Now that I know the kids say ‘faceclaim’ instead of ‘playedby’

• https://herorps.tumblr.com/fcd
• https://argentangelhelps.tumblr.com/faceclaimdirectory
• https://thefcdproject.tumblr.com/directory
• https://ooolympia.tumblr.com/fcdirectory

Shout out to this one for period appropriate pbs:

• https://periodfcnetwork.tumblr.com/directory

I guess I should say fcs now, but y’all will think I mean feature characters instead.

I currently have 374 actors listed in there, across a wide variety of ages, colorings, ethnicities, genders, and pretty much everything else. So the first place I go when I want a PB is there.

Then again, I often get an idea for a character while watching a show, and then I already have a PB in mind (because I saw them in a similar role already). Then I just have to make sure that they don’t become an outright expy.

But, AI being what it is, I don’t feel comfortable doing that anymore. So back into the search engine mines it is.

Other times, because my characters tend to pull a bit of inspiration from this over here and that over there and then maybe a touch of this movie or that song slapped on top of it, I already have someone vaguely taking shape in my head. So I’ll look back at what I drew inspiration from and see if there’s someone from one of those sources that fits the vibe, even if it’s a side character or a similar piece of media.

If I’m making characters with someone, they’ll get pulled into the decision process to make suggestions or veto something if it reminds them too much of someone they know, a PB they used, or a standout character from another game. I recently vetoed one of the names on a friend’s list because it was the Shadow Name of a Mage that I played for, like, almost four years. It just would’ve been weird to be on the other end of that and I want to show my friends and RP partners the same courtesy.

@KarmaBum THANK U. I need more resources like that.

There are some actors I just keep in my pocket because I like their vibe and want to use them when the time is right, though.

Prompt: “I am playing a character that is X, Y, Z. What actor/actress/model would best play this?”

These days I like to use character actors, supporting actors, and international film actors over A-listers, but I find them by watching something and later thinking “hey that person would be right for this vibe,” which to me is the main consideration for who to use as a PB. The vibe comes first.

Other times I describe a character to someone (a friend, or increasingly my children) and they make suggestions. Though often these days I don’t even bother with PBs as much.

I also often just reuse PBs because idgaf.

Where do you find your PBs?

It’s completely circumstantial. Sometimes I find something on somewhere like DeviantArt, sometimes a face jumps in my head that resembles someone in real life, and I have used Midjourney on one game for pictures, for my OC and their associated (NPC) family (and the sweet chonkers who now lives rent free in my head and on my desktop and phone lock screen).

1. Find a stock photo and use that.

2. Find an actor or actress that isn’t super well known, and definitely isn’t known for their looks and use that.

Honestly though, the PB pictures I use are never anything near what I see in my head when I think about the character, so I usually leave that blank on wikis and stuff until I get tired of people poking me about it. And, in transparency, I have used AI generators before, but I have since stopped because well, they have terrible ethics (even, from what I understand, the ones trained on licensed portfolios where the artist (or artists) get money out of it.