Okay, so you've decided to take the plunge and give role playing games a try.

What now?

One of the first things you'll be asked to do is to create a character. Your character is your alter ego in the game world. You can think of your character as one of the main characters in an ensemble television show. Each character is interesting in their own way, and each episode usually features one or more of the characters.

In a game, your character is the way you interact with what's happening. Your character doesn't have to be like you! Role playing is a great excuse to act like someone else for a change.

Every gaming system will have a different set of numbers that describe characters, so I won't talk about the numbers here. Instead, let's talk about what makes a good character.

A Good Character Is Interesting

New role players are sometimes unsure about how everything works, and may have a tendency to create a character that blends into the background, so as to not attract notice. Remember that your character is one of the main characters in the story!

Would you want to read a story where the main character was dull?

To make your character interesting, give her a personality. Come up with some behaviors that she usually does, or catch phrases she likes. Maybe she always announces, "I just about peed my pants" after she was frightened (suitable for a horror game). Or maybe she doesn't like to be touched, and anyone laying a finger on her will hear her softly say, "Do you want that back?" If you are naturally quiet in Real Life, then go for outrageous in your character.

Another useful technique is to remember a fictional character you really enjoyed reading about, and take some personality traits for your character. Having that model of the fictional character as a guide will help you know what your character would do.

Don't be afraid to play a stupid character. Some of my most interesting characters have been the ones with the lowest intelligence. You have a great excuse to do any number of truly funny (and often dangerous) things simply because your character wouldn't know better. Your fellow players may complain, or they may applaud, but if that's what your character would do, go for it.

Quirky Is Good

The most memorable characters are those who are, well, a bit odd.

Giving your character some sort of quirkiness helps to make her more three dimensional. This goes along with creating an interesting character, but is worth mentioning again. Let your character be irrational about something.

There's nothing more boring than a character that always makes all the right decisions. A character's quirkiness will, occasionally, lead her into making the wrong decisions as far as the game is concerned. A character with an irrational fear of spiders will probably have a lot of trouble when trying to sneak through the temple of the Spider god (where, of course, tiny spiders are revered).

Invent A Background

Every character has a history and back story, the tale of how they ended up at the start of the adventure. Create at least a general outline of that story for your character.

Knowing your character's history helps you to know how they'll react to in-game events. Was your character orphaned due to a bandit attack? When the GM tries to get your group to join a bandit group, your character is probably going to cause a bit of trouble. Make sure you share your history with your GM, so she's not surprised!

Everyone Needs A Goal

Every character should have something that they are striving to accomplish. It could be something simple, or something grand. Goals give dimension to your character, and are an additional help for figuring out what your character would do in different situations.

Try to stay away from simple goals, like a thief who wants to be rich. Make your character's goals interesting! Perhaps the thief wants to collect all the jade frogs in the realm, and goes out of her way to steal them where ever she finds them.

Play Your Character

When you've created a character, don't be afraid to play her as she is. Some players are reluctant to do anything that detracts from the main goal of the adventure. But the best comedy and drama is found in those characters whose personalities clash with the adventure goal, in ways small or large.

Role playing is not about solving the adventure, it's about being someone else for a time in a different setting. So create a fun character, put her into the mix of other characters and the adventure, and see what happens!