Post by Flutter (Frosty) on Aug 19, 2011 20:40:56 GMT -5
We all come across this problem eventually when we have literally RP'd for years- donkey's years if your characters have created offspring. Yugi and I had a discussion a few weeks ago on the topic of character aging- neither of us ever wanted our characters to be 'old' in particular, so I decided to write this up as a "Hey, this could be helpful!"
Here are a few theories on aging your characters that could explain away why they haven't aged, or why they aged so freaking quickly. -guilty of all of that-
Linear Aging
LA
LA is basically what humans do- we all eventually turn 30/40/50 on up, following days, weeks, months, and years. If you were to keep this in effect during an RP plot (that can sometimes take months or years to finish), your character could go from 16 years old to 18 years old in one roleplay. I've seriously seen people do this before. Characters RP'd with Linear Aging will always have a set age, and age one year on their birthdays. The plus side with Linear Aging is that you can have a character in their prime adventuring years for twenty to thirty years; however you're stuck RP'ing children for a very freaking long time.
LA characters will find that there are very few others like them- while they grow and develop over a very long period of time, most people say "forget that, no one RP's that way!". It's a favourite amongst writers, and for a while was very popular amongst RP'ers.
Famous Example:
Harry Potter, though there was a bit of suspended aging while JK Rowling took a break to raise her children.
SLA
Suspended Linear Aging, however, would mean that while your character ages outside of the RP you're currently in, you ensure during the RP to mark off days/weeks (or if you're absolutely insane, five pages of RP in one 'day', but who does that pffffft). This is oftentimes the most used form of aging characters.
Famous Example:
Kinsey Mallone, the PI in the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton. Twenty-six novels take place over about four years, but the novels began in the 80's.
Non-Linear Aging
NLA
Non-Linear Aging is close to SLA, however you can age your characters however the heck you want, because dang it they're your characters. I use this, personally, which is how Ange isn't in her mid thirties. NLA means your characters do not have set ages (I have two characters with defined ages- Pechavi and Xenavane, for developmental purposes- who knows how old Kraahi is though?), but rather RP in a certain age group (Child-Teenager-Adult-Middle Age-Elderly).
The plus side of NLA is pretty obvious- you can RP your characters in the same age group for eons, or move them up/down if you feel the need to. It's a useful tactic if you're RP'ing something from the past, but it's pretty difficult if you don't have a clue as to how far back in the past you've gone. Also, it can be difficult to place when, in the character's lifetime, they had offspring (if any) and how mature the character might be.
Famous Example:
This technique isn't used among novelists. YET -dun dun dun-
But I use it all the time, does that count? D:
Immortality
(no shorthand, stop being lazy)
Immortality has long been used by RP'ers to explain away why their character doesn't age, doesn't die, doesn't whatever. It is, quite possibly and almost inexplicably, the most difficult way to explain a character's existence. I actually stopped using it a while back, instead falling back on NLA with partial immortality as most of my characters are demons/faeries. However, marking my characters as 'totally immortal' would totally break off any chance of me ever killing them off. While I have no plans of doing this again anytime soon, what if I no longer want Sorrov to be part of my plot? Choosing immortality as an aging tool rarely, if ever, is a good idea for an entire plot line.
Example: Ance is 'partly immortal' as she can die, but tends to come back in another form. She's done it twice, and both times was because I was sick of her design and decided it was a neat way to change it
Immortality is different from NLA in mainly one fact: Immortality would seriously suck. Not just in a "I have no birthday" sort of suck- what if only the one character was immortal? Eventually, the other characters would die, leaving them alone. As they got older, time would go by faster and eventually so fast that there would be no time left to make connections. While RP'ing allows us for suspended disbelief, sometimes our choices for characters can wind up with incredibly depressing results. Also, immortality in the long run means your character doesn't react to outside stimuli and in the end, is exactly the same as the day you created them. Fun, right? </sarcasm>
Partial Immortality, as I've mentioned in my example with Ance, is NOT an aging choice, it's a character concept. PI characters can change and grow, but aren't affected by the same plight as characters in the Immortal aging bracket.
Famous Examples:
Dracula, anyone? Though romanticised constantly, Dracula is totally unable to make a connection with another creature.
FAQ
What if I want my characters to be immortal?
I advise against it; your characters will still change and grow unless you have an awesome concept of the idea. They would be 'fake' immortal and we would talk behind your back about it. No, really.
Wait, LA/SLA/NLA? Huh?
Acronyms.
Why would I choose PI for my character if I can just age them willy-nilly with NLA?
Because it's fun :B You can still age your character willy-nilly with growth and development, however you don't break any serious godmode rules if your character has a few powers on the side. PI characters can do things other characters can't- like drink themselves stupid to the point where others might need a stomach pump, or take several bullets to their bodies without needing serious medical care. You'll need to set a limit, though, because everyone has their limits. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.
admittedly I suck at making up questions so if you ladies think I need to add anything, let me know XDD
Here are a few theories on aging your characters that could explain away why they haven't aged, or why they aged so freaking quickly. -guilty of all of that-
Linear Aging
LA
LA is basically what humans do- we all eventually turn 30/40/50 on up, following days, weeks, months, and years. If you were to keep this in effect during an RP plot (that can sometimes take months or years to finish), your character could go from 16 years old to 18 years old in one roleplay. I've seriously seen people do this before. Characters RP'd with Linear Aging will always have a set age, and age one year on their birthdays. The plus side with Linear Aging is that you can have a character in their prime adventuring years for twenty to thirty years; however you're stuck RP'ing children for a very freaking long time.
LA characters will find that there are very few others like them- while they grow and develop over a very long period of time, most people say "forget that, no one RP's that way!". It's a favourite amongst writers, and for a while was very popular amongst RP'ers.
Famous Example:
Harry Potter, though there was a bit of suspended aging while JK Rowling took a break to raise her children.
SLA
Suspended Linear Aging, however, would mean that while your character ages outside of the RP you're currently in, you ensure during the RP to mark off days/weeks (or if you're absolutely insane, five pages of RP in one 'day', but who does that pffffft). This is oftentimes the most used form of aging characters.
Famous Example:
Kinsey Mallone, the PI in the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton. Twenty-six novels take place over about four years, but the novels began in the 80's.
Non-Linear Aging
NLA
Non-Linear Aging is close to SLA, however you can age your characters however the heck you want, because dang it they're your characters. I use this, personally, which is how Ange isn't in her mid thirties. NLA means your characters do not have set ages (I have two characters with defined ages- Pechavi and Xenavane, for developmental purposes- who knows how old Kraahi is though?), but rather RP in a certain age group (Child-Teenager-Adult-Middle Age-Elderly).
The plus side of NLA is pretty obvious- you can RP your characters in the same age group for eons, or move them up/down if you feel the need to. It's a useful tactic if you're RP'ing something from the past, but it's pretty difficult if you don't have a clue as to how far back in the past you've gone. Also, it can be difficult to place when, in the character's lifetime, they had offspring (if any) and how mature the character might be.
Famous Example:
This technique isn't used among novelists. YET -dun dun dun-
But I use it all the time, does that count? D:
Immortality
(no shorthand, stop being lazy)
Immortality has long been used by RP'ers to explain away why their character doesn't age, doesn't die, doesn't whatever. It is, quite possibly and almost inexplicably, the most difficult way to explain a character's existence. I actually stopped using it a while back, instead falling back on NLA with partial immortality as most of my characters are demons/faeries. However, marking my characters as 'totally immortal' would totally break off any chance of me ever killing them off. While I have no plans of doing this again anytime soon, what if I no longer want Sorrov to be part of my plot? Choosing immortality as an aging tool rarely, if ever, is a good idea for an entire plot line.
Example: Ance is 'partly immortal' as she can die, but tends to come back in another form. She's done it twice, and both times was because I was sick of her design and decided it was a neat way to change it
Immortality is different from NLA in mainly one fact: Immortality would seriously suck. Not just in a "I have no birthday" sort of suck- what if only the one character was immortal? Eventually, the other characters would die, leaving them alone. As they got older, time would go by faster and eventually so fast that there would be no time left to make connections. While RP'ing allows us for suspended disbelief, sometimes our choices for characters can wind up with incredibly depressing results. Also, immortality in the long run means your character doesn't react to outside stimuli and in the end, is exactly the same as the day you created them. Fun, right? </sarcasm>
Partial Immortality, as I've mentioned in my example with Ance, is NOT an aging choice, it's a character concept. PI characters can change and grow, but aren't affected by the same plight as characters in the Immortal aging bracket.
Famous Examples:
Dracula, anyone? Though romanticised constantly, Dracula is totally unable to make a connection with another creature.
FAQ
What if I want my characters to be immortal?
I advise against it; your characters will still change and grow unless you have an awesome concept of the idea. They would be 'fake' immortal and we would talk behind your back about it. No, really.
Wait, LA/SLA/NLA? Huh?
Acronyms.
Why would I choose PI for my character if I can just age them willy-nilly with NLA?
Because it's fun :B You can still age your character willy-nilly with growth and development, however you don't break any serious godmode rules if your character has a few powers on the side. PI characters can do things other characters can't- like drink themselves stupid to the point where others might need a stomach pump, or take several bullets to their bodies without needing serious medical care. You'll need to set a limit, though, because everyone has their limits. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.
admittedly I suck at making up questions so if you ladies think I need to add anything, let me know XDD