Sparks

I've used the term "spark" in discussing characters and roleplaying games in progress - usually in reference to something that's lacking. Maybe it's the initial spark of inspiration that leads to a plot/story or maybe it's the spark of chemistry between characters that makes them feel like there's more between them than just carrying out actions in the same location.

What still eludes me is how to light those little embers. It's a lot easier to see something is lacking than to fix it, especially when it's something so ephemeral. And though I've pondered it some of late, I don't feel any closer to epiphany either in a specific case or in general.

How do you make characters and stories that really "click?"

Comments

  1. kyn_elwynnMay 5, 2014 at 6:39 PM

    A logical progression along with a desire on your behalf to see the story play out from the point of view of the character.

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  2. marinredwolfMay 6, 2014 at 6:35 PM

    Sounds like a rather specific-to-me reply. P Perhaps tailoring things to who you're dealing with is a good way to approach it. It gets awful difficult, however, when you get differing interests involved. How far out of my way should I go to work a scene/game/campaign toward interests I don't share? And what if you have multiple people involved who have different interests to begin with? In pondering this the other day, I did return to thinking that doing chargen for RPG campaigns together is probably a much better idea for this sort of thing than creating characters in a vacuum. The latter leads to a "you all meet in a tavern" sort of approach that's as cliche as the orc in a 10x10 room and makes it harder (though not impossible if people try) to weave together character connections.

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