All the World’s a Stage: Ending your character

One of the hardest lessons for any roleplayer is understanding when the story is finished. The tale’s been told, the game is over, and it’s time to quietly move forward. Maybe you’re just tired of the character, or maybe you’ve achieved ultimate power, been reunited with your lover, found the secret of your father’s death, and had scores of babies. Whatever the circumstances, you’re basically getting the hint that it’s time to move on from a character.

Not every roleplay style encourages a character to end. If you’re in a troupe who practices immersion roleplay, using your character as an escapist release, then you may never need to walk away from your character. For that matter, it’s fair to say that World of Warcraft itself discourages rerolling — after all, there’s always more levels, more gear, more adventures. If you are a raider, then your character may play a vital role in your guild’s raid composition. That certainly gives you a pretty good reason to not drop the character story.

But, in terms of pure roleplay, there are some pretty clear and obvious signs that it’s time for you to put down the character. If you find yourself getting emotionally invested in the character, to such a degree that you’re losing sleep or that your health is being affected, then it’s clearly time for you to start a new character. If you are having trouble finding new story ideas and new directions, then maybe a change of pace is just what the doctor ordered.

Continue reading All the World’s a Stage: Ending your character

Filed under: All the World’s a Stage (Roleplaying)