User Blog:
Your Character and You: Hobbying

 Have you ever found yourself reading a novel and all of the sudden, a character says something like this:

"Why you know, George, you might have a better time getting the girl if you just knew more about subzero knitting techniques. Would you like me to tell you about them?"

I can tell you exactly how that happened. On the day that the writer was putting fingers to keyboard they just so happened to be reading a article in Knitting Today on knitting in the artic and decided it’s just so cool a topic that it just had to go in his newest book. In the writing world, we call that hobbying, when a writer includes facts on a topic or gives their characters a hobby their own interest.

There are writers who can sneak in a personal hobby or two well, but most don't which is why we're told not to do it.

When it comes to your character in a roleplaying game, please ignore this entirely. Giving your character a hobby, either one you share or else a new one you researched specifically for your character is a great way to give them some life. Once again, what you're looking for here is the feeling that your character lives and exists outside of the vaccume of the game they're being played in.

Another nice thing is that in almost any setting or genre of game, there's something your character might do to occupy his time with. Does your fantasy character enjoy regional pottery? Is your character in the a futuristic setting enjoy amateur surveillance techniques not as a profession but because it bides his time? Maybe your modern character started collecting snow globes as a child and now has quite an impressive collection of them.

Here's some bits of advice to go along with creating a hobby for you character.

• Mind the self insertion: If you're into art from the Sukhothai period of in Thailand's history, that might be a reasonable thing for your character to also be interested in, but make sure there's a clear line between the two of you and that such an interest makes sense. After all, you roleplay to try out new characters and new ways of thinking. A character who is supposed to be different than you but shares all of your interests isn't much of a challenge to play and can sometimes be a little creepy.
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