Musing on the Nature of Character in RPGs

[Fenris-77]

If you mean the clue and question system, that could work, but you'd have some issues as the Brindlewood system really kinda doesn't work as well without the rest of the PbtA framework driving clue acquisition and that driving play through the complication snowball. Pay attention to this during integration. I think it could work just as a bolt on, but it won't be driving play as much as it does in games built around it.

Yeah, you'd have to tinker around the edges to make it really hum but I also think that's details more than broad applicability. I was also thinking about some of the stuff related to Hargrave House to help flesh out a base of operations for an urban campaign. Just notions at this point.

 

[GMMichael]

Now, to contrast Blades with The Between. Here the game tells you to NOT create a backstory. At all. Details of your past will come out, but you create them only when directed to by play (there are things that do this in the game). . .

Ouch. This sounds great if discovering your character is the goal. I'd rather discover the story created when you put well-rounded characters together. I don't ask players for a novel on their characters, but I like to have these bits in place:

• Who was your character before play?
• Who is your character now?
• What would you like your character to become?
• What motivates your character?
• What is the character's (fatal?) flaw?

This gives enough touchstones to work from without writing a wall of text (cough cough).

There’s not much of a point here really . . .

Oh, now you tell me...as you were then

 

[Ovinomancer]

Ouch. This sounds great if discovering your character is the goal. I'd rather discover the story created when you put well-rounded characters together. I don't ask players for a novel on their characters, but I like to have these bits in place:

• Who was your character before play?
• Who is your character now?
• What would you like your character to become?
• What motivates your character?
• What is the character's (fatal?) flaw?

This gives enough touchstones to work from without writing a wall of text (cough cough).

Oh, now you tell me...as you were then

Okay.

 

[Fenris-77]

Hmm, perhaps I'm misremembering The Between, but I thought the rules tell you to not talk about your backstory unless prompted to by the rules, not that you shouldn't have one written at all.

 

[prabe]

I think this is interesting. Maybe this is my theater background speaking, but I have never really felt that I had ownership of the characters I have played. For me there's a big difference in feel between characters I have designed and ones derived from the thematically strong playbooks in a Powered by the Apocalypse game worth its salt. Still I tend to feel the pool in the other direction. I feel like I owe it to the role/character to do it justice, to advocate on its behalf. That I owe it to the people I play with to play the role/character well.

Not sure that makes any sense. This is all very stream of consciousness for me.

I was thinking about this as I was doing other things today.

Most of my issues with using other people's materials--in games (setting, characters, adventures) or music or writing--have to do with not wanting to get it wrong. It seems as though the only way I can feel as though I know it well enough to do it is if I'm doing all of it. (Or at least all of it that it's my job to do--I don't feel as though I need to make the whole setting to play a character, and I was perfectly comfortable working out bass lines for other people's songs.)

 

[Fenris-77]

I'd call the characters lead guitar, the DM rhythm guitar, and the setting and whatnot the bass and drum lines. Not to derail the thread, just a random musing on my part....

 

[Yora]

I have to say so far this seems like a discussion about a specific game, that I know nothing about. How do other games with other approaches fit into this?

 

[Ovinomancer]

Hmm, perhaps I'm misremembering The Between, but I thought the rules tell you to not talk about your backstory unless prompted to by the rules, not that you shouldn't have one written at all.

It's not clear either way. There's a strong feeling of intent that you should not, but there's nothing that punishes you if you did and kept it secret. I have to say, that latter feels much less visceral to me.

Here's my conceit with The Between: Hargrave House is a nexus of realities, a place where multiple possibilities converge, and this is where we find our Hunters. As the Hunters explore London and hunt Threats, they have the ability to occasionally select between realities through the Janus Mask. However, every time they jump reality to one that they prefer, the number of possibilities that can lead to that reality dwindle. They become locked into a specific version of themselves, and have to solidify a bit of their past. As they continue to use the Mask, they continue to lock into this one version of themselves until they are a specific iteration and lose the ability to use the Mask and are vulnerable.

To already know which version you are and keep it secret just completely defuses some of the tension here. To me. This is my take.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I have to say so far this seems like a discussion about a specific game, that I know nothing about. How do other games with other approaches fit into this?

It is. I'm sorry, they are good games. Feel free to offer your insights about how you approach character in whatever game you want -- I'd love to hear it at the level of detail I use in the OP. I am, however, not going to do that work, I spoke to what I found interesting this morning.

 

[prabe]

I'd call the characters lead guitar, the DM rhythm guitar, and the setting and whatnot the bass and drum lines. Not to derail the thread, just a random musing on my part....

Seems legit. The rhythm guitarist is the guy too busy to be dancing or running around or anything flamboyant--he has too much to do.