What would your character do in the above situation?

Just retooling "what would happen if the next poster's avatar..." from forum games and importing it here, which I surprisingly found a good thread for fleshing out sketchy characters.

The rules of the game is simple: Respond to the above situation with any character you're writing. If the situation does not fit your character, either tailor it if possible (for example, changing "mother/father" to "guardian" in the case your character is orphaned) or answer with a different character.

You may respond with multiple characters if you so wish.

Then come up with a situation for the following poster.

Please try to make your situations general and easy to apply to characters from all kinds of settings. If Jeanne d'Arc and Frodo Baggins can't answer your question, you'll need expand to something more universal—the majority of possible characters will never in their lifetime have to do anything like hack into a computer, though they may encounter a "cop" in the form of a soldier, constable or some other appointed keeper of the peace.

Here is a starting situation for the thread:

The next character sees a small child fall into a river with a fast undertow.

Milo would jump into the river after the child. And then he would probably drown, because he's not that strong a swimmer and he didn't really think what he was going to do after that.

Flinn would jump in too - but he'd probably dump any heavy articles of clothing first, and then use magic to get him and the child out of the river later.

Situation: your character accidentally walks in on a member of the opposite sex naked.

edited 27th Apr '11 10:08:20 PM by LoniJay

• Beowulf's flustered and bewildered and stammering apologies, then he tries to leave.
• Jack merely says "Oops! Sorry about that!" and leaves. Due to his background he's not embarrassed about seeing people of either sex naked, but he understand how other people feel about it.

The next character sees someone has written a crude graffito of someone's genitalia on an important monument.

Cora Dorado: Would roll her eyes and probably go on ignoring it.

Ran Cole: Would attempt to magic it away five times, and fail—but would inadvertently add rainbow colors and a picture of a watermelon to it. Exasperated, she would walk away.

The next character has just discovered someone's old love letters in the attic... and there are deep secrets written in them.

• Beowulf finds some pieces of wood buried in a corner of the hall bearing the scandalous runic inscriptions of some of his neighbours who really shouldn't be having a relationship together. It's really not any of his business and he doesn't want any harm to befall them or himself so he carefully reburies them. *
  ^{Just an example of how you can tailor a question.}
• Jack Clive can't read, so he has his girlfriend read them to him. He finds the secrets intriguing and a little disturbing, and reasons they may be from a previous inhabitant in the flat. He would like to return them to said inhabitant, but he doesn't know where she lives now.

The next character has been given the first half of a payment to assassinate someone they don't know who lives in a different region.

edited 27th Apr '11 10:53:41 PM by annebeeche

Flinn - Refuse the money and haul the person to the relevant authorities. Assassination is not on.

Milo - Be completely bewildered and think maybe he'd misunderstood the request. He'd probably then give the money to Flinn and ask for advice.

They encounter someone stealing from a shop/marketplace, and the person begs them not to turn them in.

edited 27th Apr '11 11:02:19 PM by LoniJay

Ashte - says "do whatever" and goes about her business.

Skye - Turns them in anyway, the law is the law.

The character is being scolded by a higher authority figure. How do they respond?

edited 27th Apr '11 11:23:41 PM by Rynnec

Actually happens in the story I'm currently writing:

Your character sees someone s/he doesn't like's life in danger.

edited 28th Apr '11 1:33:46 AM by RPGenius

Tries to save them without putting her own life in danger.

Next character finds out they have a year to live.

edited 28th Apr '11 1:36:04 AM by cityofmist

Flinn: Think long and hard about it for a while - and then shove the knowledge away into the back of his mind and behave exactly as he normally does for the next year, except maybe taking a few more risks than usual.

Milo: Angst - a lot. Then try to get back home for at least some of that time to be with his family.

The character receives a letter informing them that their sibling, or other close relation, is getting married and they're invited. But they're in the middle of doing something else.

edited 28th Apr '11 1:42:49 AM by LoniJay

• Wealtheow, Queen of the Scyldings says, "Good for them. But I cannot leave Heorot when the Scyldings are in a crisis like this."
• Hrothgar, King of the Scyldings says, "If there's anything the Scyldings need now, it's a celebration, but they won't leave this land. It's my duty that I remain here with them."
• Hygelac, King of Geatland says, "Well, that's good for them, but I'm Frisia, right now, invading. I can't just leave and go see someone's wedding."
• Hygd, Queen of Geatland says, "Congratulations to them, and I shall most certainly attend, if I can get there in time. But what if Hygelac comes back and finds me gone? I don't think I'd like how he would react."
• Unferth says, "Well, that's certainly good for them. I guess it's my duty to visit and give them my congratulations, but that doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it."

The next character finds out that a shrine/temple for his religion (or the religion his people celebrate) has been brutally vandalized and destroyed.

• Akiko: *shrug* Good. They've been tryin' ta' kill me fer a long time - one less 'a those things is good fer me.
• Mikami: What? Who...? Who would've done that? Those foreigners from the mainland...That's...The gods will not be pleased...
• Inagi: Pfff, what religion? I don't care - one less pest fer me t' deal with!

The next character sees a body in the road that a caravan of carts (or whatever the most common mode of transportation for goods is) keeps running over - some of them are spitting on it and cursing it.

OK, I know two characters who are perfect for this.

A church has been vandalized. Moonbeam (The Fundamentalist Vampire Detective) stares in horror and vows to find and punish whoever did this. She speculates about what punishment she should provide - should she kill them right away, or torture them first to make them repent?

Nora (self-made vampire who thinks Living Forever Is Awesome) feels mixed emotions. She can understand the urge to do that, but she hopes they didn't damage any precious artifacts, because people a hundred years from now might be interested in them. She notices a Bible lying on the lawn exposed to the elements, and she pockets it, planning to give it to a museum sometime in the distant future. Then she walks away.

Late at night, while working on homework, the character sees an unfamiliar 8 year old boy standing in his yard. Then the little boy climbs up the wall and motions to be let in.

edited 28th Apr '11 8:37:18 AM by Ettina

You need to add a situation.

(Ignore this post.)

He would think to himself a normal 8 year old would lack the strength to quickly scale a wall like that, and it be best to assume he has some kind of super power. Upon this they'd try to read them quickly with their own powers, if they seem non-hostile they'd open the window slightly and attempt to see what they want.

Your character awakens to find they have been handcuffed to person they detest (but do not wish to kill) and are locked in a room, what do they do?

edited 28th Apr '11 5:45:36 PM by Vyctorian

Ashte and Skye - perform a Rivals Team Up and break out of the place in style.

Your character learns that they have a long lost sibling, and are meeting them for the first time.

A pair of identical twins, Kiyoi and Akura, stare at each other bitterly after awakening to discover their unpleasant surprise. In their eternal quest to keep relatively civil relations with each other as far as everyone else around them is concerned, they say nothing to each other, and opt to stare at the walls opposite them rather than each other.

Matthias, Raphael, and Elijah, a set of fraternal triplets, believed their entire lives that they only had one sibling, Moraiah. Their father, the head of a highly advanced genetics laboratory, has been holding onto the embryo of Moraiah's identical twin sister in cryogenic storage, until now. Neither of the three are very excited about this, given the tense relations that they share with him.

Your character is in a situation that (s)he is completely powerless to control.

edited 28th Apr '11 6:02:31 PM by CrystalGlacia

Being a control freak my MC would be freaked out but it depends on the circumstances If it's not too personal he'd be all These Things Cannot Be Helped on the outside while being secretly irked on the inside.

If it was something like a death or major accident, he'd have his emotional barriars shattered and break down.

You finds the person or thing that matters most to them being offered to them, but for a price. What do they do?"

• Jack Clive refuses to pay the price. He is already free, to "give" him freedom and then demand a price is to him robbery.
• If all Beowulf needs to be accepted for the way he is is money, then that's just too easy. He'll pay up in a heartbeat.

The next character has been given a time-travelling device. They are free to visit whichever time period they like, and do whatever they like without it affecting history.

After stopping off in the 1990s to buy a large cherry-and-almond flavoured icecream and spending an enjoyable time indulging in a lost pleasure, Ian goes back to the 1700s and learns how they made their black powder - which apparently was superior to our modern blends.

Returns to the current time, stopping briefly in the 1990s to pick up supplies of cherry-and-almond icecream...

Your character comes back home/to the lair and finds the place ransacked...

edited 28th Apr '11 7:01:26 PM by Wolf1066

Cora Dorado: Gets absolutely pissed, and starts storming up and down the halls of either her dorm or Suenya Castle looking daggers at everyone. In her RAEG, it only occurs to her to look for the thief when her Fairy Companion Boyse brings it up.

Ran Cole: Has actually happened to her. Everyone else panics, only to find out later that it was something Ran accidentally did on her own.

For Ace it would depend on which home. Home base :"uh guys whats going on? You have a party w/o me?"

Home she grew up in or her school dorm: sadness but no suprise as she tries to collect whatever personal items she can carry.

Uncle Jack's house : Heroic Safe Mode until she determines her mom and kid are ok, then a total rage freak out

'''The next character finds themselves under the influence of a substance that enhances instincts and makes them extreamly impulsive'''

edited 29th Apr '11 6:54:39 AM by HistoryMaker

• The Lancer: He's always like that. He has his meds for that.
• The Hero: He always carries a tranquilizer round (for his enemies) and he would use it on himself.
• Dark Action Girl: Would be able to supress it. Just like The Lancer, it's something of a casual occurence.

Question: Your character encounters Flying Spaghetti Monster. What would he/she do?

Chad has already seen people summon wolves and giant centipedes out of nothing. He'd say hello.

Toshi would try to eat it.

The next character has just learned that Character B is in love with them. The problem is that Character B has an Incompatible orientation (IE straight man confesses to gay woman, gay man to straight man, etc.)

Richard Roark is understanding but puts it in no unclear terms that nothing can ever come of it.

Situation': Your character has learned that their love interest have destroyed/donated/sold a treasured possession of your character's as retribution for cheating on them, which your character didn't.