Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 6196779" data-attributes="member: 16586">It matters a great deal to me. Character creation and actual play (AP) are completely different processes and have different requirements.Character and campaign creation are about setting the scope of play. Nothing has been defined before they begin. They are by definition constraining activities meant to ensure that AP bears fruit. Any player (including the GM) who seeks to use them to expand the scope outside the interests of the rest of the group is doing a disservice to the group. Personally, I tend to not exercise much authority here other than as a mediator when there is conflict among players. When I feel like wearing the GM hat I present a pitch for a campaign, then I discuss it with the group, and we revise it together until all players are happy with the results. Then we usually do group character creation with sufficient buy in. Players introduce their concepts, weave connections with the setting and each other, and work out conflicts. The goal is create a sense of game ownership for the whole group. When you share authority you also share responsibility. Multiple necks for the noose and all that.Actual play is different though. It is necessary to know what your resources are capable of so you can utilize them effectively. Uninformed decisions are not decisions at all. As a player if I can't depend established back story, fictional resources, and task resolution then all the choices made in character creation are meaningless to me. If I can't depend on reasonable knowledge of the shared fictional space I can't position myself within it. As a GM if I'm manipulating events it's hard to be surprised by the events of play - which is most of the fun for me. This is where GM Force sits.  The primary component of my play style is focused on the here and now. The play really is the thing. Character creation is just the springboard. It's true that unsatisfactory character/campaign creation will have a detrimental effect on AP, but not nearly as much effect as feeling like my decisions in play don't effect the outcome.Other people may feel differently, but they are not me (or my players). It is not my claim that my preferences are universal.</blockquote>

Verification