Roleplaying Children

[Myra Arceneau Dashiell]

I know I'm a big advocate of such, but I am curious about who else enjoys roleplaying kids. I think it is definitely a neat frame of thought to roleplay; definitely a way to push a writer into trying something new.

For those who do play kids, just a few questions:

At what age do you typically start off to roleplay?
How fast do you age them?
Do you go in preplanning how they will be or decide to get a feel for them as they roleplay with others?
What's the one kid character that you really enjoyed roleplaying?

For those who do not roleplay kids:

Why not?
Do you think you'd like to try?

 

[Darth Imperia]

Hiya!
I don't play kids. For two simple reasons, too -
I can't get into the headspace of a child, I simply can't think like one.
Most of my characters, whether good, evil, or somewhere inbetween, have a tendency towards violence. Combat is something I enjoy, and RPing a child would (understandably) make that uncomfortable.

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Myra Elspeth"]

My first Character on Chaos started at the mere age of Nine; others had warned me that it would be challenging where as aspects such as character development and progression through training was considered though I found the youthful and inquisitive nature of the character to be quite entertaining.

Sadly it wasn't the age of the character that resulted in my putting them aside but rather how difficult I found it to fit into the current faction that I had wished for, at the time I knew few very people and didn't know where to turn for assistance.

The Characters name was Karrus Zorathi (9) who also had an older brother Zarack Zorathi (16), whom I played. I would definitely consider playing another young character, perhaps even younger than Karrus was, with the right background and company to adequately do so.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

No.

I find children narratively uninteresting to write. Further, in a forum situation there's going to be inevitable time lapses to jump them forward to a more appropriate age. I don't like time jumps unless they're somewhat matched with real time.

 

[Zef Halo]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] - The Master of Children characters.

 

[Ellie Mors]

The most interesting age for writing a character, for me, is late teens & early twenties. Probably because I'm in my early twenties.

As for aging, I would probably go the same with all of my characters - if they are tied into another character, age as they do. If not, then FOREVER21 whenever it's necessary. You used to make fun of me for not aging.

And pre-planning? I just make things up and throw things at a wall until they stick. i.e; every character I have ever written was done so at random. example: Lisette was a punk because I happened to be listening to punk rock when I introduced her to RP. Plus there was an uber-cute portrait of a girl that I thought looked a bit rebellious that I used for her avatar.

I would probably start a kid at the age I want to RP them at, unless I was, like, taking part in family RP - in which case I probably would start off as a young adolescent (such as 6). I don't mind writing different ages or maturities.

14 year old Lisette was totes the best kid ever. Ran away from home in the middle of a war, took a small shuttle to Eclipse, became a padawan in the Jedi Order and subsequently a knight - pretty much accomplished more than her own mother in less than a week.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

[member="Myra Elspeth"]

I have RPed two children. The first one being Abaigeal E'ron, daughter of Iella. The second, this character. My first attempt was not that great, although I did enjoy writing the child, I struggled with the concept of it, and unable to get into the mind of a younger kid again. But with Théo I approached it differently, and maybe my first attempted show me what I had done wrong in the past. But mainly because I started to watch kids and how they act in RL and that help greatly.

At what age do you typically start off to roleplay?

Both the character I started off literally from conception. And their birth of course.

How fast do you age them?

I age them up in accordance with the age up of the parents. I am in a position to be able to control that part of it.

Do you go in preplanning how they will be or decide to get a feel for them as they roleplay with others?

A bit of both here. But mainly through planning, I have that part of me with whatever character I write.

What's the one kid character that you really enjoyed roleplaying?

Théo. He is great fun to write and even though he is totally against my nature in the sense that he is boy and I am not, he is a pleasure.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

At what age do you typically start off to roleplay?

-Makai was started at birth as an NPC and progressed to his own character around age 5.



How fast do you age them?

-Depends on board movements and the like(also any close RP partners). I think Makai was under the age of 8 for nearly a year and a half/two years. I aged him up in September due to some personal development threads and the board event. It felt right and I feel the relationship between Makai and his parents was fairly established. Its been fun to open up the chapter of 15 year old Makai. Currently I have plans to keep him as a teenager for awhile.


Do you go in preplanning how they will be or decide to get a feel for them as they roleplay with others?

-Little of both. Borrowed traits from both of Makai's parents and I try to work them in. He's changed a lot as he's been able to RP with others on a grand scale now and its fun.


What's the one kid character that you really enjoyed roleplaying?


-Makai. He's been the only one I've actually put time and thought into. Like real pre-planning. Done kid characters before for plot fluff, but Makai has been written as a character that will stick around and continue to grow and develop.

 

[Sam Rodarch]

I was bad at it.

 

[Lief]

Writing Kids is my jaaam; I love the natural progression that it provides for their personality, their strengths/weaknesses, their general outlook on the Galaxy, and the paths they inevitably come to choose. I do my best not to be too rigid with regards to planning out their futures - naturally I have a simple idea in mind, but it never ends up that way. Such is the nature of Forum RP!

 

[kendopanda]

I've always found writing kids to be fun, though challenging at times. Their age and how I age them varies from character to character. Personality is interesting; I like to start them off with a few basics, and let those develop as I roleplay them.
Even though I haven't done much with him yet, I love writing Azu. I mean, he's a really innocent kid, and has somehow maintained it after being thrown into chaos.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] - The Master of Children characters.

Cheers, mate.

At what age do you typically start off to roleplay?
Depends on the story I want to tell. The youngest I've written was a 4 year old and they run a wide range from there to 55 (I don't think I've written anyone over 55 now that I think about it). 9-12 is a default of sorts for child characters, because at that age you have a good mix of being playful whilst also beginning to become independent. My werewolf diva was 13, because teenage angst and drama played well (if you think a werewolf is terrifying, and 13 year old girls are terrifying, try a 13 year old girl werewolf...), so it all varies depending on what it is that I want to tell through the character.

How fast do you age them?
Do you mean how slow? Years. And even then, there needs to be a story objective behind it. Moving from one chapter to the next sort of thing.

Do you go in preplanning how they will be or decide to get a feel for them as they roleplay with others?
Never pre-plan anything. I create the character and just see where it goes from there. In some cases, it works very well (e.g. [member="Zak Dymo"]) and in others, I wind up either scrapping the character or starting over (e.g. [member="Boo Chiyo"] or BB-4001A, my first Chaos character)

What's the one kid character that you really enjoyed roleplaying?
I have to pick one?

[member="Kiriko"] probably. It's refreshing to write a non-human, and bring life to another Player's created race from the Codex.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I have similar issues as [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


I find kids remarkably awkward to write. Props to those who can write them well.


I think aging them up is also an awkward issue. You don't want someone to be an eternal five year old, but if you make a radical time jump it's a bit unfair if say there's another writer whose character is a family member. I age my characters up gradually, and prefer matching time jumps with real time.


I haven't written an actual kid character so far. When I made Elpsis, I started her as an eighteen-year old. Old enough to shoot and do adult things without me feeling uncomfortable.


That said, Siobhan has two grandchildren who are still babies and have only occasionally appeared in the background so far. I may make them NPCs eventually. We'll see how it goes if I step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at writing kids.

 

[Progflaw99]

[member="Myra Elspeth"]

[member="Boo Chiyo"]

@Anyone else

I've always wondered about writing a child, but there's a certain type of disconnect I have, perhaps innocence, perhaps demeanor. That being said, I find it always easier to write children when interacting with others, solo writing children is very difficult because you have no external input as far as "Hey, you're a kid. You can't do that!" from 'adults'. Not to say I need my hand held, but when writing children it certainly seems to be easier when writing with other children, or with others in 'adult' positions. It's something I've always wanted to do more committed with a character but never had anywhere to do it!

 

[Micah tol Powl]

[member="Gerhard Maxim"]

Think about a time you've seen a child play with a cardboard box.

Children don't necessary need an external input. Often, they may ignore the external input because they're inspired by some internal input.

I did that recently in a thread with [member="Irajah Ven"]. She got a large package and asked [member="Boo Chiyo"] to help her move it into the house. He saw the box and instead of wondering what was inside of it, immediately thought of a fort. And so my post had very little to do with what Irajah was doing, and was more focused on him trying to imagine what he could do with the box, asking if he could have the box, etc etc

 

[Kami Meran]

< 15- 16.
i also play a 10 yearold and a 13 yearold.
admitadly none of them are typical children.