This is a blog about creating a character with a playlist.

What to do

Find every song you care about, and put them in one playlist. Randomise the order, or put it on shuffle. You need it jumbled. You need to disrupt the sense the artists made of their own work, so that yours has freer reign. Hit play. Start some housework. Listen.

When the music starts, ask: what is the feeling of this song? And does that feeling fit your character?

If you’re not sure, ask yourself the following. Could the song be their soundtrack, and if so, what would they doing while it plays? Is it a song they would sing, feeling every word, or turn off at once, because the feelings were unwelcome? Is it a song others would think is about them? If the answer is always “no”, skip it. Skip quickly. Do not work for a connection.

Once you have a song, save it to a separate playlist. Then, take note of your feeling. Not just its positivity or negativity, but also its force and volume. Is it a scream, or a murmur? Whichever it is, try to ensure the next song is the opposite, or at least, different along one dimension. You are looking for eclectic.

When you have five songs in that playlist, you can finish. You never have to finish.

Give your character a name.

Whenever it comes time to play this character, listen to their playlist again. It will bring you into their head.

Why you might do this

I first decided to make a character playlist because my friend Jake had made playlists for his characters in our past two games, and I had really enjoyed listening to them. I thought of my playlist at first as I had thought of his: a way to give my fellow players a vibe of the character, with a medium more casual and personal than a written backstory.

Now though, I love this technique because it makes characters immediate and inchoate.

To take up actor stance¹ (my favourite) in a roleplaying game, the one thing I need to know is how my character feels about the world differently to me. I can get there by reading a description of them, but distilling feeling from words takes a little time, a little effort. With music, the feeling is right there. My playlist brings me into character immediately.

What’s more, my chief delight in roleplaying is to discover who my character is. I focus on the inner world, not the outer. So, the most important stage of character creation for me is what Sarah Lynne Bowman calls the interaction stage,² when a character is developed through their enactment in the game world. I want as much of my character’s detail to emerge through play as possible. But, pre-detail, I still need someone I can play with. The playlist approach gives me both. Songs give me the feeling, so I know how my character would act, without the detail of why they act this way. That gets to emerge at the table. The character is playable and inchoate.

Of course, if you don't like actor stance, you play for the outer world, or you love a backstory, neither of these reasons for making a playlist may appeal. To which I say, all good! But if I could still trouble you for a song or two, that brings your characters to mind, well I’d love to hear them. And if you'd like to listen to my current character, Left Field is audible here.