Character Creation: An Extension of the Self

“The characters I create are parts of myself and I send them on little missions to find out what I don’t know yet.” - Gail Godwin

The first step to most Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs) is the creation of a character. The sky is the limit on how your character fits the theme, their backstory, their goals, personalities, anything! However, many characters become, intentionally or not, an extension of ourselves in some way. This can be a fantastical version of who we are; maybe there is a piece of us that wants to shine through more than the others, or maybe we become who we need to be in that moment of our lives.

This is an integral part of therapeutic TTRPGs. Characters become our clients, and our clients become the characters. This allows people to work through something within themselves, but at a distance that feels “safe.” Using Bleed in and Bleed out, clients can both put themselves within the character and learn something from them.

An Example: Setting Boundaries

Let’s call this person Sam. Sam is in a therapeutic TTRPG group working on interpersonal relationships. One of the things Sam and the group facilitator have identified as a struggle is setting boundaries with other people. In this Fantasy world, Sam creates a Halfling Rogue, someone who is small, sneaky, and easily overlooked by others. Being the rogue, sometimes Sam is asked to do tasks that don’t align with their or their character’s values. 

At first, Sam obliges. Stealing things from people they don’t want to steal from, but does it because his party has asked him to. As the campaign goes on, Sam’s character starts to feel more and more hesitant about stealing from those they feel don’t deserve it. As they continue, maybe another character notices, or maybe Sam’s character can’t hold onto the guilt anymore, but Sam’s character finally speaks up. Finally says, “No”. In this game, Sam has put down their first boundary with people.

After the game, the group debriefs about the session. Sam used this safe, controlled space to set boundaries with others and got positive reactions from others in the group during the debrief. This is the first step to Sam feeling safe saying “no” and holding a boundary with other people. As the game continues, through bleed-out, the idea is Sam will go on to use these skills outside of the group. Think of it as a “What would [Insert Character here] do?”. Sam’s character would say no because they’ve learned saying no is easier than carrying the guilt of doing the task to begin with.

What About a Villain?

We’ve all heard the phrase, “I’m in my villain era,” and some might take this into their therapeutic TTRPGs. This is another good moment to work on interpersonal skills, boundaries, and assertive, rather than aggressive, communication. While Character Creation is an important step, as group facilitators and members, we know group dynamics is as well. Helping someone flesh out a character that best fits them at that moment while also setting boundaries as a group before the game starts is part of that process. 

So what about you? What kind of character would you create?