You’ve decided to create a second character, you’ve mapped out the concept, and you’re ready to set the character loose in a role-playing game.
You have a new personality to explore, new adventures to perceive through a different set of eyes and extra playing time. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? It is exciting – and it’s important to learn how to manage multiple characters.
Pacing Interaction
It’s very easy to get carried away with a new character and devote all your time to developing the person. It’s like meeting a new love and exploring the relationship.
But remember, you need to strike a balance between your firstborn and your second child. Both deserve equal attention, and you shouldn’t favor one over the other. Other players love your first character as much as you did and they still want to see that character in the game.
Striking a good playtime balance between your two characters is smart. Although one or the other may have the spotlight at different times, you still have to write both characters well and keep them interesting.
Distinct Voices
Managing two or more characters requires skills to maintain distinct personalities. Each character has to have a unique voice. Character A should react differently from Character B in any given situation.
For the first few weeks (or even months), you may want to keep characters in individual scenes where they won’t interact with each other until you have a good handle on each of their personalities. Since both characters come from you, it’s very easy to allow similarities to leak from one character to another.
Separate scenes give you the opportunity to clear your mind and get into the second character’s persona without distraction. There may even be days where you find you can’t do it. Certain characters require you to be in a certain mood before you can write them properly.
You may even be switching between genders with your characters or moving between different types of characters. Character A may be a werewolf, while Character B is a vampire. Now you’re dealing with different human personalities, but also additional and distinct character traits as well.
Are you dizzy yet? Storytellers deal with these multiple mind-shifts when switching between half a dozen characters in one day or even within one scene. You can learn to do that too – practice makes perfect, so take it slow.
Start With Basics
It’s a good idea to start with the basics and get to know your character well before you add any supernatural aspects into the mix. You may have plans for your character to go through a First Change or an Embrace. Unless you’re a seasoned player, it’s very difficult to jump into a game with a full-fledged supernatural character. Even pros have a hard time of it. There are so many factors to consider that it’s easy to lose the humanity within the character that makes it so interesting.
Care is the Key
Seasoned players often spend months developing a character before changing them into something more. They plan a transition to a supernatural character carefully. Too soon a change and people think, “So what?”. Wait too long, and everyone thinks, “Sheesh, it’s about time.”
The time is right when you and other players or characters start to care about the individual.
Other characters have had the time to get to know yours and to form opinions and beliefs. They’ve had the opportunity to start to care – or not care. Both have an effect on any major change, and a change adds just the right drama at just the perfect moment.
Introducing a second character can be as fun and as exciting as it was when you introduced your first. Your first character may always have a special place in your heart, but with time and patience, you can make that second character shine too, so enjoy it.
