily most of the time.

I have quite a few characters that I use for a closed setting, and most I can use in open settings.

Namely, the ones I don't really use outside of their respective RP are those part of the worldbuilding project I'm working on with my partner-in-crime, SoupGremlin. So that would include Ginger and a couple other demons who are sitting in Draft Mode right now. I find that they don't really mesh well with any other plot/setting aside from the one they were intended for?

Mixie is the lone exception however- She's a bit of a side antagonist in the Nimaverse, and a lot of people have expressed interest in roleplaying with her. For some reason, I find it easier to Isekai her into other settings compared to the other demons. Maybe it's because she isn't as important in the story as the others?

Those are just the closed RPs- the rest of my characters were designed to fit more open settings, and to appeal to just about any genre. Fantasy? Sci-fi? Horror? You name it!


Not every character will do well if you let them outside of the stories/RPs you created them for, and that's okay! It never hurts to play around and see what works and what doesn't.

I tend to create characters for very specific situations or people, if they’re asked for.

However, if I really enjoy the characters and for whatever reason the RP ends, I will wait a period of time to see if that person wants to create something else, but if enough time passes, then I will open them to the public again. The exception to this rule is those deeply, deeply involved in worlds. For these characters, it is very difficult for me to imagine them in any other setting, so I tend not to use them again, outside of that world.

Some of my characters, like Siira, are kind of trapped in their own stories, unable to find themselves in just any given rp. Generally these characters take more planning to get involved into an rp that works with where there at in their lives, and thus open rps are something they generally just don't work for. If I found one, I wouldn't be opposed to including them, that's just rare.

Most, I'd say, are less demanding though. They're generally set up to have back stories, but nothing major in them ties them directly to strings that restrict their ability to be involved in an open rp quite simply. They also generally don't take a lot of planning to work into anything, and have an easy time sliding into an open rp, be it an impromptu adventure, or a casual tavern setting.