How do you characterize your Characters? AKA: Inspiration

[Semli]

http://badassoftheweek.com/

[General-shadow]

Try this guy
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/dwightjohnson.html

[Porkolt]

There are ample quirky historical persons, ideologies and organizations to take your inspiration from.

A recent PC of mine for example was based on Talleyrand, a French politician famous for betraying just about everyone he knew. Some of his personality traits helped define the character.

[PlayaCharacter]

Try this guy
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/dwightjohnson.html

Holy shit. Holy shit. Wow.

Back on topic, it's really hard to come up with a good name sometimes, but fortunately, Hollywood is full of screenwriters who have already picked out some good ones. If you're ever running out of inspiration for a character name, go to IMDB, pick a film at random, and surf around until you find both a first and last name suitable for your PC.

[The Old Hack]

For my best characters, I always start out with a bare bones concept that is nonetheless capable of standing alone. I flesh them out during play, making sure that it all fits together logically. Some of the examples I liked best:

Shannon: Fallen paladin who had become a fighter but who decided to try and continue to live by the paladin's code. Failing is barely excusable, giving up is not.

Solace: former slave of drow severely traumatised by her experience who will do anything whatsoever to stay free.

Ulfrin: Abjurer wizard who a long time ago caused vast damage through irresponsible magic use. Captured by other mages who tried to salvage her rather than kill her. Became born-again Mystran determined never to slip up again and to do all she could to mend damage done by magic elsewhere. Accidentally sent to Ymph and the Mythallar instead of the high powered pro her masters had originally intended to send there.

Deirdre: Helmite. Human former support battlemage and veteran from the battlefields of Impiltur, defending her homeland against the uncontrolled necromantic and infernal forces still contaminating large parts of the country. Grabbed by the Mythallar moments before her unit was overrun in an ambush.

Karrin Connell: Hin who was exiled from her home for murder when she killed her sister's brutal and abusive husband. Spent many years on the road ostensibly looking for a new home, actually running from herself. Had her life saved from Mist Raiders by the Duke and his men and decided to stop running and make a stand. Made Ymph her new home and her dream was to end the famine, repaying the Duke the debt she to her mind owed him.

How I make characters that always fail: I find a cool build and decide to try it out. Then I discover I can't get the character to make sense and the build loses its glitter. I stop playing the character. The End. >.>

[Garem]

I like to combine classic books/history and children's movies. Seriously. Awesome philosophical ideas (Cicero, Sun Tzu, Bible stories, Winston Churchill) combined with interesting characters (Lion King, Aladdin, Toy Story... think about how many SWEET characters come from them!).

As for Dwight Johnson, and adding to the craziness of that man's life already, the man died when he was shot and killed while robbing a liquor store in 1971. =(

[AllMYBudgies]

I always begin my concepts with the thought "Wow, that would make a cool gnome!" and start from there. While these characters very often do not stay gnomes, I always attempt to start by at least wanting to roll another gnome..

Mostly, the sources of my inspiration are from real life. Characteristics and personalities that I see while I'm at work, or shopping etc. People that I see every day that I can see personality traits in that I would like to explore through my roleplay. I usually mix this with a Forgotten realms deity somewhere along the line and use that as a basis to fuel character goals and such.

[General-shadow]

My weeks badass is still a kicker
respect

[DangerousDan]

Cool figures from history or literature. For example, Albert Gull was a mix of Ernst Rohm and other militaristic fascist types. Jacques de Villiers was based off the Duke of Buckingham and Jamie Lannister. The Spirit That Sings was a mix of the Uruk Hai, Genghis Khan and Tyler Durden. I find that mixing attributes of several interesting figures, and trying to put your own take on it helps enormously in developing a rounded personality.

[TeufelHunden]

I usually just make a character and they develope as I go.

[Equinox]

I like to look at where in the server needs people. Then I look at what I might want to do there. Usually I find I like to pick a class or have some kind of idea on my classes first so I can build around it in cases such as clerics and monks.

For personalities, many of my pcs tend to be mixtures of films and books. Alignment also factors in for me heavily, for I used it to determine where I might take inspiration from.

And sometimes they just come to me by random thought. Old Man Franco, arugably one of my favourite pc's in my opinion. Was just the result of me thinking one day, "lol it'd be amusing to play an angry old man who flips out and beats the shit out of people with his walking stick".

[TheMacPanther]

Inspiration:
http://wearefyw.com/

... Also a smattering of renaissance Italy.

[SkillFocuspwn]

I look at objects around me and try to think how they would act if they were alive, like speakers or bits of lego.

[A Dark Path]

As silly as this sounds, I have switched the NWN menu music to the old music for the ambiance. During character creation, I stare at the portraits and imagine who they would be. Somehow, the old menu music helps that.

[Egon the Monkey]

A lot of the time, I think what hasn't been done before or what goes against most expectations, and then rule out any ones that are plainly Too Stupid To Work. I will admit several of my characters have been silly concepts, but I've always played them seriously, and anchored them in goals I try to accomplish. I find that if a PC makes me smile when I play them, I stick with them.

Alvin was originally going to be an alchemist Consort who'd be more educated than his Caliphar. He changed to a half-orc when I realised that 1: It would work, as I could still do it with slightly lower INT and CHA, and 2: There's never been a half-orc who achieved a high rank in any surface DM faction. Result, one ambitious, smart, halforc grease-monkey.

Whiskey Bill started as a mechanical challenge of "Could I make a half-decent stealth mage without resorting to Halfling or minmaxing". Yes, if you're willing to take a level in Ranger. I then decided on a background, and thought that a poacher and moonshiner turned Illusionist to hide his illicit doings would make for a fun concept, especially if I could mass-produce booze from Alchemy. Result, one blue-collar wizard with a spear and a penchant for impaling monsters as opposed to invising.

Mister Utucha was my shot at subverting the usual "Me tribal" Chultan concepts, by playing a press-ganged sailor turned merchant who wanted to save his countrymen from poverty and ignorance. His personality was inspired by Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses and the Operative from Serenity in equal parts.