What do you with a set of characters but no story?

[Androol]

Associate yourself with a scenarist?
Better do a part of the work well than try to do everything badly yourself is sometime a good idea.

If you can write yourself and the only thing you miss is the story that may be a good option. He read what you wrote about your univers, creat a story that make sense in it and you just have to write the dialogue.

[pyopyon]

Haha, I started this question and because I finally found a solution, I am adding it here to my own post.

The characters I was talking about in questions are the ones I've used in Pairs, interestingly enough. (Pairs is my NaNoRenO game from this year.)

If you don't have a plot readily available, then making the story a "human" story that emphasizes more character development than actual moving and shaking plot is an idea, kind of like slice-of-life. You get all the bonus of the world's richness while emphasizing the characters themselves.

[Hazel]

Haha, I started this question and because I finally found a solution, I am adding it here to my own post.

The characters I was talking about in questions are the ones I've used in Pairs, interestingly enough. (Pairs is my NaNoRenO game from this year.)

If you don't have a plot readily available, then making the story a "human" story that emphasizes more character development than actual moving and shaking plot is an idea, kind of like slice-of-life. You get all the bonus of the world's richness while emphasizing the characters themselves.

This is a great solution, and it seems to have worked out well for you. If you're not married to the idea of having an "adventure" or "action" plot, basically anything about people in mortal peril, just telling the stories of people's lives makes a dramatic plot device. The traditional approach that I was taught is to take a character and put them in a situation that they're uncomfortable with. There is also a pithier version for the more foul-mouthed.

[Katy133]

I tend to have multiple ideas for different games, so when it comes to a character idea I have that doesn't have a story to go with it, I'll put that project in the backburner and let it simmer subconsciously until I unexpectedly get a story idea for it out of nowhere. I've found using idea prompt generators less effectiveness because trying to force a story idea results in a plot you're less passionate to make all the way to final completion.

Usually, I'll get unexpectedly inspired by a work I come across that gives me an idea. A film/game/book/song/etc that I liked (or didn't like). I'll go, "What if the writers took that idea in a different direction," and that will lead me into going, "That's something my characters could do!"

[Mammon]

I've been developing this superhero universe for about two years now and I have a really great characters with cool hero names and villain names and powers etc. and I would love to eventually develop it into a VN but... I have no idea for a storyline.
What do you do to generate ideas for VNs when you have sets of classes of characters that would be interesting to showcase?

Making a character is usually not a good basis for making a story, it's impossible to not make such characters every once in a while. I've got a whole universum of them myself that will never see the light of day, it's simply gotten too big and convoluted at this point. Anything that's action-oriented can be thrown in there, and it shows. Beginning of the universe, ancient reasons to the source of their powers, a revised version of our history diverging around 1944, complicated political situations weaving together with the heroes, and the continental groupings... Damn, the continents. If Europe alone wouldn't be enough there are the US and Japan that have enough heroes for their own league as well, and many other countries have their own heroes too. What to do with such a universe? Bury it, only to be used for your personal enjoyment. There can be a few stand-alone projects that can be taken from it such as my third-in-line next project 'Herald of yesterday' (title pending), but most should never be used.

Usually, I'll get unexpectedly inspired by a work I come across that gives me an idea. A film/game/book/song/etc that I liked (or didn't like). I'll go, "What if the writers took that idea in a different direction," and that will lead me into going, "That's something my characters could do!"

This would be the best source for inspiration. This is usually a plot or story rather than a character and will allow you to shape your characters to fit the plot rather than the other way around.