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Introduction~ One of the things I’ve heard complained about frequently but nobody seems to do anything about is poor child roleplay. This is kind of funny, since child rp should actually be fairly simple. It’s like playing someone very dumb, and watching them get smarter with the help and influence of those around them. The biggest and most common mistake I’ve seen is that people play children as if they were adults. With the mental capacity to be willful, arrogant, rude, or even just overly intelligent. Hopefully this guide helps a bit~ Mindset Going In When making or choosing to play a child character, it’s important to realize what that means. More often than not, with time, you’ll end up with an adult character with a far more fleshed out backstory than most. This also means being willing to accept that whatever happens to your child character will greatly impact their life, can change their personality almost on a dime, and isn’t entirely up to you. If there’s one thing I can’t stress enough, it’s that if you play a child character well, that character’s personality is completely out of your hands. What they’re like as a child is something you can choose, but being fluid and affected by the world around them is part of being a child, and thus, part of playing a child. Learning From Parental Figures(?) As a child, your personality will be a cumulation of your character’s learnings under their parental figures. While their alignment will probably be set going in, that can easily change over time. (IE, a true neutral child fleshes out into lawful good.) It’s important that you realize that as a child, your character is learning their entire moral code from their parents, or, failing that, their interactions with other characters. If a child is told that something is bad, or something is good, they’re probably going to just believe it without question. “Druids are losers? Pah! What losers!” Of course, over time, they may develop their own opinions on what they’re taught, but that would most likely be in late teen/adult years, when the influence of others around them is less profound. The fact remains, though, that to correctly play a child, you might have to play outside of your comfort zone, or follow a path you might not have originally imagined for your character. Is this a bad thing? No! Sure, you might have wanted to become an uber-war mongering noble, but if your family winds up being a little band of farmers and bakers, that’s probably not where that character’s going to wind up in life.In the end, this unplanned route is a huge what makes child roleplay so appealing to so many. The other part, of course, is getting to play a little cutie, but you have to understand that that cutie isn’t going to walk into life with a plan. Reacting to Danger We all like the idea of being brave, but evolution alone says that as children, we wouldn’t be. Admittedly, in a fantasy world of swords and White Rose and elves and orcs (this doesn’t apply to orcs at all, really), we find it easy to either forget or justify the fact that children could be braver than it would be realistic to be. In most cases in real life, when a child is in danger one of two things happen. This also depends on the situation, but they either; Kick, scream, and flail or Run away This is most commonly referred to as the ‘fight or flight’ response. It’s something evolution has deeply ingrained in everything living, because that’s how they manage to continue living. It’s stronger in children, since they don’t have the capacity to process the level of a threat most of the time. A child could easily be just as scared of a spider as an undead necromancer, so they’ll just run away from both. That said, not all children are timid. Some might act brave, but they feel more fear than an adult in the same situation 100% of the time. Reacting to Harassment, Authority, Etc. Children don’t react well to being yelled at. Ever notice this? When an adult snaps at a child, their reaction is to shy away, or break down crying. From an early age, regardless of fantasy culture, children are not only taught but also realize that adults are inherently above them in the overall scheme of things. They don’t have the capacity to think ‘I need to learn everything so I can grow up like them’, instead they’re just thinking, ‘this person is in charge, I have to listen to them’. That’s not to say that rebellious children and teenagers don’t exist; teenagers especially. Teenagers are at the point in their life where that mental capacity starts to develop, and children can be rebellious, though it has to be for the right reasons. “Testing their limits” is common, more common among children around non-parental authority figures as they see if they can get what they want. You also have to keep in mind the parenting style used on your child has a massive impact on them. If mommy yells at you every time you try to eat a cookie, you might hate them. Or if you still want one, you might see if your dad will give you one instead. VAT shopping gets you blacklisted, parent shopping gets you cookies. Similar principles. Sort of. Harassment, as well, has a massive impact at this stage in a person’s life. If they’re constantly made fun of for their hair, for example, they will very likely dislike their hair for the rest of their life, even if they can’t remember why. Psychology Now understand that it’s not only your authority figures that will shape your character. Events that simply occur around you can have a profound impact on how your child’s mind develops. If your child sees someone get killed (hell, even your adult for that matter) it can be a profoundly traumatic experience. If your child spends too much inside reading and being a know-it-all, they’re probably going to become anti-social. Simple everyday behaviors that they perform, or witness can alter the character in far greater ways than the authorities can, but sometimes, more subtly as well. It’s also very important to remember that children are very, very easily manipulated. If a child is talking about something they shouldn’t be, an adult can just say, “Hey look!” and they’re instantly distracted. (At least, for under-ten-year-olds.) Especially at younger ages they believe everything they’re told without question, and aren’t even slightly in control of their own minds. This can be a bit tricky to rp, since we are in control and forget what it was like to be kids pretty easily. Just try to get into the mindset, one you’re there it’s smooth sailing~ Development 0-5: Children will be learning as much as they can in the years before their brain has even fully developed. How to walk and talk, how to act and when to say please and thank you. Though a lot of child characters aren’t played at this point, it’s good to get a feel for what happens during these years. Were their parents around a lot? Do they have a strong connection to them? How are their language skills? Can they read? What are their favorite toys? (That one may seem pointless, but can actually mean a lot.) The little things about a character at this age translate into big things at a later age. [10/8/13 4:09:29 PM] Boidwasperer: You should mention for the 5 year olds that they ASK SO MANY QUESTIONS [10/8/13 4:09:38 PM] Boidwasperer: What is that? Why? Is that yours? What is that? [10/8/13 4:09:54 PM] Boidwasperer: It's a hairbrush. Because it brushes hair. Yes, it's mine. It's a hairbrush, I just told you this... 5-7: Around this age, children are full of energy. Regardless of their personality they are able to bounce around and have fun. They tend to be competitive, and needs outlets for their boundless energy. They’re very concerned with rules, and have wild imaginations. They start to become more aware of the emotions of others but can’t always grasp how their actions affect those around them. They often struggle to make decisions, though they like the idea of ‘winning’. 8-10: This age group is starting to get into the ‘me against the world’ mentality. They’re very sensitive to praise, and their feelings are more easily hurt than younger age groups. They get to be choosy about their friends, since being accepted by their peers grows exponentially more important to them. They’re eager to answer questions and impress, so they can learn more. 11-13: This is where kids really begin to test their limits, and can become more of a ‘know it all’. This is where puberty starts to come into play, along with all of the awkwardness and self confidence issues it brings. Children around this age can begin to develop more fine motor skills, making them better at arts and crafts. Conformity becomes doubly important, if they have peers of a similar age group. They tend to demand perfection, at least of themselves, and can become easily frustrated when they don’t get it. They want more independence but in most cases are fully aware they’re not ready for it, and they begin to have a longer attention span as well. 14-16: Even more prone to testing limits, though very emotionally vulnerable. They’re insecure, fear rejection, and prone to mood-swings. This is around the time where it’s common to have a ‘role model’, an adult the child would strive to be more like. Notably, they usually have a very big appetite at this age. They have a better understanding of morality, and well developed fine motor skills. At the point where they’re right between childhood and adulthood, they might feel the need to act more like they think an adult should act, though they’re still self conscious and fear rejection. Other Useful Tips At the end of the day, the sun goes down. An apple a day might be bad for your teeth. Cheaters never prosper. Ouity is a gaylord. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you ‘cause I’m rubber, you’re glue! We didn’t know what to write here so now it’s just… yeah. +1 Ouity and Fiend Wrote This <3 Togehter. IN TANDEM. Google Docs is awesome. Yes it's messy and all over the place, but hopefully you take something good away from it! Feedback is welcomed~