Creativity, or lack thereof...

[PowerWordDumb]

Y'know, back in my day it took more than one person an hour mildly expressing disagreement to count as a tempest. Y'r standards be slippin'.

Saying things people will disagree with takes no genius. Saying something that makes them gasp with new enlightenment does.

It's good that you have a goal for self-improvement.

 

[Herschel]

Beers I hope he wasn't drinking:

1. Billy Beer

I hope and pray nobody ever drinks Billy Beer. Like the stuff wasn't poison enough before it sat in a tin can for 30-some years.

(Yes, I actually have a six-pack stashed away somewhere my dad saved for me as a lark all those years ago)

 

[Fifth Element]

Oooh, self-acclaimed genius. That's always the best kind.

It's often the only kind.

 

[Herschel]

[No message]

 

[Nifft]

Alternatively, in means there is a group of over-sensitive whiners looking to be offended so they can claim "victim" status and cry to the mods in a juvenile practice of tattling.

I'm uncertain if I ought to be offended or not.

Could you perhaps clarify?

Thanks, -- N

 

[Piratecat]

I'm uncertain if I ought to be offended or not.

Could you perhaps clarify?

Thanks, -- N

I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible.

Remember, folks, our rules are relatively simple: No politics or religion. Nothing that would offend Grandma. Don't be a dick.

Break these and get a free vacation! People are welcome to PM me if these are unclear, but I'll doubt you'll need to -- they're pretty straight forward.

 

[xXxTheBeastxXx]

How old is your player? I would bet under 18.

Actually, he's 22.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Hmm, I’ve had a few players that seem to follow general patterns to create the same sort of general character archetypes. Usually it hasn't gotten to the point where it bothers me too much, as I tend to run with it and my players latch onto hooks that allow their characters to evolve. Oftentimes what makes a character memorable or unique isn't just his initial personality but the things he does and the relationships he builds in game. These can't be directly ported from a fiction source, so often in my experience they allow for some organic growth.

For example, one player of mine wanted to play a grim, Punisher type vigilante in a Nightbane themed Mutants and Masterminds campaign. His character started fairly derivative, but fighting supernatural monstrosities quickly made him into a sort of "fish out of water" guy that still really kicked butt. He also got a bit of a "Odysseus complex" or survivor's guilt going on when most of the other characters died over the course of the game (it was quite dangerous!). This led the vigilante PC to become sort of a protective squad leader or even a fatherly figure to some of the other PCs. This father figure element took a more literal and totally unexpected (from my perspective) dimension when the group found an orphan child that was to be sacrificed by a sinister cult. The vigilante took the child in the child as his own. Seeing supernatural evil also caused him to rethink the evils of "normal" criminals by comparison, and this caused him to lighten his stance on normal humans somewhat. He ended up adopting more nonlethal tactics when fighting normal humans.

Another player of mine has a tendency to play selfish sorcerers who would become gods. I turned it into a hidden plot twist by making them incarnations of the same soul. It resonated well and turned into an epic storyline.

Guess my point here is that it’s not always what people begin with that matters. I may have been lucky to have had really good players, but when I gave them opportunities for character and story growth, many times they took advantage of them. And like the vigilante example above, a lot of the time I wasn’t even aware of how or even if the presented situation would influence their character development.

 

[Nifft]

I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible.

Sincere apologies if I've offended.

With all the "sarcasm" and "trolling" claims being thrown around in this thread, I'm genuinely unsure what's intended to be humor and what isn't.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Piratecat]

No, it's okay. We're handling stuff with Herschel offline. I meant to imply that I've asked him to leave the thread.