Forums » Smalltalk » Character genre

Do you ever see a writer and their characters and think "man I really wish I had an oc that fit that genre cause I would love to rp with them" but you don't have a single one? For me I'm always looking at the western ocs think dang that sounds cool they looks so cool but it just isn't my style.

I don't have any standard fantasy characters right now but there's soooo many good fantasy writers around the site. Maybe I'll get back into it one day.

Yes! There are so many good sci-fi characters I would love to play with. Unfortunately, my science fantasy characters stick out like sore magical thumbs against a pure sci-fi backdrop.

I see a lot of roleplays that sound cool, but then require romance and I think to myself.

"Damn, too bad."

Honestly I make so many characters that chances are if it looks interesting I already have a character for it.. or I have one on the drawing board. One of the few positives of Creative ADD!

I do and I don't give a flying one about that, I just approach them anyway regardless if their settings are compatible or not. Seeing how your characters would fare in a world that's completely new to them is some of the most fun subjects you can have on an RP.

Sci-fi! There are several folks here that I think have really fantastic sci-fi characters, but I've never had a strong enough muse to make a sci-fi character that has stuck. I've tried a couple times and they just felt very flat.



Come to the dark western side, fiesch. We have cookies.

This is my fave philosophy! ^v^ Shameless genre mixing and visitor plots and world exploration!

That said, I looove my high-flying tech and magic, and have a cohesive setting most of my critters work in that defines them a lot, so I kinda get the "Wow I really wish I had someone who fit this better because it looks so cool!" for low/no-magic or low tech settings. That said, I've been routinely surprised by what has worked out amazingly well in settings like that. Just gotta make sure not that a pouch of flashy tools or a repertoire of spells provides interesting rather than trivializing solutions to problems, and being VERY aware of a the limits a character and their tools have.

Current personal fave mix is introducing flashy evocations and similar wizardry into a setting with more subtle and occultish magic. ^v^

I don’t, but I see people come to me saying it lol. I have rps ranging from sci-fi, to western, to 80s neon nior and other more off the wall ideas. Almost every time someone is like, damn, this sounds amazing but I don’t have a character for it.

My answer, stop taking them too seriously and canon and what not. I am totally fine with you using a character, and just whipping up some excuse or alternate version of them that would fit into the world we have made. You don’t even have to add it to their profile just discuss it with me, if it’s a private 1on1, who cares? I had someone who’s character was a fantasy elf but they felt like character/personality wise they fit my RP that took place as a detective on mars, so all we did was get her into a more modern/sci-fi outfit, give her elven race an origins that aligned with her being more or less an alien, and boom we are rping. So long as you are rping with someone that chill, it shouldn’t be too much to just take one of your characters, throw a cowboy hat on them, and go galavanting around the west, have some fun with making alternate character realities like that

Oh GOD, same!

Also a lot of ads for cool-sounding fantasy settings but then it's like "Also it's really dark" or "you can die/it's like Hunger Games" and it's like... All my fantasy characters are meant for lighter stuff, they don't really work in GoT-style things. And I'm way too squeamish about the dark places those things go to put them there either.

Also this one ad broke my heart once. Someone wanted some cool story with a lot of found family, basically my favorite trope besides the five-man band, but then they hit me with the dealbreaker: Everyone has to be around their character's age. I thought, drat, so close... I usually like to play younger characters in found family games.

I actually just threw up an RP a while ago that was fantasy that specifically is meant to be a light headed whimsical adventure because I also have a distaste for all these Witcher/Game of Thrones depressing fantasy worlds now. It’s why I actually stay far away from fantasy because I really do not like that new age vibe people have with it, but I specially created my rps to go against that. It’s a hard sell to some but it’s nice to see some people arnt afraid of just having unapologetic fun and don’t take themselves too seriously

To echo what Churchtuary and Avitrathepheonix said previously, Maybe try reaching out anyway! I know that if someone came to my wanting to find a way for their character to fit into whatever world I was currently advertising I would be happy to see if we could find a good blend. Case in point, I had one where the characters were all western, but a couple people wanted fantasy. As a result a sort of "Weird West" was created that had six shooters against Wendigos. I was so excited to try it out!

Long story short, you lose nothing by giving it a shot. And maybe you find a really great blend that gets both parties out of their comfort zones (in a good way)


XOXO
Cassie

In such circumstances my go to is usually to relate a character I think is closest to the genre or setting and how a few small changes can make them pretty relatable to the person I am writing to. Best example I got is that my most developed fellow is mix of my love for old western movies and old detective flicks, most people however prefer to write in a modern setting and not 1880s to 1920s, so the easiest way to meet them halfway is to toss that bit out the window and have him in the present day. Ultimately it does not change his character much if any and it enables me to write with someone I may not otherwise have written with.

Worst they do when you reach out is say no, it's not as scary as it sounds, they say no you smile and go on your way bouncing over to the next person ^.^ eventually someone says yes and you make a new friend! Being outgoing and interacting with others is hard, but it is worthwhile when you find the folks you really mesh well with.