Roleplaying Question
I may be down to a couple roleplayers who regularly read this, but a question came to mind, and I'm curious about feedback...
Do you let your characters make mistakes?
And I don't mean, "do your characters make mistakes?" I mean, do they make mistakes that you, as a player, see coming and could cause them to avoid. This like choosing a plan that's likely to fail over one with a better chance of success (as opposed to following a bad plan with no real alternative), or entering into a relationship that can't possibly end well, or making a promise the character won't be able to keep even though they'll regret that later...
I think, as a player, there's always some drive to play "well" and to "succeed" in a game that pushes us away from inviting failure like that. That very psychology is part of the difficulty I've seen in some people adapting to certain games that move emphasis off "playing the character" and more toward "creating a story." And I've certainly seen it while MUCKing, too.
Wondering what other people think of it...
Do you let your characters make mistakes?
And I don't mean, "do your characters make mistakes?" I mean, do they make mistakes that you, as a player, see coming and could cause them to avoid. This like choosing a plan that's likely to fail over one with a better chance of success (as opposed to following a bad plan with no real alternative), or entering into a relationship that can't possibly end well, or making a promise the character won't be able to keep even though they'll regret that later...
I think, as a player, there's always some drive to play "well" and to "succeed" in a game that pushes us away from inviting failure like that. That very psychology is part of the difficulty I've seen in some people adapting to certain games that move emphasis off "playing the character" and more toward "creating a story." And I've certainly seen it while MUCKing, too.
Wondering what other people think of it...
It really depends on the game I'm playing. Sometimes, it's a mistake I as a player make because -I- fail to see things carry out or consider the consequences of the action in of itself. If I am playing a character that has flaws, I try to act with those in mind. One example would be my bastard paladin noble from a high-seas themed Reign game my friend was running. A man so firm in his beliefs and convictions that he knew, absolutely knew, any action he took would be righteous. He was frequently in the wrong. I once played a young and generally inexperienced mage whose self-doubt and lack of worldly knowledge got him into trouble or led to moments of crucial indecision. Some people have a fear of failure in their lives, that to see a beloved creation fail is just something they can not bring them selves to allow.
ReplyDeleteYeah, been thinking about situations and degrees myself... I find at the gaming table, it's hard for me to deliberately (or at least knowingly) screw up. Player errors don't really count in my mind. The exception being specific character flaws. In the most recent game, my character was something of a glory hound, getting a distinctive cloak made up and telling tales of exploits at just about every opportunity - which made things much more difficult than they could have been when the party started getting framed for terrorizing the countryside. My experience on the MUCK has been slightly different. Certainly there's more social, rather than plot/combat, RP. I have had occasion where I, more or less, struggled with my character over getting involved in plots/with people - situations where I knew it would lead to something I didn't want to see, but it was sort of IC to go that route. I have both "won" and "lost" those arguments. I also find I feel a sense of... social expectation of truth, if that makes sense. RP is complicated by people who are so invested in their characters they get bent out of shape when something doesn't go well - and I can't say I'm immune. So deliberately inviting that seems... frowned on, I guess. But there has been more than one situation where I felt it would be fitting for a character to say something that no matter now much they mean, I know they're being naïve and mistaken... only to get all tripped up and feel it would be wrong to type that line because another player would expect it to be some sort of absolute truth.
ReplyDeleteWith me, it depends on the character. I've had characters make bone-headed actions before, usually because of a low Wisdom usually. But if I have a character that's on the ball, I try to play them as smartly as possible. That being said, I dislike actually shooting my character in the foot if I can help it - I've tried to avoid making characters with those specific kind of flaws unless I've got a solid concept lined up.
ReplyDeleteWas somehow hoping for more feedback than that, but ah well. ;)
ReplyDelete