Regardless of whether you are a newcomer to the SCA, a SCAdian lifer with an interest in doing school demos, someone who does live-action role play, or someone who spends time on the stage, you have an interest in creating a strong persona. Your intent is to create a complete being, one who can withstand odd and unusual questions, and come back with answers that fit that persona.

This leads a lot of people to ask, “How do I go about developing that much detail in my persona?”  Admittedly, there are a large number of SCAdians who don’t develop more than the rudiments of a persona – perhaps just a name and country of origin, sometimes not even that much. The process of developing a persona, however, often starts from such simple groundwork.

For those with an interest in finer detail in their personas, there are a number of areas that you can research in order to expand personal histories.

Artifacts are a good support for persona development, especially for new people just setting out down this path. There are lots of young men out there who bought huge shiny swords even before they had proper clothes to wear, and proceeded to model persona development around the sword.  Usually we advise that once you have an idea of where you want your persona to go (development-wise), start acquiring a few suitable items for your period, location, and station.  Learn what you can about these items, how they were produced, how they came into your possession, and you’ve got a good starting point for general cultural references.

Start with some basic questions regarding your persona’s religion:

For instance, devout Christians in the Middle Ages had a “saint’s day” for almost every day of the year. Often, a child’s birthday was of less importance than his saint’s day, in which both the child and the saint names as his/her protector were honoured.  The Church dictated hairstyles and clothing fashions for much of the Christian Middle Ages, and royal sumptuary laws were often based (to some extent) in these church-based restrictions. In many cases, the Church was exempt from secular sumptuary laws, but clerical orders had their own equally rigorous and restrictive sumptuary laws.

Religious pilgrimages were one of the most widely condoned form of “social travel” throughout the height of the medieval era, in which both men and women were free to travel from one religious site to another. What little news or knowledge a persona has of the world might come from such a trip, along with an excuse to possess interesting language skills or articles not normally found in the home area. 

The “news of the world” issue leads to the next area of persona philosophy – personal politics, Outside the obvious historically noted wars of your chosen time period, here are some other issues to ponder:

(Author’s note: the difference between “kin” and “clan”, to the best of my knowledge, is that “kin” refers to a relative of the immediate or direct bloodline, while “clan” or “clansman” refers to anyone of the clan, be they of direct bloodline, or not of the blood at all.  One can be “clan” without being “kin”, but one can’t be “kin” without being “clan” … at least, not without a good fight J.)

Many cultures are also hereditary in nature, where if your family didn’t do it for generations before you, chances are you won’t either.  Marrying above or below one’s station did happen, but was generally frowned on if not actively discouraged.  Only in the very close-to-the-throne circles of nobility was it a regular practice to acquire new titles – usually at the expense of the head currently claiming that right.

Often these clan or familial relationships dictate who you can associate with, who you can and can’t marry, who you can trade and do business with, and so on.  Because of the far-reaching effects of personal politics, it’s often a good idea to be very well aware of both the political climate of your chose time/location, as well as your persona’s (and familial) position on those politics.

The first issue to look at is the contentious problem of reconciling all your diverse interests within a single persona.  Something that is both the bane and the beauty of the SCA, for instance, is that there is So Much To Do.  Your persona may head in one direction, but you have or develop interests which may lead in another – like the early-period Irish sailor who suddenly discovers a love of Middle Eastern hand drumming, or the Restoration lady who discovers a passion for the forge and anvil and Japanese kite flying.

For many with conflicting interests, the majority of responses fall into the second or third categories.  For example, a Norse persona with a keen interest in fencing might decide not to change persona, but simply to acquire the right garments for the task, while remaining true to the core persona at all other times.

Many people treat the SCA as a geographical location, exchanging time for physical distance.  This enables an Elizabethan gentleman, for example, to travel to the Laurel Kingdoms and pass time at an event drinking with a Norman knight, a 14th Century Venetian spice merchant, and a lowly apanese house cook.  This melting pot also provides ample opportunity for individual personae to encounter and pick up interests not native to their own lives, and also enables them to offer homage to kings and barons not their own. 

Treating the SCA as a separate geographical entity makes it easier on those who have to deal with the public while “in persona”.  For example, school children at demos often ask How We Got Here. My standard response is, “Well, I sailed from Dover some 3 1/2 weeks ago, and I came across country from the lake port by your local conveyances.”  My persona is fascinated by all the local marvels of modern south-western Ontario, but no more than she would be by all the marvels to witness in 15th C Vienna, or Padua, or Addis Ababa.

So, once you start to wrap your head around the idea of using the SCA as a fixed locale on the map, consider these questions:

An advantage to travelling with “stuff” is that you can claim an area of the hall as your own, and depending on the quality of your setup, it adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the event.  It may be as simple as a Norseman travelling with a couple of sea-chests covered in sheepskins, or it could be a Lancastrian lady travelling with most of her household goods – folding screen and fabric, folding chairs and cushions, folding table, embroidery stand and frame, jugs and pottery tableware, rugs for the floor … hmm, that all sounds very familiar…

While all of this began as an exercise to help SCA demo staff create mostly-unshakeable personas, the underlying ideas for anyone trying to create a fully developed identity.  The bottom line, as I have said in many places, is that the details do count. Remember that each element you add contributes to the overall effect and strength of your persona.  Whether you travel in grandiose style or simplified comfort, in Tudor glitz or peasant rags, all these questions will guide you in the act of creating a persona every bit as detailed as you are.  I warn you now that each question will lead to dozens more. 

From simple groundwork comes what can be as simple or as complicated as you allow it to be.  A little research goes a long way, and in the end, you will have created a whole new person that you can present for the enjoyment and benefit of all.