Character Development Worksheet

This worksheet helps you develop a memorable and engaging character for your Malware & Monsters session. Remember: your character should be 70% your authentic self, 20% role archetype, and 10% scenario context.

Basic Character Information

Personal Foundation

Character Name: ___________________________ (Most players use their real first name)

Professional Background: ___________________________ (Your actual job/field of study)

Role Assignment: ___________________________ (Detective, Protector, Tracker, Communicator, Crisis Manager, or Threat Hunter)

Years of Experience: ___________________________ (In your field, not necessarily cybersecurity)

Character Personality Development

Core Personality Trait

Choose ONE distinctive characteristic that makes your character memorable:

Options to consider:

My character’s core trait: ___________________________

How this shows up in their work: ___________________________

Work Habits and Quirks

Choose 1-2 authentic work habits that fit your character:

For Detective Characters:

For Protector Characters:

For Tracker Characters:

For Communicator Characters:

For Crisis Manager Characters:

For Threat Hunter Characters:

My character’s work habits: ___________________________

Character Motivation and Stakes

Why Your Character Cares

What drives your character to protect this organization?

My character’s primary motivation: ___________________________

Why this matters to them personally: ___________________________

What Would Devastate Your Character

If this incident succeeded completely, what would upset your character most?

My character’s biggest fear for this incident: ___________________________

Character Voice and Communication Style

How Your Character Talks About Their Work

Professional vocabulary your character would use: ___________________________ (Technical terms, business language, or field-specific jargon)

Analogies your character might use: ___________________________ (How do they explain complex concepts?)

Phrases your character says frequently: ___________________________ (“In my experience,” “From a security perspective,” “The data shows,” etc.)

Character Reactions Under Pressure

When stressed or concerned, your character:

When excited about a discovery, your character:

Character Relationships and Team Dynamics

How Your Character Interacts with Teammates

Your character works best with others by:

When your character disagrees with teammates: ___________________________ (How do they express different opinions constructively?)

When your character doesn’t understand something: ___________________________ (How do they ask for help or clarification?)

Character Growth and Learning

How This Incident Changes Your Character

By the end of the session, your character will have:

Character Development Goals

What would make this a successful experience for your character? ___________________________

How does this incident relate to your character’s career goals? ___________________________

What does your character hope to learn from this experience? ___________________________

Character Introduction Practice

Preparing Your Introduction

Write a 30-second character introduction:
“I’m [Name], and I work in [Role] at [type of organization]. [One sentence about your expertise/background]. [One sentence about your character trait/quirk]. [One sentence about what concerns you most about this incident].”

Tip: Make it fun. Fun breaks the ice faster and helps players engage.

Practice introduction: ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

Introduction Examples for Inspiration

Detective Example:

“I’m Sarah, and I work in IT Support at a regional hospital. I’ve been watching our system logs like Netflix for three years, and I notice when things are even 0.2% off normal. Right now everything feels 15% wrong, which means we definitely have a problem that needs investigating.”

Protector Example:

“I’m Marcus, and I’m a Systems Administrator for a school district. These servers are basically my children, and someone just tried to hurt my babies. I’ve got Firewall Fluffy and IDS Spike ready to defend our network, and I’m not happy about this intrusion.”

Communicator Example:

“I’m Jamie, and I work in Risk Management for a financial services company. I’m the one who has to explain to our CEO why ‘just unplug everything’ isn’t actually a solution. I’m already calculating compliance implications and figuring out how to keep stakeholders calm while we fix this.”

Final Character Check

Character Consistency Checklist

Character Readiness Assessment

Using This Worksheet

Before Your Session

  • Complete this worksheet 1-2 days before your session
  • Practice your character introduction out loud
  • Think about how your character would approach different types of problems
  • Prepare examples of how your character’s expertise would apply

During Your Session

  • Refer back to your character motivation when making decisions
  • Use your character’s communication style when contributing
  • Stay consistent with your character’s personality traits
  • Let your character grow and develop through the experience

After Your Session

  • Reflect on how your character developed during the session
  • Consider what your character learned and how they changed
  • Think about how character development enhanced your learning
  • Plan how you might develop this character further in future sessions

Remember: The goal is to create a character that enhances your learning experience and helps you contribute authentically to your team’s success. Your character should feel natural and comfortable while providing a framework for engaging with cybersecurity challenges from a specific perspective.