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Writer's pictureAryellas Darkbloom

Who am I? Character Creation

Updated: Dec 2, 2023

Creating a LARP character can be a daunting and overwhelming task, especially for the beginner (or if you can't make up your mind, like me). I’d like to make that easier for you! Hopefully this article gives you an idea of how to portray your LARP character for their stay in Dawn Lands. Time to backstab those feels! You simply (ha!) need to design your character so that they fit in Dawn Lands: its settings, its lore, and the game system. It is important that you take the time to read about the playable cultures found in the Dawn Lands and start there! There are classic fantasy races like elves, dwarves, and fae - along with some you may not be familiar with. All the information concerning the culture that you pick will be on the website. As you look around, please keep in mind that some cultures have restrictions while others will have special abilities.


How does your character fit into the lore of Dawn Lands? How does the specific culture you chose fit in the world? The answer to those questions will help guide your roleplay, identify what quirks you might have, rivalries, and who your allies might be. Understanding the basic culture lore will help you create a character that you enjoy playing - or you might decide to go with something you hadn’t even considered! Fae are the best tho. Just sayin’. After you’ve decided upon your culture, you’ll want to pick what your character does in game - aka your class. Do you want to be a fighter? Rogue? Ranger? Wizard? Depending on what you want to do here, you will get certain abilities that other players of a different class won't have. Again, be sure to read what each class entails before you make your final decision. Your culture and class will have a lot of influence on what you’ll do in Dawn Lands and at events. This can help you decide where you want to perform well (fighter, healer, caster), what will make you feel useful to your party or other players, and will help set up your reputation. And yes, reputation matters. Like, others think I just wanna steal everything, but that’s simply not true! Oh, weapon choice matters here as well - so if your heart is set to using a two handed sword, you’ll need to pick a culture and class that will let you do so. I have always had trouble coming up with names for characters and you might be the same. I often ask more creative friends to help me or check out name generators. Like this one: https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/


Questions you may have or some that you’ll want to figure out:

  • How do I create a LARP character?

  • What do I have to consider for my first LARP?

  • How do I play my character convincingly?

  • What belongs to my character's equipment and outfit?

  • How does participation in the Dawn Lands work?

To create your character, think about who you want to embody. It helps if you can create answers for their persona and their history. But, it’s ok if you don’t know everything yet - characters aren’t static - they can change over time and answers will reveal themselves to you as you experience the LARP events.


Some of the most common things to consider are:

  • What gender is my character?

  • Where does my character come from? What is their backstory? Where were they born?

  • What was their childhood like? How did they get to their first adventure?

  • What language do they speak? What culture do they belong to?

  • How do they interact/socialize with other player characters? Are they open minded? Or skeptical? Are they introverted or extroverted?

  • What does your character hope to achieve or learn during their adventuring?

  • What is their personal outlook? Are they lawful good? Chaotic good? Neutral? Evil?

  • What are their biggest internal and external conflicts? Any trauma?

  • Does your character follow a deity? Which one? How will that effect play?

  • What are your character's strengths? What can they do very well? What do they love to do?

  • What are your character's weaknesses?

  • Is there anything that is important to your character? What do they hold dear?

  • Does your character prefer to be alone or part of a group?

  • What would you like for your character to physically look like? Think about: dress style, hairstyle, scars, piercings, things they always have on person. You’ll want others to recognize you as your character.

  • Can they use magic? If not, how do they feel about magic users?

  • Do they hold any secrets?


For some of the more subtle details (which are more important that one might think), consider your body language - what actions might your character take while talking with someone or dealing with an encounter? Do they look down when talking to someone? Do they do the knuckle and neck cracks to ready themselves for battle? Maybe they fidget with their dagger before an encounter or hike their skirt up when walking outside. Your character will probably interact with others differently depending on their backstory - maybe they are friendly towards small folk, but hide their coin purses around goblins. These questions and ideas are just a starting point. It’s ok if you don’t go into depth with any of them, as you can find answers through playing your character. Your backstory doesn’t need to be a chapter book - but it will help with interacting and building relationships with other players, knowing your characters motivations, and how they would react during questing. It’s not necessary that you share your backstory with others - they are for you to build up and understand your character's personality, motivations, and any biases. Think of it as the why behind your character. Your character will keep growing, so remember that this will allow you to fine tune your role or even come up with new ideas. Hopefully this little guide helped answer some of your questions and helped you come up with some questions on your own, so that you can bring your character to life.




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