'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

For discussion of Dunedain culture, what it might have looked like and how it worked.

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Udwin
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'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Udwin »

Inspired in part by several comments in this year's Yule Exchange thread, I thought it would be worthwhile to create a thread to help folks work on creating, tweaking, and polishing their personas. Here are some 'checklist'-type worksheets that I have found very useful in the past for deepening the backgrounds for my impressions. Feel free to use this space to submit, discuss, critique, &c. Works-in-progress are fine--nobody has a finished persona on their first go-around.
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Udwin »

Who am I?
What’s my name?
How old am I?
What is my birthday?
Where was I born?
Who are my parents, where were they born and what is their birthday?
Father
What does he do for a living?
Mother
What does she do for a living?
What are my Grandparents names, where were they born and what is their birthday?
Father’s Father
Father’s Mother
Mother’s Father
Mother’s Mother
Do I have brothers and sisters?
Who are they?
Where do I live now?
When did I arrive here?
What kind of house do I live in?
How did I get here?
Do I go to school?
How do I learn?
Can I read?
Can I write?
Can I cipher (do maths)?
What other skills do I have? (Sewing, cooking, hunting, blacksmithing, etc.)
What do I do on a normal day?
What do I do for fun?
What religion am I?
What clothing do I wear? Why?
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Udwin
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Udwin »

Part I. Basic Facts about yourself.

Name:
Birth date:
Age:
Place of Birth:
Social Class (socio-economic):
Ethnicity:
Religion:
Present Occupation:
Previous Occupation:
Education:

Part II. Family Background

Mother's Name:
Father's Name:
Mother's Occupation:
Father's Occupation:
Mother's Ethnicity:
Father's Ethnicity:
Mother's Education:
Father's Education
Place and Date of Parent's Marriage:
Parent's Residence:
Siblings (names and birthdates):

Part III. Friends and Key Relatives (Include: Name, Relation To You, & Key Information)

Part IV. Personal History
4A. What remarkable or noteworthy events have occurred during your lifetime (wars, revolutions, meeting famous people, being involved in what historical events, places you have been, things that have happened to, etc.)

4B. What are your views, beliefs, opinions, positions, etc. on the following subjects? (these are just some examples off the top of our heads—each different race/region would naturally have their own—get creative!):

-mutual enmity between Elves and Dwarves
-the idea of ‘going to Sea’ (and other such Elvish notions)
-the continuing presence of Rangers in the Bree-land
-accumulation of wealth by Bracegirdles and Sackville-Baggins
-King Elessar’s gift of southern Mordor to Sauron’s former slaves
-hunting animals for sport
-the imprisonment of Will Whitfoot by Sharkey’s Men
-the hunting of Druedain by other Men
-Sharkey’s imposing of rationing and Rules upon Shire-folk

4C. How and where were you raised and educated (school, home learning, apprenticeship, etc.)
4D What memorable things happened to you as a child?
4E. What memorable things happened to you as an adult?
4F. How have you come to be where you are now, doing what you are doing now?
Personae: Aistan son of Ansteig, common Beorning of Wilderland; Tungo Brandybuck, Eastfarthing Bounder, 3018 TA; a native Man of the Greyflood, c.850 SA
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Greg »

This is really stellar work. I'm going to have to go through this myself tomorrow...I'm discovering all sorts of holes I need to patch up!
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Brandwyn »

Thanks for posting the templates. I have seen things like that before for gaming characters and didn't think to use it for my persona here. I will have to find some time to look them over and fill in my persona.

The following is what I posted on the Yule thread. So I will offer up my persona for discussion and ideas.

MERF name: Brandwyn
Persona name - I think Brandwyn Rosamund Brandybuck - "Brandy Rose" for short. (still working that out)
Probably early 4th age

I haven't really nailed down my persona just yet. After being on the boards for a few years and not being very active (though I lived vicariously through Ringulf and have have kept up with most of the news...) This past SE Ranger Gathering has kindled my fire to get my persona and then my kit done. It also presented me with a persona dilemma. I love horses and have done quite a bit with equestrian activities in the Society for Creative Anachronism so a Rohirrim Shield Maiden was a natural choice for a character here. However I have also frequently played a Hobbit or Halfling in LARP and D&D. I went to the Gathering as Brandwyn from Rohan as a mounted shield maiden scout. However during the course of the gathering I kept letting my inner Hobbit slip out. Thus my dilemma.

I am contemplating a hobbit that is now in Rohan and being trained as a shield maiden / lady-in-waiting and is perhaps a cousin or niece of Merridoc Brandybuck. I am working on a history, but still ironing all that out. Perhaps I was one of the hobbits that helped rebuild the Shire after the Scourge and given my love of horses, already had a pony and was an accomplished rider. And perhaps Merry noticed me upon his return and sent me off to Rohan to be a lady-in-waiting for a shield maiden (which I hear is all the rage now a-days - to have a hobbit as lady-in-waiting)

It also would have been during the rebuilding of the Shire that I ran into the dwarf, Ringulf and struck up a relationship with him. The fact that he was traveling around the Shire in a wagon pulled by a pony only added to my attraction, since I like my comforts and I don't travel light. And that brings me to my kit which I haven't really started much of yet.

Update:
I did manage to find a couple of hobbit breeches for my kit. They are dark brown. I need to make a couple of minor alterations to make them look more "hobbity", but overall I think they re going to work well.

I have also been working out a design for a patchwork coat sorta like Bilbo's housecoat, but for a female hobbit. I think some sketching is in order...

Any thoughts?
Brandwyn
"They are dangerous at both ends, and - crafty - in the middle." Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows (Robert Downey Jr. in character on the subject of Horses)
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Udwin »

Brandwyn, that is a very interesting persona idea! Based on the fragments of early Fourth Age history we have, I can easily imagine that having a hobbit lady-in-waiting would be quite trendy in Rohan. There's nothing to support it directly in the text, but reading between the lines (based on the Merry-Rohan friendship, and increased communication/travel/trade between North and South in the post-War era) and extrapolating a bit it doesn't seem too unfeasible. The Brandybucks have less 'asterisks' than other families, but there ARE two unnamed sisters of Gorbadoc 'Broadbelt' (b.2860 3A) whose descendants would be unknown.
You're definitely off to a good start!
Personae: Aistan son of Ansteig, common Beorning of Wilderland; Tungo Brandybuck, Eastfarthing Bounder, 3018 TA; a native Man of the Greyflood, c.850 SA
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by E.MacKermak »

I have seen similar ideas for SCA and gaming but never really thought much about my MERF persona. I use the same name for MERF, Dagorhir, and an old online RPG. The character background is a little different for each, though in all cases I am an half-elven Ranger. I will have to look at this to flesh out the character.
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Kortoso »

Working on Talamba of Leben Gelaid. I need to think about that name for a while first.
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Post by Udwin »

Kortoso wrote:Working on Talamba of Leben Gelaid. I need to think about that name for a while first.
What sort of persona would this person be? Man? Elf? (Ta- tongue?) The name doesn't read to me as northern Dunedain, I'm afraid--although my Elvish is barely rudimentary. Where is Leben Gelaid meant to be? (Five somethings?) Not a name I'm familiar with in any of Tolkien's writings, and a quick search shows nothing from even tertiary (MERP or One Ring RPG) sources.
Personae: Aistan son of Ansteig, common Beorning of Wilderland; Tungo Brandybuck, Eastfarthing Bounder, 3018 TA; a native Man of the Greyflood, c.850 SA
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Kortoso »

"Leben Gelaid" is my best guess at "Five Trees". Please correct me if I am deriving this incorrectly.
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Greg »

I believe tree/trees, assuming my sources are correct and we're dealing in Quenya, would be Alda/Aldar.

So...Lempë Aldar? Am I close on this?
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Kortoso »

I'm trying to stick to Sindarin. Wouldn't that be more appropriate for a Dunedain Ranger?
https://www.elfdict.com/w/tree-folk
I see galadh or galað for tree then. Apparently it goes to galaid for a plural.
I'm probably wrong in this.
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Elleth »

Sindarin would be more appropriate than Quenya, assuming it's a Dunedain placename. Depending on the dominant population, it might be in another tongue entirely.
Some place names (Bree, Combe) aren't in elvish OR Westron/Common, but rather old Dunlendish (and rendered as Brythonic/Celtic in the text).

If it's a personal name, Sindarin is definitely more appropriate than Quenya.
(Which isn't to say Quenya doesn't have a place even in the third age, but I believe most personal names of both elves and elf-friends are Sindarin constructions)

I *think* the plural form there is correct, but I'm not expert enough to say - Sindarin does weird things once you start combining words together. :)
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Brandwyn »

Udwin wrote:Brandwyn, that is a very interesting persona idea! Based on the fragments of early Fourth Age history we have, I can easily imagine that having a hobbit lady-in-waiting would be quite trendy in Rohan. There's nothing to support it directly in the text, but reading between the lines (based on the Merry-Rohan friendship, and increased communication/travel/trade between North and South in the post-War era) and extrapolating a bit it doesn't seem too unfeasible. The Brandybucks have less 'asterisks' than other families, but there ARE two unnamed sisters of Gorbadoc 'Broadbelt' (b.2860 3A) whose descendants would be unknown.
You're definitely off to a good start!
Thank you, Udwin, for the 'historical' information and observations. I did not know that about the unnamed sisters of Gorbadoc. I think I can work with that!

Brandy
Brandwyn
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Re: 'Who Am I?' - Persona Creation Worksheets

Post by Mirimaran »

Elleth wrote:Sindarin would be more appropriate than Quenya, assuming it's a Dunedain placename. Depending on the dominant population, it might be in another tongue entirely.
Some place names (Bree, Combe) aren't in elvish OR Westron/Common, but rather old Dunlendish (and rendered as Brythonic/Celtic in the text).

If it's a personal name, Sindarin is definitely more appropriate than Quenya.
(Which isn't to say Quenya doesn't have a place even in the third age, but I believe most personal names of both elves and elf-friends are Sindarin constructions)

I *think* the plural form there is correct, but I'm not expert enough to say - Sindarin does weird things once you start combining words together. :)

There are mixed formed names in LOTR, mixing Sindarin and Quenya, Boromir, for example. I always took it that the use of Quenya would be akin to our use of Latin, and Latin names. Classical :)

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