No Idea how to RP my character.

Jraatha

First off I'm playing a massive, hulking Rust colored Rajamala rune warden, of course, in Cyrene's warden house. I'm loving the chivalry, "Good Jera," and militant style of the house but I'm a little conflicted.
My original concept for this character was to be a primal, beastial, aggressive character. Sort of like your typical DnD Barbarian, Braids, Scars, wooden piercings and all.

These seem like partially conflicting ideals but I'd like to somehow get a balanced mixture of both, without the inconsitency I have now making Jraatha look like he has a BiPolar personality.

Is there any advice you guys can give me to help play this type of character? Is there any examples of this type of character I could look at for reference? Preferably something free.

Jiraishin

I don't have any examples, but possibly he could find some chord the ideals strike within him, and gradually incorporate the House's more disciplined approach into his previously unruly personality? Just throwing something out there.

Jraatha

@Jiraishin
That's the thing... I'm having issues trying to mix both into a grey area. Is there a decent way to have disciplined Savagery?
Jraatha enjoys the hunt above all else and it is pure bliss for him to consume the creatures he's fallen... But making him a disciplined soldier in public and a savage beast in the woods is a cop-out that's beyond cliché nowadays.

Jiraishin

Maybe he pretends in public to fit in, is secretly ashamed of his bending to the crowd, and begins to make his fakery genuine as he understands more about the ideals and about what attracts him to them.

Vayne

You should look into Shamanism more than Runewarden perhaps? You would lose the knightly aspect but Shaman definitely have the wild and untamed aspect to them.

Aepas

Looks like both Mhaldor and Targossas would be your real fitting. Mhaldor is evil and supports well... evil things. The only problem is you have to be both cruel and honorable.

Targossas seems to suppor the "Good" side of things with a lesser extent of honor to it, much like the inquisition.

Perhaps you should look into one of those? Cyrene is rather passive in those aspects

Nakari

Aepas said:

Looks like both Mhaldor and Targossas would be your real fitting. Mhaldor is evil and supports well... evil things. The only problem is you have to be both cruel and honorable.

Targossas seems to suppor the "Good" side of things with a lesser extent of honor to it, much like the inquisition.

Perhaps you should look into one of those? Cyrene is rather passive in those aspects

I don't feel like either of these get past the issue though. Both Targossas and Mhaldor are still highly organized societies, and his trouble wasn't with an ideology that's too passive

I feel that thinking that 

Jraatha said:

 But making him a disciplined soldier in public and a savage beast in the woods is a cop-out that's beyond cliché nowadays.

is going to be your biggest hurdle, then. While cliched, it might still be the best option, and probably isn't inherently bad. Real people act differently in different places and circles, and perhaps the best way to take it would not to have him "be" two different things but instead indulge in both aspects of his personality, just in different places. Dunno, just throwing things around

Iocun

@Aepas: Neither Mhaldor nor Targossas are "bestial" though. The contrast between a barbarian character and the civilisation of a city will exist there just as much as in Cyrene.

Jraatha

Well Savagery isn't evil by any means. I picked Runewarden because it was a the closest thing to a nature class not heavily based on magic.
I guess what I need to do is to make him more ignorant/stubborn like a wild animal. This is someone who has been in the wilds most of his cub-hood. Probably doesn't understand some of the societal conventions.
Remove the submissive nature when regarding superiors in lieu for a bold respect akin to comradery. More nods, Grunts and fisttochest-salutes. Less kneels, bows and at-attention-eyebrow salutes.
Animals know about loyalty and command so he's not going to be insubordinate. Probably just replace standard social conventions with primal instincts. Such as exposing his throat to nobility and avoiding eye contact, rather then kissing fingers or feet.

Jraatha

Thanks guys I think I've got it. I was just having a spat of riders block. Thanks again for just chatting with me, making me think, and helping me get past it.

Blujixapug

Roleplaying can be hard. You have to set yourself up to succeed with a good character.

I've come up with characters before in IRE games and started playing and sat there thinking, how do I emote with this guy? What does he sound like? What does he talk about? They simply did not click for me, and as a result I found them extremely difficult to play. God forbid someone should interrupt me from bashing or questing with a conversation, or start emoting at me.

I've also had characters where I thought ha ha yes. I understood them completely. I always had the right response or statement in the right voice for them to provide. These were the fun ones, and they were the ones that lasted.

Get your character's voice clear in your head, is my advice. Get their mannerisms worked out, and have enough of their personality established that you can imagine how they would respond to situations. When you are comfortable in their head, everything will roll on easily from there, whether someone's trying to pick a fight with you, or you're answering questions from your House leader.

Don't fixate too much on stuff like backstory. While backstory can be crazy helpful in terms of contributing to your character's mannerisms, habits, speech, reactions etc, and you should absolutely have something in mind, it is easy to sit there and write out a whole long tale about being raised on the wintry tundra by minotaurs, only to come out at the end of it and still have no idea what your character is like.

It seems like you have a pretty decent idea of what your character is like, with his wild and aggressive personality, and savage mannerisms. A couple of suggestions I'd make:

Knight Houses more than others, and the city of Cyrene more than others, are likely to have expectations regarding your behaviour. If you plan on playing a rude jerkass character, that will create issues, especially when you're a novice. You're likely to be told "stop being a rude jerkass" at several points, and if that was the basis of your character, then you're left with not much. Stubbornness is an overrated trait. Consider that your character decided to join this House for a reason; despite his savagery, he's decided that he wants to be a Runewarden, and is willing to subscribe to what that entails. You should view his personality as a way to colour your interactions, not as something that stands in the way of interactions. Maybe a situation comes up where he's instructed to do something he wouldn't have done in his savage past (like salute, bow, kneel, comb his dreads, etc). He could say "I'm not doing this", or he could say "why do we do this". The second is an easier way of displaying your character's personality and starting an interesting conversation, while the first puts all the responsibility on the other person to try and get you to concede, which they may not bother doing.

Emote lots. When you're standing around, when you're talking with House superiors, whenever. Emotes are a great way of showing off your character's personality, and showing that you've put thought into your character's personality. You can write out custom emotes/tmotes (as opposed to the default pre-written ones like "smile"), and if you have some that you plan on using more than once, you can bind them to the in-game alias system, or to your client's alias system. An emoted bow or salute that you've written yourself is worth heaps more than using the default bow/salute. Emotes are a magnet for other people to emote at and roleplay with you in turn. Emotes can also make it clear that you are roleplaying - as opposed to, say, acting difficult because you happen to have an abrasive personality in real life.

Fill silences. If you're standing at Centre Crossing with five other people, but nobody's saying anything, maybe you can snatch a rat from the ground with your jungle-honed reflexes and take a warm bite. It shows off your character, and is an easy conversation starter. Maybe people continue saying and doing nothing, or maybe you get something out of it.

Think about cliches and other verbal mannerisms. If you catch yourself using a cliche like "kill two birds with one stone", "strike while the iron's hot", "get to the heart of the matter", "she has a heart of gold", "jump the gun", etc, consider whether you can come up with a phrase that better reflects your character and their past and upbringing. Also consider whether your character has their own little verbal mannerisms, instead of automatically transplanting your own like "yep" or "uh huh".