PC Motivations

[Nifft]

Over in a thread about a d20 setting, this one guy said:

In fact I find childish to add sexuality at all in RPGs.

... and this other guy replied:

If you eliminate romance as a potential plot-element, what's left?

... and now I'm wondering what the sum total of all Protagonist and Antagonist root motives are.

I'll start.

• Sloth / Gluttony -> the desire to avoid suffering / hardship
• Love / Lust -> desire to win the affection of another
• Pride -> the desire to win fame and adoration in general
• Greed -> the desire for power and wealth
• Hate / Revenge -> the desire to bring harm to others
• Duty -> the desire to protect someone or something

It seems that Sloth is not a viable PC motivation, but it sure works great for NPCs (and many of us here in real life ). If Love is also eliminated, what's left?

Do we see munchkinism in part because Greed is such a "safe" PC motivation?

Same thing with PCs whose parents were killed by Orcs... Revenge also seems like a very safe motivation.

-- N

 

[Turanil]

Boredom PCs (or NPCs) cannot anymore tolerate the small kind of narrow minded life they were raised into. They adventure as a way to see things, being exhilarated, etc.

Creativity I think creativity is in fact a trait of the human race: people love to invent things, and what you can come up with magic is nearly limitless. If you are also a deviant / psychotic / etc., you can end up with a typical Necromancer.

Curiosity What's beyond the next hill? I must go an see!

 

[Zappo]

I don't think duty is only about protecting something. I see it more like "someone else's reason" - that is, another entity has a reason for what I do; my duty to that entity is the link between action and motive.