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This is a copy-paste (with some additions) from my Tumblr blog (spaztique.tumblr.com/ ), but it must be reposted.

Twilight of the Hakurei, the club-wide comic tennis/RP (walfasstationwagon.deviantart.… ), is turning out just as I suspected: AMAZINGLY. However, one thing that really astounds me is how well the character system is working. If you're not familiar, it's simply this:

1. Pick the character's biggest strength that affects other people. Note the key phrase, "that affects other people." For example, "He's really good at cooking," is not a strength: that's just a regular skill that only applies to one area of life and doesn't really affect others. However, "He's a fast learner," or, "He pays attention to detail," or, "He's very generous," is a strength because it applies to more than just cooking, but any other skill and especially relationships.
2. Pick the character's biggest weakness that affects other people. Once again, note the key phrase, "that affects other people." Saying, "He's never had a girlfriend," is not a weakness, nor is, "He's a nerd," or, "Nobody likes him." Real weaknesses include, "He's really shy around people," or, "He is untrustworthy to others," or, "He has temper issues."
3. Pick which of the two is stronger. The weaker trait will become the main personality. The stronger trait will be brought out in times of great conflict.

And that's all you need to make a compelling, easily-adaptable character. Boiled down to a formula, it looks like this:

Strength + Weakness x Which is stronger = Character.

The thing I like about the two traits system is that any two traits and which one wins can make any number of characters. For example…

(Strength = Bravery) + (Weakness = Selfishness) x (Strength < Weakness) = The wannabe hero who is really a glory hound. He'll act brave in many situations, but in the end, he's only in it for himself.

(Strength = Bravery) + (Weakness = Selfishness) x (Strength > Weakness) = The Knight in Sour Armor. This hero acts selfish most of the time, but in the end, this person really does want to do the right thing.

(Strength = Kindhearted) + (Weakness = Bitterness) x (Strength > Weakness) = The classic tsundere. While she (they're usually shes) is a jerk most of the time, she'll always end up doing nice things for others (not because they like you or anything, idiot).

(Strength = Kindhearted) + (Weakness = Bitterness) x (Strength < Weakness) = The classic yandere. Sure, they'll be super nice most of the time, but make them snap and whoever is in their path is in for a very bad day.

What's cool is that you can develop a dynamic cast by recycling the same traits over again and switching around their positions.

Let's see what characters we can draw from this…

(Strength = Intuition) + (Weakness = Fear) x (Strength > Weakness) = Luke Skywalker from Star Wars

(Strength = Selflessness and Honor) + (Weakness = Selfishness and Bitterness) x (Strength > Weakness) = Rick Blaine from Casablanca

(Strength = Acute sense of Justice) + (Weakness = Losing touch with humanity) x (Strength > Weakness) = Superman (and sometimes a great number of superheroes)

(Strength = Determination) + (Weakness = Regret) x (Strength > Weakness) = Dom Cobb from Inception

(Strength = Honor and Morality) + (Weakness = Paranoia) x (Strength > Weakness) = Hamlet

(Strength = Honor and Morality) + (Weakness = Paranoia) x (Strength < Weakness) = Othello

(Strength = Honor and Morality) + (Weakness = Too Idealistic) x (Strength > Weakness) = Shirou Emiya from Fate/Stay Night

(Strength = Self-Awareness and Honor) + (Weakness = Selfishness and Hedonism) x (Strength > Weakness) = Brolli from Diamond In The Rough.

Quite an amazing system, isn't it? So many characters can pop out of just that simple formula.

If you'd like this system explained a little more, post a trait set below and I can calculate what the character will act like (plus, I could probably give you some contrasting characters to go along with it).