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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6193308" data-attributes="member: 4937">I generally agree with your description, though I'd add a third (probably rarer) care, the (for lack of a better name) Pyschological Explorer.c) Psychological Explorer:&nbsp; A variation on the Method Actor, the Pyschological Explorer is interested in RPGs strongly for the experience of being someone he is not.&nbsp;&nbsp; To the Psychological Explorer, having a map of mentalities is just as interesting and thought provoking as a map of a dungeon or a world is to the traditional explorer.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Explorer wants to know, &quot;What is it like to be X?&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Explorer isn't for example, being evil or chaotic as a form of escapism.&nbsp;&nbsp; An evil escapist character usually is one that chews up the scenery and exists for its own sake.&nbsp;&nbsp; Rather, to take a modern reference, the Psychological Explorer is like, &quot;Why are their people who believe in this?&nbsp; How did this person come to believe what he does?&nbsp; What does he feel like?&nbsp; Why does he persist in it?&nbsp; Can I make this person interesting and sympathetic, even if it most observers his beliefs would seem tragic or deeply misguided?&nbsp; The Explorer creates a framework for his character, and instead of evaluating what he the player feels about the situation, tries to imagine what his character would feel about the situation.&nbsp;&nbsp; Those vicarious emotions, the thespianism that results from that exploration, and the mental exploration imagining the mind space of his character are part of the reasons he returns to RPGs.&nbsp; Debate over ethics isn't the goal of this style of play, but it can arise as a result of it - often through interparty conflict.&nbsp; One of the reasons that it is rare is that a lot of players seeking to play an escapist character use this motivation as an excuse for playing like a real jerk.&nbsp; In my experience though, the last thing that an Explorer wants to play is a to type jerk - Lawful Stupid, Chaotic Stupid, Good Stupid, Evil Jerk, etc.&nbsp;&nbsp; If they want to play a Paladin, the last thing they want is a paladin that no one can believe is motivated by anything but his own jerky need to be a control freak.&nbsp;&nbsp; If they want to play an evil character, the last thing that they want is to play a character that people don't try to justify and excuse away their behavior because the character is just so unlikable and unattractive.&nbsp; That's been done and there isn't much to explore there anyway.&nbsp;&nbsp; Another reason it is rare is that this sort of play often comes in conflict with the two more common types you cite - it's hard to play with Interested Parties if you aren't good and hard to play with Gamists if you aren't neutral or evil.&nbsp; It requires a pretty mature and understanding group to integrate that and allow everyone to keep play (think about the party dynamics of Rich's Order of the Stick, where I think Rich is showing a lot of signs of being this sort of gamer in his narrative).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6193308, member: 4937"] I generally agree with your description, though I'd add a third (probably rarer) care, the (for lack of a better name) Pyschological Explorer. c) Psychological Explorer: A variation on the Method Actor, the Pyschological Explorer is interested in RPGs strongly for the experience of being someone he is not. To the Psychological Explorer, having a map of mentalities is just as interesting and thought provoking as a map of a dungeon or a world is to the traditional explorer. The Explorer wants to know, "What is it like to be X?" The Explorer isn't for example, being evil or chaotic as a form of escapism. An evil escapist character usually is one that chews up the scenery and exists for its own sake. Rather, to take a modern reference, the Psychological Explorer is like, "Why are their people who believe in this? How did this person come to believe what he does? What does he feel like? Why does he persist in it? Can I make this person interesting and sympathetic, even if it most observers his beliefs would seem tragic or deeply misguided? The Explorer creates a framework for his character, and instead of evaluating what he the player feels about the situation, tries to imagine what his character would feel about the situation. Those vicarious emotions, the thespianism that results from that exploration, and the mental exploration imagining the mind space of his character are part of the reasons he returns to RPGs. Debate over ethics isn't the goal of this style of play, but it can arise as a result of it - often through interparty conflict. One of the reasons that it is rare is that a lot of players seeking to play an escapist character use this motivation as an excuse for playing like a real jerk. In my experience though, the last thing that an Explorer wants to play is a to type jerk - Lawful Stupid, Chaotic Stupid, Good Stupid, Evil Jerk, etc. If they want to play a Paladin, the last thing they want is a paladin that no one can believe is motivated by anything but his own jerky need to be a control freak. If they want to play an evil character, the last thing that they want is to play a character that people don't try to justify and excuse away their behavior because the character is just so unlikable and unattractive. That's been done and there isn't much to explore there anyway. Another reason it is rare is that this sort of play often comes in conflict with the two more common types you cite - it's hard to play with Interested Parties if you aren't good and hard to play with Gamists if you aren't neutral or evil. It requires a pretty mature and understanding group to integrate that and allow everyone to keep play (think about the party dynamics of Rich's Order of the Stick, where I think Rich is showing a lot of signs of being this sort of gamer in his narrative). [/QUOTE]

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