Exchange of Realities

A while back, I wrote about the use of character archetypes in writing and gaming. As I’ve said in that article, they’re useful templates, particularly if you’re in a hurry. But the problem with using the same character template over and over is that, if you’re not careful, you might find yourself using the same character over and over. And that’s not quite as much fun. If you’re not careful, your audience is going to start wondering whether the world is slowly being overrun by clones or hivemind shapeshifters or the like—and not only will that throw them out of suspension of disbelief if it’s not the case, but if it is the case, they’re going to get the plot twist way too early.

So how do we avoid making it look like the world is made up of ten people with a whole bunch of different masks without sacrificing our ability to use the archetypes? The answer is simple: we take our archetype characters and find ways to differentiate them from each other.

Photo by lusi

You’ve probably already taken a few steps towards that goal already, by giving the characters distinguishing features by which people can remember them. That’s a great start, but it alone probably isn’t going to be enough.

But fortunately, you know you’ve got archetypes. And in this case, knowing is going to be a pretty hefty fraction of the battle. (Not quite half, though. That’d be too easy.) So—start by picking yourself an archetype, and grab a piece of paper/empty word processor file/equivalent thereof. Now, make a list of the traits that you generally use within that archetype. For an example, I’ll use my “young and rather confused lads tossed into worlds with which they aren’t familiar and looking for a guide”. Common traits: young, generally in the teens or so. Usually male. Definitely unfamiliar with their surroundings. Tendency to latch onto someone who knows the terrain. (All right, we’re done with the self-explanatory ones.) Almost never have dependents. Hair often in a sort of “mop”-style. Usually rather innocent, or at least somewhat naïve.

One thing you can do, if you want to hide your archetype use, is take one of the traits on this list and change, if not subvert, it. For instance, I might set up one of the aforementioned lads with someone who very clearly needs his protection. Not only does that eliminate one of the traits, but it’s going to make additional changes to the characterization. This version of the archetype can’t let himself be paralyzed by indecision, the way the other one can, nor just scrape by with the minimum of skills for getting himself through until he finds an Authority; he has to act, if not for his sake then for his dependent’s, and he needs to adapt to the idea that the consequences of his actions aren’t necessarily going to strike just him.

Another is to find different ways that a given archetype trait can manifest. One Confused Lad might be looking specifically for a parent figure, while another wants more a friend who happens to know how things work and a third doesn’t care about age or personality as long as they’re willing to make the first move. While one member of the archetype could literally have been transported to another world, another might have just acquired powers, another could be coping with the realities of a social class for which he isn’t trained, and still another might be dealing with a disaster causing sweeping social change in its wake.

And last is just to find traits that aren’t governed by the archetype already. Continuing with my example, my archetype doesn’t really specify what kind of setting the character is in, what his hobbies are, what his eventual goals are, and what kinds of skills he does have. So if I start filling those in, it gives me extra detail—and I can use that detail as a smokescreen to hide the fact that this particular Confused Lad has six or seven properties in common with that one who showed up in game a few months ago.

Using these tricks should turn a stable of six or seven characters into a large enough group to look more like a culture, if not a world. Give it a try!

Don’t leave it at this; there are plenty more tips for creating and developing interesting characters on this site.