1st October 2018 - What makes a character human

Today's Topic - 1st October 2018

Submitted by @Kudo is dead

What makes a character feel human?
Dennis-gr1Last Monday at 21:04
emotions,thoughts about the future,trying to improve on your self,finding a meaning to life
The Foxorcist (They/Them)Last Monday at 21:08
Doing and saying things how normal people would. Acting rash and bring stubborn sometimes, acting on feelings instead of sense and logic at times. Doing and saying things people would do. Natural movement, not stilted voice acting (unless it's called for), fluid interactions with people. Its why Nathan Drake never felt very human to me. He's an otherwise average guy, but he responds with quick wit and jokes all the time, even in times of Panic and life-threatening situations. Real people don't do that, they Panic and shit themselves
SinclairLast Monday at 21:10
I can't figure out a way to phrase it very well, but in a word "Struggle".


      The human condition is to struggle against the world, so any character that's life is just plain sailing like say, almost any Isekai character ever doesn't really feel human to me. Whereas even characters that fundamentally aren't human; like Lord Illidan Stormrage from Warcraft; feel far more human than them because they do in fact struggle, both with external forces and internal demons.
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Soup GoblinLast Monday at 21:11
Unpredictability , making wrong decisions because to their morals and beliefs it might seem the right one , and allowing them to have their own life outside of what we can see in the movie/book/game or whatever. Essentially having their own arcs outside of what we see or the main character sees
ReallyCoolDiscordNameLast Monday at 21:11
Id say emotional and mental depth, intimate and accurate voice acting, smooth animations, and complex issues
Also slight personal opinions that show in their actions
Mad PigeonLast Monday at 21:13
@ReallyCoolDiscordName Have you played "Thomas was alone"? It has no voice acting or smooth animations, yet the characters of that game feel very human
ReallyCoolDiscordNameLast Monday at 21:14
Ive definitely seen it
Haven't played it though
@Mad Pigeon Voice acting and animations arent necessary but can provide subtle hints
Didnt specify
TisoLast Monday at 21:16
the drive to accomplish something or having lost said drive only to go looking for something to fill that void. And the sense that the character has many diffrent faces depending on circumstance. Also seeing a character lose something and seeing how that character deals with said loss. Because i feel like when a character is loosing something is the point where a characters are at their most interesting.
Soup GoblinLast Monday at 21:17
As Mad Pigeon said voice acting isnt really something i wanna include or animations because thats not a character thats just what we see and hear. When i think of a character i think more of a personality
HatCrafterLast Monday at 21:29
I'd say that believable motivations is a key part of making a character feel believable. Even if you don't agree with their decisions, if you can understand their decisions it makes the character a whole lot more understandable and sympathizable. As far as sound and animation goes, I think even simple animalese or simple beeps can help you get a feel for a character's talking patterns. While the characters are nothing special, I'd recommend looking at Dungeon of the Endless. The animations and character dialogue is brief but get the job done very well. Of course I don't think the game has the best example of character design, but the way the characters are expressed is simple and well done.
The Confusled (Lane)Last Monday at 22:00
Imperfections. The ability to focus on inconsequential problems and avoid the big picture. That and opinions/perspectives that should feel like they have experience or background reasons to back their knowledge/beliefs.
Knowing when to hold back exposition that would reveal those background experiences
As a DM, I often keep notes about my characters that I may never reveal to my players. I find this leads to a certain consistency to how characters act
That and generally we don't know everything about people we meet. I've found in the past that revealing too much makes the character feel flat, almost like you've literally given the audience/players a sheet with their entire life's story
People don't find something like that engaging
ReallyCoolDiscordNameLast Monday at 22:07
What I feel makes a good character in a game is giving them a little depth but hinting at it in the environment
I think giving them no dialogue and hinting at their traits and flaws in the form of environmental design makes the player think more thoroughly about the game instead of handing them the information(edited)
SciLast Monday at 22:33
There's a lot that goes into it. First, it's important not to make characters too predictable. Humans aren't paragons of their own views or morals. They won't always act in the same way in every situation. It's important to showcase that in a character. For example a character who dislikes violence and confrontation who is under stress and forced to attack someone or protect themselves.

This leads into the next part - consequences. Characters and their actions shouldn't be disconnected from the world they inhabit. If they choose to do something there have to be certain consequences for it. If a character chooses to aid a fugitive it should feel like they are putting themselves at risk by doing it.

A third important part is how the character talks and behaves. People tend to do things like repeat themselves multiple times or rephrase sentences in the same conversation. This one is a bit trickier but being able to convey unique speech patterns can do a lot to bring life to your character and make them seem even more genuine.
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3 October 2018
HemmyLast Wednesday at 22:21
@Dennis-gr1 please read the rules of this channel
Dennis-gr1Last Wednesday at 22:21
:OK: srry
4 October 2018
SkeletalhofferYesterday at 23:47
Dang, that's a tough nut.
You see, I had this thief as a character in my first dnd-campaign. He was clever, he was greedy and a very unlucky guy. I thought that was a fun combination, but during the adventure I realized that something was missing. my thief was weirdly shallow. I thought "why would this character  go out adventuring?" and really didn't have a satisfying answer.
 I think the core of a believable character in any fiction is a well-defined motivation. Humans like any other animal are hardwired to fulfill needs. Even the most inept or aimless person is driven by something.