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Beginning to Doubt That RPG Play Can Be Substantively "Character-Driven"
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7913445" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>To follow on from [USER=6775477]@Shiroiken[/USER] 's point just above, IME while it's very possible to play a character based on its background and-or long-term goals, most (all?) of the time those long-term goals are going to span a much longer spread of time than the campaign can hope to cover.</p><p></p><p>As an example: in my current campaign a PC got lucky with a Deck and was granted a keep and title to a long-forgotten but very real Dwarven Duchy. However on investigating this with the local bureaucrats, royalty, etc. he found that the associated rebooting and resettlement of said Duchy - never mind all the bureaucracy! - would take years if not decades. As - barring something very unforeseen - there's no way in hell this campaign is going to span that much in-game time, the player kind of had to make a choice: long-term goals (sorting out the Duchy) vs adventuring (and largely ignoring the Duchy). He chose the Duchy, and now that PC is seen only in cameo appearances now and then when people stop by his keep.</p><p></p><p>Also, in the heat of a combat in the middle of a regular-season adventure 2/3 of the way through the campaign, any thoughts of long-term goals get punted aside in favour of thoughts of what's gonna keep you alive for the next five minutes...and as typical adventuring is what we tend to spend most of our time doing when at the table it's hardly surprising that working toward long-term goals isn't easy.</p><p></p><p>Answer: more downtime.</p><p></p><p>Two reasons for this: first, more downtime allows characters more opportunity to work on non-adventuring goals and projects. Second, more downtime means more time is passing in the game world, bringing the long-term - or at least the mid-term - more into play as the campaign goes on. Things can be done while still adventuring, rather than having to be put off until after one's adventuring career is done.</p><p></p><p>But, the downside of more downtime (sorry 'bout that!) is that most downtime activities involve just one player and the DM, making them not that well-suited to being done at the table while everyone else sits and waits.</p><p></p><p>EDIT to add: long-term goals are often what drives a character to adventure in the first place, and thus can lead to character-driven play even in such things as choice of adventures, reasons for going along, etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7913445, member: 29398"] To follow on from [USER=6775477]@Shiroiken[/USER] 's point just above, IME while it's very possible to play a character based on its background and-or long-term goals, most (all?) of the time those long-term goals are going to span a much longer spread of time than the campaign can hope to cover. As an example: in my current campaign a PC got lucky with a Deck and was granted a keep and title to a long-forgotten but very real Dwarven Duchy. However on investigating this with the local bureaucrats, royalty, etc. he found that the associated rebooting and resettlement of said Duchy - never mind all the bureaucracy! - would take years if not decades. As - barring something very unforeseen - there's no way in hell this campaign is going to span that much in-game time, the player kind of had to make a choice: long-term goals (sorting out the Duchy) vs adventuring (and largely ignoring the Duchy). He chose the Duchy, and now that PC is seen only in cameo appearances now and then when people stop by his keep. Also, in the heat of a combat in the middle of a regular-season adventure 2/3 of the way through the campaign, any thoughts of long-term goals get punted aside in favour of thoughts of what's gonna keep you alive for the next five minutes...and as typical adventuring is what we tend to spend most of our time doing when at the table it's hardly surprising that working toward long-term goals isn't easy. Answer: more downtime. Two reasons for this: first, more downtime allows characters more opportunity to work on non-adventuring goals and projects. Second, more downtime means more time is passing in the game world, bringing the long-term - or at least the mid-term - more into play as the campaign goes on. Things can be done while still adventuring, rather than having to be put off until after one's adventuring career is done. But, the downside of more downtime (sorry 'bout that!) is that most downtime activities involve just one player and the DM, making them not that well-suited to being done at the table while everyone else sits and waits. EDIT to add: long-term goals are often what drives a character to adventure in the first place, and thus can lead to character-driven play even in such things as choice of adventures, reasons for going along, etc. [/QUOTE]
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