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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How much back story do you allow/expect at the start of the game?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7280164" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>[MENTION=284]Caliban[/MENTION] - I think we mean different things by "roleplaying". I mean "playing a roleplaying game".</p><p></p><p>If the dumb barbarian with no social skills can <em>successfully</em> negotiate with the foreign envoy, then I don't conlcude that player is a bad roleplayer. I conclude there is something wrong with the resolution mechanics.</p><p></p><p>But if the player of the dumb barbarian opens negotiations with the foreign envoy, which therefore shapes the fiction - in whatever fashion (perhaps adverse to the PC's interests, if the resolution mechanics deliver the sort of outcome we would expect) then that is the player shaping the fiction by engaging the situation.</p><p></p><p>There are obviously table norms around what it is or isn't polite to have your PC do - the player whose dumb barbarian torpedoes every social situation by "negotiating" with an axe is probably just a **** - but that's orthogonal to the current discussion. The reason for holding back there isn't to give timid players "spotlight" time, but a courtesy to one's fellow players who also have an intrerest in engaging the fiction with their PCs.</p><p></p><p>(Personally I'd go further than that - I think if the game system allows one player to generate a PC whose default modus is an axe, and another PC whose default is to talk, then the system should be able to cope with the motivational tension between these two characters without breaking down. Relying on social norms to manage this is a weakness in the system. But I think every version of D&D - even 4e - suffers from that weakness.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7280164, member: 42582"] [MENTION=284]Caliban[/MENTION] - I think we mean different things by "roleplaying". I mean "playing a roleplaying game". If the dumb barbarian with no social skills can [I]successfully[/I] negotiate with the foreign envoy, then I don't conlcude that player is a bad roleplayer. I conclude there is something wrong with the resolution mechanics. But if the player of the dumb barbarian opens negotiations with the foreign envoy, which therefore shapes the fiction - in whatever fashion (perhaps adverse to the PC's interests, if the resolution mechanics deliver the sort of outcome we would expect) then that is the player shaping the fiction by engaging the situation. There are obviously table norms around what it is or isn't polite to have your PC do - the player whose dumb barbarian torpedoes every social situation by "negotiating" with an axe is probably just a **** - but that's orthogonal to the current discussion. The reason for holding back there isn't to give timid players "spotlight" time, but a courtesy to one's fellow players who also have an intrerest in engaging the fiction with their PCs. (Personally I'd go further than that - I think if the game system allows one player to generate a PC whose default modus is an axe, and another PC whose default is to talk, then the system should be able to cope with the motivational tension between these two characters without breaking down. Relying on social norms to manage this is a weakness in the system. But I think every version of D&D - even 4e - suffers from that weakness.) [/QUOTE]
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How much back story do you allow/expect at the start of the game?
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