I'm currently making a fantasy character, and she's a part elf tiefling. When I've made the character in other contexts the general idea is that she likes nature and lives out there, but this is adapting a concept of a character I've never actually gotten to rp with before.
I'd really appreciate some more experienced fantasy RPers to lend some ideas or knowledge about general fantasy that could fit my character!
I'd really appreciate some more experienced fantasy RPers to lend some ideas or knowledge about general fantasy that could fit my character!
Hi there!
Hm... interesting question. Well, here's some questions back at you!
Those are just some ideas I think of when creating a fantasy character. Let me know if you need more!
Hm... interesting question. Well, here's some questions back at you!
- Does she have magic? What kind?
- Is there any internal conflict about being a tiefling/elf hybrid? Is she on good terms with both parents?
- What will be her profession? Adventurer, herb-gatherer, potion maker?
- What's her fantasy class? Druid, bard, rogue, etc.
- What's her fantasy alignment? Lawful, chaotic, neutral? Good, evil, neutral?
- Does she have any animal companions?
Those are just some ideas I think of when creating a fantasy character. Let me know if you need more!
Bananasaurus wrote:
Hi there!
Hm... interesting question. Well, here's some questions back at you!
Those are just some ideas I think of when creating a fantasy character. Let me know if you need more!
Hm... interesting question. Well, here's some questions back at you!
- Does she have magic? What kind?
- Is there any internal conflict about being a tiefling/elf hybrid? Is she on good terms with both parents?
- What will be her profession? Adventurer, herb-gatherer, potion maker?
- What's her fantasy class? Druid, bard, rogue, etc.
- What's her fantasy alignment? Lawful, chaotic, neutral? Good, evil, neutral?
- Does she have any animal companions?
Those are just some ideas I think of when creating a fantasy character. Let me know if you need more!
I'll be honest I'm not much familiar with elves and even less familiar with tieflings, so I don't know what flavour of conflict that could give.
I think with magic she wants to learn but isn't very good at it and doesn't use varied amounts of it besides maybe like a spell or two here and there.
I think for a profession either not having one and living in the wilderness, but a herb gatherer or adventurer could work well for her. I also have no idea for class, alignment or companions. But otherwise thank you for giving me these ideas to think about!
Sorry, my excuses right away, but I can’t just pass over this thread and not answer..
Every time you guys talk about fantasy, you see elven and dragons and magic. Yes that’s absolutely true. But not only…
When I see fantasy, I see imagination and letting that one go. Fantaisie, French word for imagination without limits. Fantaisie enfantine, or what a child can imagine.
Let your imagination free, don’t limit it, you want to write about the sheep with five legs, do it. You want a rolling furball that noms magic flowers, let it roll.
You want an elven, give it ears that grow when he lies… who cares. Answer Banansaurusses questions all with ‘yes’, do it.
Fantasy, unrealistic, impossible, unbelievable, but only if you limit yourself to the rules. Break them and your elf will be what you want, no physics, no mathematics, no laws, fantasy.
I hope I got a sparkle of imagination from you.
And again sorry for the “out of topic”, you may ask to delete this
Every time you guys talk about fantasy, you see elven and dragons and magic. Yes that’s absolutely true. But not only…
When I see fantasy, I see imagination and letting that one go. Fantaisie, French word for imagination without limits. Fantaisie enfantine, or what a child can imagine.
Let your imagination free, don’t limit it, you want to write about the sheep with five legs, do it. You want a rolling furball that noms magic flowers, let it roll.
You want an elven, give it ears that grow when he lies… who cares. Answer Banansaurusses questions all with ‘yes’, do it.
Fantasy, unrealistic, impossible, unbelievable, but only if you limit yourself to the rules. Break them and your elf will be what you want, no physics, no mathematics, no laws, fantasy.
I hope I got a sparkle of imagination from you.
And again sorry for the “out of topic”, you may ask to delete this
Hi there, hello, I love fantasy (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ It's such a varied genre, and you can really do anything with it - that's the good part!
You say "general" fantasy, but it sounds to me like you're already leaning pretty heavily toward a medieval Forgotten Realms/D&D style version. In which case, the whole wide Forgotten Realms wiki is there to mine for inspiration!
She doesn't necessarily need a class or alignment, per se, that's a rather game-y approach (1). But considering her day to day life (why did she choose that kind of life? Did she have a real choice in the matter? What does that say about the general state of the world?), and her morality, is of course pretty essential.
If for the surface aesthetics, go ham; I don't actually think you need to put much more thought into it than that. It can for sure be a really fun worldbuilding exercise, but if her parentage/origin isn't relevant to the kinds of stories you want to tell with her, I actually don't think it's terribly important to get deep in the weeds here.
If you do want to go a little deeper, I highly recommend you either look to an established universe of your choice for inspiration. Elves (my beloved!) are incredibly varied; Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, The Forgotten Realms and Warhammer all do them very differently. Basically, if anyone tries to tell you that there is a "right" way, they're wrong (～￣▽￣)～
But you don't need to look to established lore, because - there isn't one. There isn't One Fantasy Lore. So think about what "elf" and "tiefling" (2) means to you. Why did you pick them in the first place?
Basically, if you already know what your character is like as a person - and it sounds like you do, since you say you're adapting her, not creating her from scratch - then the fantasy bit is all a bit of worldbuilding (3). I do encourage you to maybe have a rough definition of the kind of fantasy world you imagine she lives in, as a standard. What's the level of technology and magic; what are the surface politics of the place she lives? How do they affect her?
You say "general" fantasy, but it sounds to me like you're already leaning pretty heavily toward a medieval Forgotten Realms/D&D style version. In which case, the whole wide Forgotten Realms wiki is there to mine for inspiration!
She doesn't necessarily need a class or alignment, per se, that's a rather game-y approach (1). But considering her day to day life (why did she choose that kind of life? Did she have a real choice in the matter? What does that say about the general state of the world?), and her morality, is of course pretty essential.
Mostyn wrote:
I'm not much familiar with elves and even less familiar with tieflings, so I don't know what flavour of conflict that could give.
If you do want to go a little deeper, I highly recommend you either look to an established universe of your choice for inspiration. Elves (my beloved!) are incredibly varied; Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, The Forgotten Realms and Warhammer all do them very differently. Basically, if anyone tries to tell you that there is a "right" way, they're wrong (～￣▽￣)～
But you don't need to look to established lore, because - there isn't one. There isn't One Fantasy Lore. So think about what "elf" and "tiefling" (2) means to you. Why did you pick them in the first place?
Basically, if you already know what your character is like as a person - and it sounds like you do, since you say you're adapting her, not creating her from scratch - then the fantasy bit is all a bit of worldbuilding (3). I do encourage you to maybe have a rough definition of the kind of fantasy world you imagine she lives in, as a standard. What's the level of technology and magic; what are the surface politics of the place she lives? How do they affect her?
(1) Of course, if she is being made for a game system, you do need to consider what the game asks of you.
(2) Fun fact, the physical characteristics of tieflings in D&D weren't set in stone at first; you rolled on a d100 table to see what you got. They were only solidified around 2nd edition, when they decided they wanted to sell more miniatures.
(3) Just the world around her, for starters; you don't need to invent a planet. And hey, there's always putting her wholesale into an already existing setting, in which case "all" you need to do is read up on it a little.
(2) Fun fact, the physical characteristics of tieflings in D&D weren't set in stone at first; you rolled on a d100 table to see what you got. They were only solidified around 2nd edition, when they decided they wanted to sell more miniatures.
(3) Just the world around her, for starters; you don't need to invent a planet. And hey, there's always putting her wholesale into an already existing setting, in which case "all" you need to do is read up on it a little.
Thank you all for the food for thought!
I think I'm starting to get a sense of what I'll do for the character, which pops up even more questions for me to answer for myself!
My current line of thought is that I can put her in the forest as her having been abandoned there, with potentially a woodland spirit taking the role of a caretaker (maybe some sort of fae if I want my character to be smart with words?)
And then sprinkle in some sort of parental conflict with her father potentially being some sort of noble elf of sorts who didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of a tiefling daughter. I think I've got a lot more for the character now so thank you all for lending a helping hand!
I think I'm starting to get a sense of what I'll do for the character, which pops up even more questions for me to answer for myself!
My current line of thought is that I can put her in the forest as her having been abandoned there, with potentially a woodland spirit taking the role of a caretaker (maybe some sort of fae if I want my character to be smart with words?)
And then sprinkle in some sort of parental conflict with her father potentially being some sort of noble elf of sorts who didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of a tiefling daughter. I think I've got a lot more for the character now so thank you all for lending a helping hand!
Mostyn wrote:
My current line of thought is that I can put her in the forest as her having been abandoned there, with potentially a woodland spirit taking the role of a caretaker (maybe some sort of fae if I want my character to be smart with words?)
And then sprinkle in some sort of parental conflict with her father potentially being some sort of noble elf of sorts who didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of a tiefling daughter. I think I've got a lot more for the character now so thank you all for lending a helping hand!
And then sprinkle in some sort of parental conflict with her father potentially being some sort of noble elf of sorts who didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of a tiefling daughter. I think I've got a lot more for the character now so thank you all for lending a helping hand!
Oh see, you have some really good bones there. Let me empty a wheelbarrow of questions on you; ignore them or engage with them however you like!
Who was she abandoned by? Like who physically left her there? If her father didn't want to acknowledge her, is he responsible for this course of action, or was it her mother who left her in the forest out of desperation; grief; a perceived inability to raise a child as a single parent? Who is the woodland spirit who raises her instead, and why do they make that choice?
How does your character find out who her father even is?
Why is it embarrassing to have a tiefling daughter? Is it a miscegenation issue (which implies some pretty horrible things about the world she lives in), or an upper/lower class issue? If a class issue, why are elves perceived as superior to tieflings?
If you don't want it to be a fantasy racism background story, then make it about her father's family name instead. An illegitimate child born out of wedlock to an aristocrat. This also implies a ton of stuff about the world that she lives in.
Cheers, I hope you have fun with her!
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