Interlinked characters

[Ulysses]

So far my characters have never met. I think that that is probably true for most people and I see good reason behind that: if we wanted to control all the interactions of our characters we might as well all write our own novels [spoiler: no one would read mine].

However, I have an idea for a pair of characters (for the new time line at this rate; I know there are no details yet, but the details aren't important), where they are both shaped by the same event but come out with completely different outlooks.

The reason for committing two character slots to this project would be (a) I think they would both make interesting characters in their own right, and (b) I don't want one of them to be the "main" one and the other relegated to a flat NPC existence.

Has anyone got experience of doing this? Any hints/tips/other thoughts?

 

[Loco]

Last TL all of my mandos were part of the same extended family. It works fine if you dedicate yourself to playing each of them as an individual, and not as part if a hive mind- that's usually hardest to do in combat, but it still applies somewhat to any stressful situation. It's like playing chess against yourself sometimes, but it's very interesting and different from the average solo character experience.

 

[Gamov]

My first two characters on the site right after I joined were interlinked. I basically played on the Han/Chewie dynamic by playing a smart-ass smuggler type whose foil was your more stereotypical "strong but silent" type. I had fun playing them in the same threads together because it allowed me to explore two entirely different mindsets and reactions to any given situation. It kept things fresh and entertaining, especially when my writing partners suddenly found themselves sans my chattier smuggler, and relegated to interacting with my less than sociable Dashade.

Overall though, the only advice I could give, which you seem to have realized yourself, would be not to make the characters the same. They can experience the same events together, but drawing a clear distinction between how those events effect them (and how those effects play into the nature of their relationship) is paramount to justifying the existence of either character as their own character.

 

[Dread]

Overall though, the only advice I could give, which you seem to have realized yourself, would be not to make the characters the same. They can experience the same events together, but drawing a clear distinction between how those events effect them (and how those effects play into the nature of their relationship) is paramount to justifying the existence of either character as their own character.

This is great advice. :3

My Moff and Sith are father and daughter. I've had great success finding threads and creating (probably too many) arcs with both. They have wildly different personalities and only share blood and the same goal. Even then, they go after the goal for different reasons.

 

[Undine]

Interlinked characters can be very rewarding and open a lot of possibilities within a given story arc, where one character might interact with a situation in one way another could interact in a completely different manner, having both characters interacting in a given situation at the same time can lead to either a compromise or something entirely different, translation: two paths within the story arc merge to create a new third option.

Every character is different, and the way roleplaying on this site works it allows each of us to explore the individual stories of individual characters, when multiple characters come together, all with different motives and personalities, new stories are forged. My only real advice would be to make sure both characters actively maintain interaction with other characters, otherwise you could get burnout on their individual stories, in this instance a third character would allow you to take a break so to speak, which is very helpful.​