(RP) Motivational Pondering
I've mentioned before that I usually find characters with motivation more interesting to play (or to play with). And reading an article on the importance of character wants to a story (implying that a lack thereof should usually be reworked). That got me reflecting on previous characters, naturally, and considering nuances as applicable to roleplaying.
I do keep coming back to my Exalted character, Alexandra, are one of my most memorably-motivated characters. Heck, she wanted nothing short of to fix the world with the establishment of a new, better order. In most games, that's be a rather unobtainable (though not necessarily bad) goal. In Exalted, though, it fit right in. I sort of regret not being able to take the reins more and have her steer the course due to certain issues that needed to be dealt with "now" keeping any such plans from really taking hold. I was puzzling out possible ways to work an alliance with Lookshy in order to build up support in the region, but we were "pushed" to deal with Thorns before I could get into any of that. I envisioned Whitewall as a northern base and bastion to work from, but had to deal with a deathlord in the South and never got back within the frame of the game. There was a whole lot going on there...
But at least doing any good somewhere coincided with her goals.
And that's a point where things can get tricky. The article author argues, "If the plot happens in spite of your characters' desires, that makes those desires more important." That may well be true for a story, because a story can zoom in on the character's situation. The conflict between what needs to be done and what he/she wants to do can be interesting to the reader. In an RPG, you usually don't get that close a view. Unless a player is particularly expressive about such things, the only person who will even see that conflict is... that player. Everyone else is likely to only be aware of that character's actions in relation to the plot.
In one of the ongoing tabletop games I play in (that we haven't gotten back to in quite a while), we have some goals that weren't in-synch with the plot. Note that we made characters without really knowing what we were getting into plot-wise. My own character, Rowan, is a haughty elf convinced of her race's superiority. She's a clerical caster and a smith who really wants to be known for her skill. If not for the constraints of the campaign, she'd be making fine weapons for praise and wealth to set herself up as some sort of noble, most likely. Instead, the PCs are caught up in a plot to overtake tribally-inhabited grasslands.
Rowan's overarching goals are stuck on hold, and she hates that - and I'm not sure just how well I conveyed that to the others at the table. The whole affair is rather insulting to her. The people they're helping are barbarians who don't really deserve it. Mind you, she isn't devoid of compassion. She was willing to help these people, but did so with a measure of reluctance because it was so far afield of anything she really cared about. At least, she decided after a day or two, being hailed as a hero would be a nice thing.
A greater degree of personal investment was added when the GM gave Rowan a religious vision. One of the things the demonically-influenced "evil" tribe did along the way was kill a druid and steal a holy relic with the intent to pervert its use and do bad things (tm). This radically changed her outlook on the situation and her own involvement, bringing it closer in line with the plot. Suddenly, retrieval of that relic was a primary concern (at least in the immediate sense), and even a divine duty. Rowan was involved before, but now she's committed to stopping the villains.
That, at least in my theory, is one of the great things about a GM'd game and was probably the right way to deal with it. As long as a character has something they care about, a GM can tailor the situation to help make them feel more involved if they aren't already. It certainly helps when PCs have open hooks to use (faith in this case). I do, however, wonder if some of the other players in that game aren't still there "just because." But this is also an example of the customization that you just can't get in programmed C/MMO-RPGs - there are too many variables for even a company like Bioware to appeal to everyone.
And then I come back to the Charles de Lint book(s) I read this week, as they're fresh in my mind. The central characters of each tale start of somewhat aimless. Jacky, particularly, seems to have a desire/want/goal to... perhaps find some sort of purpose, as she realizes a dissatisfaction with her own life not going anywhere. While I liked the story, I didn't like how she went from that to offering to help save a fae princess from real monsters because... well, we never really get any reason. One could argue it's her destiny, but that theory isn't really put forth by anyone in the story. She just seems to take the attitude that "no one else is helping, so I should," which feels radically out of place to me for the character that we're introduced to.
In light of these thoughts, I also took a look back at the character I made up for Furryfaire: Threshold, though haven't played. Every time I think about doing so, my own mental reaction is "meh," and I think it may be because there's connection between her and any plot (or lack thereof). Snowe is Knight of the Fallen Sun acting in the North. That lays out vague goals of protecting people in need, though with a greater eye toward the threat of the Northern Wilds than anything else. So... yeah. If there were some big plot to hold back beasts or hunt for missing people (though the border's far enough away that seems unlikely out of Threshold), she'd fit right in. But in the absence of any serious plots, what is there to do? Socialize around town? Eh... that's exactly where that sort of character is out of place. I can't envision her wanting anything out of that, which makes it pretty senseless to RP. That's... probably more a failing of my character design than anything. I could argue that there isn't enough going on around the MUCK to hook into, but a character should probably be built to be more self-motivated in those situations in the first place.
I also think back to when Mika was an active character there. She was often reactionary, but actively so. A number of times something happened and she jumped into action with her own research and plots and activities. Whether it was trying to prevent something (the Joshuite slaying of Sisters) or to benefit personally from a situation (pursuing the Aria from the Reclaimers), Mika would take something and run with it. I might ask why I can't/don't do that again, but... 1) most of her plots were individual and personal, not real benefitial to the MUCK as a whole and 2) my sense is there quite simply isn't enough to play off of these days.
Still, it seems like that ought to give me some pointers are far as making a character that actually does something. Shouldn't it?
I do keep coming back to my Exalted character, Alexandra, are one of my most memorably-motivated characters. Heck, she wanted nothing short of to fix the world with the establishment of a new, better order. In most games, that's be a rather unobtainable (though not necessarily bad) goal. In Exalted, though, it fit right in. I sort of regret not being able to take the reins more and have her steer the course due to certain issues that needed to be dealt with "now" keeping any such plans from really taking hold. I was puzzling out possible ways to work an alliance with Lookshy in order to build up support in the region, but we were "pushed" to deal with Thorns before I could get into any of that. I envisioned Whitewall as a northern base and bastion to work from, but had to deal with a deathlord in the South and never got back within the frame of the game. There was a whole lot going on there...
But at least doing any good somewhere coincided with her goals.
And that's a point where things can get tricky. The article author argues, "If the plot happens in spite of your characters' desires, that makes those desires more important." That may well be true for a story, because a story can zoom in on the character's situation. The conflict between what needs to be done and what he/she wants to do can be interesting to the reader. In an RPG, you usually don't get that close a view. Unless a player is particularly expressive about such things, the only person who will even see that conflict is... that player. Everyone else is likely to only be aware of that character's actions in relation to the plot.
In one of the ongoing tabletop games I play in (that we haven't gotten back to in quite a while), we have some goals that weren't in-synch with the plot. Note that we made characters without really knowing what we were getting into plot-wise. My own character, Rowan, is a haughty elf convinced of her race's superiority. She's a clerical caster and a smith who really wants to be known for her skill. If not for the constraints of the campaign, she'd be making fine weapons for praise and wealth to set herself up as some sort of noble, most likely. Instead, the PCs are caught up in a plot to overtake tribally-inhabited grasslands.
Rowan's overarching goals are stuck on hold, and she hates that - and I'm not sure just how well I conveyed that to the others at the table. The whole affair is rather insulting to her. The people they're helping are barbarians who don't really deserve it. Mind you, she isn't devoid of compassion. She was willing to help these people, but did so with a measure of reluctance because it was so far afield of anything she really cared about. At least, she decided after a day or two, being hailed as a hero would be a nice thing.
A greater degree of personal investment was added when the GM gave Rowan a religious vision. One of the things the demonically-influenced "evil" tribe did along the way was kill a druid and steal a holy relic with the intent to pervert its use and do bad things (tm). This radically changed her outlook on the situation and her own involvement, bringing it closer in line with the plot. Suddenly, retrieval of that relic was a primary concern (at least in the immediate sense), and even a divine duty. Rowan was involved before, but now she's committed to stopping the villains.
That, at least in my theory, is one of the great things about a GM'd game and was probably the right way to deal with it. As long as a character has something they care about, a GM can tailor the situation to help make them feel more involved if they aren't already. It certainly helps when PCs have open hooks to use (faith in this case). I do, however, wonder if some of the other players in that game aren't still there "just because." But this is also an example of the customization that you just can't get in programmed C/MMO-RPGs - there are too many variables for even a company like Bioware to appeal to everyone.
And then I come back to the Charles de Lint book(s) I read this week, as they're fresh in my mind. The central characters of each tale start of somewhat aimless. Jacky, particularly, seems to have a desire/want/goal to... perhaps find some sort of purpose, as she realizes a dissatisfaction with her own life not going anywhere. While I liked the story, I didn't like how she went from that to offering to help save a fae princess from real monsters because... well, we never really get any reason. One could argue it's her destiny, but that theory isn't really put forth by anyone in the story. She just seems to take the attitude that "no one else is helping, so I should," which feels radically out of place to me for the character that we're introduced to.
In light of these thoughts, I also took a look back at the character I made up for Furryfaire: Threshold, though haven't played. Every time I think about doing so, my own mental reaction is "meh," and I think it may be because there's connection between her and any plot (or lack thereof). Snowe is Knight of the Fallen Sun acting in the North. That lays out vague goals of protecting people in need, though with a greater eye toward the threat of the Northern Wilds than anything else. So... yeah. If there were some big plot to hold back beasts or hunt for missing people (though the border's far enough away that seems unlikely out of Threshold), she'd fit right in. But in the absence of any serious plots, what is there to do? Socialize around town? Eh... that's exactly where that sort of character is out of place. I can't envision her wanting anything out of that, which makes it pretty senseless to RP. That's... probably more a failing of my character design than anything. I could argue that there isn't enough going on around the MUCK to hook into, but a character should probably be built to be more self-motivated in those situations in the first place.
I also think back to when Mika was an active character there. She was often reactionary, but actively so. A number of times something happened and she jumped into action with her own research and plots and activities. Whether it was trying to prevent something (the Joshuite slaying of Sisters) or to benefit personally from a situation (pursuing the Aria from the Reclaimers), Mika would take something and run with it. I might ask why I can't/don't do that again, but... 1) most of her plots were individual and personal, not real benefitial to the MUCK as a whole and 2) my sense is there quite simply isn't enough to play off of these days.
Still, it seems like that ought to give me some pointers are far as making a character that actually does something. Shouldn't it?
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