The Types of Playbys You Use & How You Find Them

[NyxDarklore 92]

Reading and responding to this thread got me thinking about this topic, and I'm curious on people's thoughts...

 

What are your opinions on the different "types" of playbys such as actors vs models vs musicians? 
Do you find yourself gravitating towards more popular (and often overused) playbys or towards less mainstream ones? 
How do you go about finding your playbys to best represent your characters?

 

For me, I have a mixture of types these days, though most of my playbys now would fall into the category of unknown (bar a few). I fall very much on the side of "what face a person uses is completely up to them and what best represents their character's appearance, aesthetic, style, etc." for myself and others, but these days I tend to gravitate away from musicians as faces. I play a lot in fantasy worlds where their aesthetic doesn't make a lot of sense, though I have used them in the past (and there is like one I still do because she's been the face of a character for forever).

 

For me, as Morrigan mentioned in the thread linked above, I cast my characters and find that I gravitate towards actors and models as a result, people who play a role rather than people who act like themselves. Some of my faces are more mainstream and common, some of them I will go through several iterations before I find the right face, and some I will google "top X in {country}" and see what I can find. I've actually found quite a few good playbys that way (and a few good sites to search on again).

Edited June 26, 2021 by NyxDarklore

[Orion 33]

When I use a faceclaim, I tend to gravitate towards uncommon ones. Using popular faces is wonderful for some, but I would rather not have someone assuming my character has a similar personality to the faceclaim I use. For example, using Chris Evans does NOT equal the character's personality being Captain America's or Evans himself. 

 

More often than not though, I use character/OC designs without an assigned IRL person.

[Morrigan 1,826]

Oh goodness! I find them by people posting them in the Playby directory here (inspiration via imagery). Character wanted ads. Some of my favorite characters were character inspirations or wanted ads (in fact one of my favorites was one that was jokingly put out there and she has become one of my favorite characters ever though unplayable except on my own RPs sadly).

 

I use actors and musicians primarily with models as a secondary. I will be honest that I think I gravitate equally toward both actors and musicians because they make sense to me in a lot of contexts. I have a ranging set of popular and unpopular (both by media standards and RP standards) PBs. Some of which will full block me from joining a site depending on its subject matter and the characters I want to play there.

 

Some of my more popular PBs are Charlize Theron, Lena Headey and Christina Hendricks. Some of my lesser knowns (these tend to be musicians). Amanda Palmer, Yolandi Visser and Nicki Minaj.

[DivineRabbit 64]

I gravitate towards the unusual ones, whether its a model or an actor actress etc. Not the normal popular faces they have to have character 

[Kitsunesweetheart 0]

I use my favorite male & female celebs (from tv shows and movies).

[Dale Bozzio 30]

A lot of face claims I use would, at best, be considered has-beens or washed-up. I also happen to gravitate to those who just happen to be deceased as I feel as if they tend to capture vibes you would have a difficult time finding with the current pool of potential faces in popular media, especially with the increased acceptance of influencers (who I personally don't see the appeal of as followers can be bought making numeric metrics for their acceptance pointless). I also tend to use the unconventionally attractive whether they're fat, androgynous, or just against current beauty trends.

 

It can make plotting more difficult if an RPer is shallow enough, but you can't say the faces I use aren't memorable.

[Blooming of the Blooms 19]

I cough have an obsession with Cate Blanchett and when it comes to creating an original character, I haven't created one that didn't have her as the FC in the last few years. Often an FC is a considerable factor in the character-shaping process for me and helps inspire. I gravitate towards middle-aged, female FCs, or FCs that look similar to myself.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Rainbow Wilderness

[Elena 546]

What are your opinions on the different "types" of playbys such as actors vs models vs musicians? 

As long as the playby matches my character, I have nothing against it. I used mainly actors, because their roles make them versatile to be used (especially the availability of period clothing for historical RPGs) but also singers and models when they fit. (Yes, a problem for those like me who cannot photoshop).

Do you find yourself gravitating towards more popular (and often overused) playbys or towards less mainstream ones? 

Not necessarily. By contrary, I gravitate towards the dead ones, who had been young and matching my character in certain movies (or photoshots for singers and models, sometimes also asking photoshop savvy friends to dress them up or make them a scar as needed). I had more popular playbys only when the character request taken by me came with an already chosen playby.

How do you go about finding your playbys to best represent your characters?

Sometimes they appear in my mind as I am writing the character bio, envisaging a certain actor in a certain movie, or even a singer with a typical look and costume. (For me it is the costume and the appearance in that movie and not in another, so I could accept the same faceclaim for various characters, if photos from radically different movies).

Other times, I have a collection of playby photos that I choose from. Sometimes, I have an idea how the character should look, but I do not know where to search and I used to ask on resource sites for recommendations. This is how I got Fernando Colunga, Jamie Dornan and a few others.

[Mr Oblivious 5]

I often chose actors most of all, simply because of the various themes that they may portray during their career. If the character I am creating is meant to be quite visceral and gut wrenching, I tend to try and find FC's that convey that sort of feeling. At the end of the day for me personally, it's not so much about their profession or where they come from but the general feeling that they are able to convey. It's why I have favorites when it comes to my FC's, and while they are quite popular these days, when I first started using them they were really not. Hardy, Momoa and Cavill are said FC's. Can hardly play them these days as it is.

[Huskerdust 625]

Oh man, where DON'T I find faces? I find them everywhere. Heck, my latest character is using Evan Evagora because of The Quarry. It's just whomever stirs up the creativity in me. I saw his character in The Quarry and asked myself "what if?" And then I had my own character. Some of my favorites come from watching series, too, such as Hale Appleman, Jason Momoa, Liam James, etc.

 

And I don't just stick to actors. If I see a model or musician etc that fits a role I have in mind, I'll definitely use them too!

[Lady Hyde 21]

What are your opinions on the different "types" of playbys such as actors vs models vs musicians? 

Makes no difference to me, so long as they are a publicly accessible figure in some way. I am hesitant when it comes to Influencers - particularly pulling images from their Instagrams. Seems weird to me whether they're a 'Content Creator' or an influencer with thousands of followers. I don't care if they're deceased. I do care if they're pieces of shit. 

Do you find yourself gravitating towards more popular (and often overused) playbys or towards less mainstream ones? 

Less mainstream and it's not even a conscious effort. I would say I've probably eased up a little in recent years and that is largely to do with the fact that, unfortunately, the more obscure and left field from the spotlight you go, the less high quality workable images. #gfxwench The most well known face claim I'm using right now is Camilla Cabello because she's stunning and I couldn't help myself. Probably followed by Rufus Sewell. 

How do you go about finding your playbys to best represent your characters?

I am a sucker for a tumblr face claim directory. But I also tend to find a lot through Pinterest. The problem really lies with the fact that I don't just settle on a face because of hair colour and eye colour. There has to be... a way about them. It's a gut feeling and that means that nobody can help me find the right face because 90% of the time I don't even know what I'm looking for. (Oh woe is me) And I won't until I find it. I thought I wanted to use Florence Welch last night. Actually, I was pretty damn confident until I pulled up google and saw her pictures. I didn't have the right gut feeling. I ended up with Lotte Verbeek (Geillis from Outlander) instead. 

[Untold Tales 2]

On 6/26/2021 at 5:45 PM, NyxDarklore said:

Reading and responding to this thread got me thinking about this topic, and I'm curious on people's thoughts...

 

What are your opinions on the different "types" of playbys such as actors vs models vs musicians? 
Do you find yourself gravitating towards more popular (and often overused) playbys or towards less mainstream ones? 
How do you go about finding your playbys to best represent your characters?

 

For me, I have a mixture of types these days, though most of my playbys now would fall into the category of unknown (bar a few). I fall very much on the side of "what face a person uses is completely up to them and what best represents their character's appearance, aesthetic, style, etc." for myself and others, but these days I tend to gravitate away from musicians as faces. I play a lot in fantasy worlds where their aesthetic doesn't make a lot of sense, though I have used them in the past (and there is like one I still do because she's been the face of a character for forever).

 

For me, as Morrigan mentioned in the thread linked above, I cast my characters and find that I gravitate towards actors and models as a result, people who play a role rather than people who act like themselves. Some of my faces are more mainstream and common, some of them I will go through several iterations before I find the right face, and some I will google "top X in {country}" and see what I can find. I've actually found quite a few good playbys that way (and a few good sites to search on again).

I usually just search google till I find one that seems to work for my idea. As far as our sites go, as long as they are 18 and above, art and actual faces are allowed. 

[Nypromi 1]

When looking for a face for play by it comes down to the theme of the form I am associated with as well as the setting of the forum.

 

RPs that are modern day means I don't have to be very picky about my character unless I want to be with hair color, race and so forth. I will look for faces that have a lot of options with images and gifs if possible.

 

If we are talking about RPs that have renaissance style settings or even sci-fi settings I will tend to look for characters that fit those themes or have images that can be cropped enough to be used. It won't matter to me if they are a actor, model of musician as much as it will matter to me the quality and quantity of images they have.