Forums » RP Discussion » Help me brainstorm?

Hey! I was hoping there might be someone out there that could help me brainstorm a backstory or plot for this new character of mine. She was a concept that got stuck in my head 'the hairless furry' and I've been putting so much thought into her actual appearance that I have forgotten to think of a history, purpose or just general reason for being. Which makes me really sad. It also doesn't help that I want to keep her pretty average or worried about making her into a cliche.

In my mind, she doesn't feel particularly submissive or dominant, she feels more like a 'go with the flow' type, but doesn't care to be pushed around. If anything, I'm half tempted to say she's a bit lazy. The girl has almost no drive which makes me a bit sad. I want to jazz her up a bit, make her more motivated. Dare I go darker? I've never played a corrupt business woman before. Wouldn't even know where to start. Or maybe she was the assistant to a corrupt company that has either faded into the shadows after being busted or... something.

This is why I'd like to find someone (or someones) to brainstorm with. *Grins* Another thing that keeps popping into my head are zombies. Virus outbreaks. Perhaps I could think of a company based on Resident Evil's Umbrella.

Meh...

My thoughts are all fragmented. I think I know what I want now, but I'm not sure.

I feel a little bad nobody's tried to help you out yet.

First, what sort of setting is your character in? Future, historic, fantasy, scifi, modern, etc?

I'm just going to assume for the sake of simplicity that this is a modern character in a world were humans and furries are just normal.
Appearances can affect characters dramatically. Once you think of your main setting, it's pretty easy to get a basic idea for what your character would/should be like.

If your character is hairless, just think of how hairless cats are treated now-- A lot of people think they're ugly, evil, weird, etc.
It's likely that your character would've been bullied a lot for being different. So your character(who I'm now going to call 'you') may hold resentment to the world for being filled with a bunch of bigots. From there you could figure out what you wanted to do to 'take care of' that resentment. Bottle it up inside and try to prove your worth? Become evil and smite everyone that wronged you?

Or you could completely turn it and take the situation literally, and make yourself weird and odd-- a curiosity-filled character generally meant for comedic purposes.

The other reasons you would have a hairless cat (irl) would be for allergies. So, the cat would be bred for a specific purpose. How would this affect you?
Were YOU bred for a specific purpose? Were you a military experiment, were you a specially-bred test tube baby made for a specific job that requires hairlessness?

Or, did you not start out this way? Did you have hair at one point in time? If so, how did you lose the hair? There are many things that can cause hairloss-- cancer, radiation poisoning/sickness, etc.

Look into reasons why what your character is based on (the hairless cat) exists in the real world, then draw parallels to yourself. This should help you create a basis (if not an entire character sheet) for yourself.

This is the first time I've noticed this discussion. (That's what I get for not browing forums. OTL) And I must say the concept of a hairless furre is very interesting.

Really, I think Quinn covered the whole thing rather amazingly. Though I do have just a little thing to point out; she doesn't have to be evil to be motivated. I have a character who was treated badly because she was different, but instead of doing the same to others she treats everyone else really nicely, so that they don't have to suffer what she did. So just personality-wise, you can get her motivated, give her drive and make her unlazy without having her be evil or corrupt. It's really all whether you feel like playing a good character or a bad character.