pimpmyverse | OC Pimping Is a Hard Knock Life

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OC Pimping Is a Hard Knock Life

This is an OC meet-and-greet/discussion meme! We all love Original Characters here, so let's chat about them ones we have, the ones we're working on and even get some advice if we need it.

RULES

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All Original Characters are acceptable here! Whether from an Original Universe, MMO/RPG game designed for building OCs, or even a Fandom universe. All OCs are welcome.
Yes, discussion can take place anonymously on this meme if you feel more comfortable doing it that way, but if it becomes too rude/disrespectful/out of hand, I will disable anonymous comments. This is a safe place for anyone who comes here to talk about original characters. Please find other venues if you get the urge to act otherwise.
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So, urban fantasy. This seems to be a huge no-no in rp and I'd like to know just why that is. Is it too common, are too many of the same scenarios used, do OCs from these verses suffer too much from Snowflake Syndrome or what?

I have a character I've been developing who's more like an amalgamation of concepts than anything, but I haven't worked too much on the world itself because idk if the idea would be too lazy or boring or what.

By "urban fantasy" are you talking vampires, werewolves, necromancers, etc? Because I know plenty of people who play those types of OCs. It may just be what circles you've been playing in because in the ones I'm in it hasn't been a problem at all. There's of course going to be judging from somewhere on the internet, but if I want to play a vampire from a modern setting or a superhero, I'm going to do it whether or not some random anonymous person likes it. If you enjoy your character, the people you tag enjoy your character, and you're not trying to disrupt or godmode anyone else's fun, then what they say doesn't matter.

Now I will say that after a while, it can start looking like all the worlds are the same and too many of the same ideas are being recycled, but I think the best way to get around that is showing how your character exists as an individual in their world. Some people worry too much about things been too similar so they go a little too far in proving how "different" their world or their character is, which I think is where the Snowflake Syndrome comes from. As long as you aren't shoving how different and unique and SPECIAL your character is down people's throats, you're doing okay.

I personally think that worlds that have depth, involvement, and an air of realism (as in I could understand why the people and cultures of that world have developed the way they have), then they will always be interesting in some way.

That makes a lot of sense, thank you! (And apologies for the anon, I'd log in if I had an account made but welp)

I may be mixing up my genres, since I say urban fantasy but I was thinking more along the lines of "modern world with demons", so I guess that makes it supernatural (haha)? The character would be a human but not a demon hunter, as that was my main thought in creating her. I definitely didn't want to add to a pile of more of the same but also wondered if not doing so would come off as presumptuous and trying to be too different. But you're right in just focusing on the character as an individual, and any powers don't matter near as much as how she reacts to her world, which is the core of her character anyway.

(hey anon is perfectly okay here)

Oooh, gotcha. Really those genres overlap a lot anyway, so I can see why it's hard to figure which one you're talking about. And I'd have to say I love supernatural worlds and how different and/or similar they can be. It's not like EVERY idea is going to be 100% original since, well, fiction has existed for probably as long as humans have been able to articulate stories. I don't think wanting to play around in a world like that is bad and as long as you're making sure your character is a fully developed and in-depth individual, you're doing it right.

I think the main problem people have with urban fantasy OCs is a mix of "it's too common" and the fact that it can be hard to figure out how to make an OC that's compelling to other people. The main complaint I've heard is that so many urban fantasy OCs tend to seem really generic, follow the same old tropes, and substitute things like "snarky badass vampire hunter" for unique, fleshed out personalities.

Which, you know, fair enough. But I agree with the player above me: If you want to play something, play it, and just concentrate on making them a compelling, interesting character in their own right. If you do that, it won't matter if they're urban fantasy or anything else. You can make a great character for ANY kind of genre, as long as you flesh them out! Don't worry too much about the people who are sick of urban fantasy, because if you make a good character, people will be able to appreciate that.

Right then, I'll give it to you straight: there are just too many of those kind of characters, and all of them that I have seen without exception have been generic as fuck.

They are all from a world that can be described as "just like our world except X mythology is real". Which is not a terrible concept, except X mythology is always some vague, uninspired 'twist' on a popular mythology like Judeo-Christian angels and demons, Celtic faeries or vampireswerewolvessirenspsychics blah blah blah. No one ever seems to think to look into any more varied world mythologies, to do some more in-depth research about the mythological underpinnings (you'll never find a world where you have Jewish holy men banishing the toilet demon with combinations of letters from God's name, even though that is a real thing), or to think of a genuinely unusual twist on all the the vampires and werewolves (c'mon, even the original White Wolf people could do that!). The resulting mythological creatures are always the Beautiful People, they always seem to inhabit only major cities in the Western world and have fancy jobs and mysterious organizations that don't really seem to do much (except 'protect normals' or fight among themselves or preserve the Veil/Masquerade/whatthefuckever). Their existence never seems to impact the world in any meaningful way, which generally gives the appearance that the writer hasn't really thought their cunning plan all the way through and has no understanding of how the world works because goddamn would it not be "just like our world" if vampires were real and have been real for all of human history I mean come on. The world always seems to be convoluted and uninspired and tailored just for the needs of a very specific character or plot without any wider sense of... anything.

And the characters suffer from the same problem. They all seem to blend into the same beautiful but troubled young woman, generically sexy but bumbling guy, Suave Supernatural Seducer, you can enumerate and count the types. They all have very exotic and mysterious backgrounds and complicated life stories inevitably revolving around Secret War, family issues, romance and betrayal. These life stories leave them all with the same sarcastic, sassy attitude hiding a sensitive and wounded inner core, with the same trust issues, the same wannabe-tough practicality, and the same lack of engagement with the world at large beyond their personal woes. And for some reason sex always plays a very prominent role in their characters or lives, which is just fine except it's always like this. The women are all Strong, the men are all cute, none of them is ever over thirty (unless they're immortal and don't look or act it), none of them ever has a real job or a family without Very Exciting Problems or lives anywhere except Generic Western City.

I'm not saying it's impossible to create an urban fantasy character that's different. And hell, I'm not even saying you shouldn't create a character like that if that's what strikes your fancy. Play what you like! Write what you enjoy! You're not doing this for anyone but yourself. But since you asked, my problem with urban fantasy OCs is that their writers inevitably look as though they haven't read anything but urban fantasy. The world, the characters, always seem to be coming from within a closed system that has a finite number of templates, elements of which are continuously being recycled in minutely different configurations (or parodied, badly), with no new ideas ever being added or the limits of the world and genre ever expanded upon. If you want to write a good urban fantasy story and character, my honest advice is, start by going to the library and reading up on some real world city and its history, or some real world mythology that you've never heard of before, or some good investigative journalism, or really, anything but urban fantasy.

Oh man, THANK YOU. That sums up exactly what I needed to know. So it sounds like no one really cares for another Supernatural/Teen Wolf/TVD etc settings or characters and would rather see something else within the genre? I guess it helps that those kinds of shows and books aren't my thing, though I'll take you up on reading up on the history of a city. What would you recommended for investigative journalism? I'm not familiar with that and it sounds very interesting.

And... that's all I got, haha. This makes for a great checklist of things not to do or to think more about, so again, major thanks.

My pleasure! The truth is, I do love well done modern fantasy, I think there's a lot to be said for it - the state of urban fantasy OCs in RP frustrates me more because of what's not there than because what's there. I mean, I imagine lots of people do care for these settings because of all the OCs that are from things like that, but if you want to stand out from that crowd, then yes. And I think you should always strive to stand out!

I don't know what I'd recommend for journalism - it's usually history and mythology that I end up reading - but see if you can find any sources on the "real" underworlds of cities so to speak. There are quite a few books on the actual "London below" for once (look for Stephen Smith's "Underground London"). If you're willing to go the distance, academic bookshops and libraries are worth browsing for books about organized crime, about marginalized communities and their stories and mythologies, slums and homeless populations, about urban exploration, urban wildlife - just read about cities. If there's anything that urban fantasy could really use more of, it's actual cities.

Drop a note if you do end up creating a character and journal with any of this stuff, OP. I'd like to see it!

Latest reply ever, but here you go! This discussion has been a huge help in assuring the ideas I had been working on, and made me get off my butt with getting some art done, haha. I think the most difficult part will be doing the research on the city, since I was trying to avoid the New England area but after working out this girl's heritage, that area would be the most fitting. Hopefully soon I can get a basic write up done, but I have a lot of research to do.

Hopefully this all goes well!

my frustration comes from two things. first, the premise: "a world EXACTLY like ours except for incredible magic and magical beings that have had no effect whatsoever on the world" just isn't very imaginative. even if there's a masquerade going on, surely these powerful creatures can manipulate events from behind the scenes? to solve this, i recommend really thinking about how vampires/werewolves/whatever would affect humans and vice versa. worldbuilding may be in order.

second, character development. a significant number of players (and writers!) think that modern day = no research for characters needed. unless you're playing a self-insert, this is not true. to solve this, i recommend doing research into whatever things your character does that you don't. are they a detective? a doctor? from another country? a minority in a real-world way? rpanons has a character advice thread.

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OC Pimping Is a Hard Knock Life

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