Forums » RP Discussion » Character Ethics and You!

How is it that you decide weather or not your character say...leaves a person to die and save themself or try and save that person at the risk of their own life...and how they later justify the action that was taken?

Well... I'll admit to sometimes giving characters a little extra impulse to save people to keep a story going, but usually, it's... basically the character's own choice. Some are just good people. Other might have some important enough (to them, at least) use for the person in danger. Some will leave and hate themselves for it. Some... will leave and quickly forget about it, because they're just that douchey.

*shrugs* I dunno, just seems to come pretty naturally.

I agree with Novalyyn. I think that once you get to know a character, their choice becomes pretty easy. Sometimes you don't know what the decision would be if it didn't come up - just like you can say as much as you want that you would go one way or another, but until it happens you will never know.

Two characters you think are identical in personality can take a situation differently and when it comes up, go with your gut and let them tell you, I'd say.

Ethics are decided when you know your character's influences. How were they reared, and was this example someone one might understand is a good example? What are their religious leanings? How do they view themselves? What trouble do they think they'll be in if they're caught?

From those influences, my main:
*was reared by ethical people who put great stock in their word,
*is in a religion that demands a high regard for the sanctity of life regardless of personal opinion,
*believes his life to be consistently worth less than most others',
*believes himself not above the law, but especially beholden to it because he writes them.

This ensures that in your scenario he'd pretty much have no choice but to try to save the person, even if he didn't like them.

I don't think ethics depend so much on mood as it does all the backstory and internal factors. Mood will just influence how my character appears to be as he does what he believes to be the right thing. He might be scolding that he HAD to perform that duty, or he might be humbled that he had the opportunity to do so.

I tend to try and stick to whether or not it fits the character's nature. *I* might not like it, for example, but I am not going to make a normally nasty character who wouldn't care suddenly grow a heart. There would have to be a motivation - i.e. manipulating them later, or using the life debt to their advantage. But a good-aligned character? That decision to help is a lot easier to make.

How flexible their ethics are would depend a little on species (D they view beings not of their kind as worth saving?), external influences (Is their own survival put at risk by saving your character?) as well as the background influences that Kaji mentioned such as any religious influences, how they were raised and what sort of people they consistently interact with.