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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7643040" data-attributes="member: 16586">A player should not be prioritizing their character above all us. What they should be prioritizing is following the fiction, playing to find out, and being a fan of all the main characters (PCs). A player does not get to protect his character, push the story where he would want it, dictate how other players are allowed to interact with his character. He or she owes the other players a chance to follow their character on its journey even if that means the character might suffer, be changed in fundamental ways, or even die or be removed from play. By pushing hard for what your character wants you are making the game fun for everyone else.Remember, we (the play group) are supposed to be fans of these characters. We care about them. We want what's best for them. When they hurt, we hurt. When your character is not involved in the action you should still be on the edge of your seat cheering on the other characters. You should feel the tension of the conflicts they are involved in. When things go well you should be happy for them. When they do not you should feel for them, but not look away. This fun of being an audience member is just as fundamental to this play style as character advocacy.As a player you owe it to the other players to present the unbridled, most honest, most vulnerable version of your character. You push hard so as audience members they get to follow you on the journey. You create a character that has complex relationships with the other characters so they have something to play off of. You approach the fiction with curiosity so interactions with NPCs and other PCs feel genuine to everyone and the play group gets to derive meaning from play.Here's the fun: genuine tension, being a fan of the characters, and seeing where their journeys lead.What's selfish in this play style is deciding how things should turn out, cleaving to a character conception instead of approaching play with vulnerability and curiosity, not accepting the fallout of a failed conflict, deciding how other players are allowed to interact with your character, playing to reach a given story arc. In doing so you rob the game of tension, domesticate the fiction, and present a less than authentic version of the character to the audience.</blockquote>

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