Character Actor, Power Gamer, Storyteller, and Thinker

[Yora]

I was about to complain over just another thread, but this set of options to chose from at the poll actually make real sense.

However, the problem with that is that I absolutely hate 'story-driven' games.

Then call it story-shaping instead of story-driven. Still story focused.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I am split down the middle (with these defintions) as a Power Gamer / Character Actor.

I play games for the moment. I don't necessarily look at big picture - although after being a DM for 30+ years I tend to do it without thinking. But my purpose for play is immersion - be the character, and live the fantasy world through their eyes, fell what they feel. In one case (in solo play) I played for 2 months without a single combat, just living the life, and making the choices of the character.

I also like a good combat, and like to have combat capable characters. And unlike others combat doesn't take me out of that moment to moment immersion. I tend to make all tactical choices within character, and I tend to play combat type characters (Monk who think tactically, Wizards with a smattering of battlefield knowledge) so making game mechnical tactical decisions is a stand in for the character making similar choices.

I go Storyteller out of playtime- thinking of possible scenes or character arcs for the character and discussing them with the DM to work into his campaign. But once at the table, totally in the moment.

 

[Dausuul]

I would say that I have moderate Tactical focus and am on the border between Combat and Story, depending to some extent on the campaign. I love roleplaying a character, but I also enjoy clever combat tactics and slaughtering monsters. I tend not to focus so much on the Strategic side.

 

[Argyle King]

Maybe you should think about whether you want one to dominate the other in play time?

I know some people hate when the game "stalls" for half an hour when drawing plans for an assault, while some hate hour-long fights and would rather just find out if the plan worked.

I doubt anyone wants just one or the other thing, but I think quite many have a preference on the time shares, even if they want it 60/40 rather than 90/10.

For me, that depends upon the situation. If I'm part of a small group and we're in a skirmish, tactics will -at that time- be more important. If my character becomes a platoon leader or a lord of a castle or something similar, I'm perfectly happy with sketching out long term plans. Some of my favorite video games include Syndicate Wars (tactics), Fallout Tactics (tactics), Sim City (strategy), and Romance of The Three Kingdoms (strategy for the big picture; tactics in individual battles.) I'm not trying to give an ambiguous answer, but those are honestly my interests, and both aspects of warfare are things which interest me. I also have experience with and value both due to having a military background myself. My preference is a game which can move from one mode (tactics) of play to the other (strategy) as seamlessly as possible.

I would like to try to get more information about what my style of gaming is though. I believe it would help me to better understand what I want out of a game (and what I might want out of D&Dn) if I had a better understanding of myself as a gamer. Unfortunately, it seems rare that I neatly fit into categories or the language used to talk about tabletop gaming.

The main thing I notice about myself is that I value story. I've made the comment before that I'd prefer my rpg experience to feel more like a book than a movie. With that in mind, two of the answers to this poll seem to fit. Unfortunately, those two answers also conflict with each other.

 

[Mokona]

Humans are too complex to fit into simple categories but we also need to approximate them in order to build up ways to understand the world around us.

 

[marleykat]

Number 3

I'm not much into tactics. But I like killing things and taking their stuff hmm....

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I think, if anything, your descriptions are worse. Not all 'thinking' is combat focused. Power gaming is not the same as strategist.

So, I will revert to the terminology that I prefer.

I have dominant elements of character actor and storyteller. A good deal of thinker, and little if any power gamer.

The story is what happens if the PCs do not intervene, the desired outcome for me as GM is to have my clever plot put up on cinder blocks and the wheels stolen.

A Venn diagram would work better than a poll....

The Auld Grump

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't feel any of these accurately define me. It's really very much situational and I can adjust my playstyle to whatever the needs of the time are.

 

[Kynn]

The distinction between strategy and tactics doesn't make sense. This poll doesn't seem particularly useful.

 

[Mokona]

A Venn diagram would work better than a poll...

While I like Venn diagrams, they're a little harder to do with 4 options than with 3.