Testing the Character generator

I've written a Character Generator using an old GURPS manual. I had to write a few supportive programs to make the randomization normalized instead of random, as in the case of physical appearance. I don't want one hundred characters, 20 Ugly, 20 Unattractive, 20 Average, 20 Attractive, and 20 Beutiful. I wanted to fit these to a bell curve.

The advantage of GURPS is that it is not aimed purely for action and combat. I tried looking at the models of character generation from Vampire, but the character traits are all aimed at making a decent and playable vampire. Other White Wolf games follow that same basic limitation. Dungeons and Dragons character generation system is almost entirely combat based. I don't want to write combat scene after Combat scene.

I also have a similar system based on the 34 personality traits from "Be Who You Are" which I read for a personal and professional development course. The limitation with this system is that it focuses on strengths, not weaknesses. Good characers in writing need both.

The upshot is that GURPS provides me with a long list of descriptive words, loosely grouped into categories. That's what I want. I started with the words GURPS uses and added my own.

For example, with only a few groups of words programmed and ready to randomize I got the following descriptions: Attractive, Wealthy, Lightning Calculator, Combat Reflexes, Voice, and Acute Taste and Smell. The first character who comes to mind is an Olymic class fencer who gives lectures and demonstrations. Probably a lover of fine foods and wines, which fits into the idea of wealthy. The problem? No disadvantages to exploit. I'm pretty sure overconfidence would be a typical flaw, but to make something unexpected, I need the power of randomization to keep things interesting.

So I moved onto programming a list of disadvantages and spat out a new list of words: Ugly, Average Wealth, Military, Absolute Timing, Acute Hearing, Lightning Calculator, One Hand, Overconfident, Phobia. This almost describes a character that I'm working with in one of my current stories, who is ex-military and spent several years as a con artist and theif before landing on a very quiet world. Absolute Timing would help this character, and I've already written him to have Acute Eyesight, or at least eyes that have been trained to scan for enemies, spot snipers, and case buildings for security systems. I even thought about him having lost one arm. Overconfident? He certainly is, but in the story as it sits that isn't a problem. Phobia? I hadn't gotten that far with the character. He might have a fear that he hasn't overcome, a fear that he has overcome but is returning, or he might develop a fear during a story.

The character generator is helping already. I want to find a few more features that I can incorporate into this program. I know somewhere I found a Role Playing Tool for creating a biography, or at least ideas for them.

So the characters I create for this blog will have a list of personality traits, a simple biography that describes them as children, teens, adults, and elderly. I will include randomized events that may form the background of a character for a story or may even become the story.

The character generation program is designed to encourage creativity. If I need a quick character in a story, I can run the program and get a lsit of words, and work that character in. I don't expect to get a good character to do the job in the story all the time, but I should avoid dull characters, I hope.