Character Craft, Step Five: Growth
Okay, by now you should know how your character looks, how your character acts, and how they got that way. It’s good practice at this point to re-examine your core concept to see if the character is still as you first envisioned him/her. It’s perfectly okay if that isn’t the case, as long as you still feel interested in playing the end result. Give it some thought and, if need be, rewrite your character concept to suit the character you have made.
The next important step is to figure out where you’d like to go with your character. What important internal conflicts might they face in their future? What issues from their life will they have to resolve before growing as a person (if they ever do)? You might want to sit down with your game master and talk this one out, as creating a story around your character will ultimately be a collaborative effort.
An important consideration that falls under this umbrella is how you would like your character to end. Nobody plays the same character forever, and it is a very special character that is played for more than a year or two. What do you think would be the most fulfilling climax for your character’s life story? Does he/she become wise from experience and live out his/her golden years or burn out in flaming glory long before that time? Does your character end in satisfaction or regret over the events of his/her life?
Bear in mind that this step is brainstorming, not decision-making. Your character may head in a different direction than you plan, which is a perfectly natural part of collaborative storytelling. It is, however, important to note how your character might like or expect to conclude his/her game life, because that should ultimately effect how he/she is played.