Roleplaying As Catharsis?

[uzirath]

I think this is the underlying reason so many players get more upset with losing control over their character, even temporarily, than they do with a character's death. Many players really enjoy the feeling of having control over their actions in a game that they don't really have in real life.

I agree that a feeling of meaningful control is one of the central appeals of roleplaying. Losing control of a character, however, can mean different things. It's probably safe to say that nobody likes it if their character is taken over by the GM so that they have to sit and watch the game for the next few hours. But at most tables I've played at, it's not uncommon for a character to be temporarily possessed or mind-controlled or cursed so that their personality and goals change. Some players dislike this just as much. Others dive in with gusto: a berserk barbarian savagely attacking the party wizard, a possessed knight suddenly acting in a decidedly unchivalrous fashion, etc.

My own character was once possessed by some sort of malevolent being. I found it surprisingly freeing as a player. I didn't have to think about the consequences of my choices for the party, or for the character that I'd invested so much love into. I was just a devious evil scoundrel until the party eventually figured it out a few sessions later and managed an exorcism. It was gloriously fun.

 

[ART!]

I think this is the underlying reason so many players get more upset with losing control over their character, even temporarily, than they do with a character's death. Many players really enjoy the feeling of having control over their actions in a game that they don't really have in real life.

I experienced this recently, but this is a bit of a side-story:

I missed a game session, and at the beginning of the next session was told my character had been ambushed in his sleep and captured. I was semi-okay with this (I would rather have had the chance to play that encounter out), choosing to play along and assuming the DM had something worthwhile in mind. I know the DM and trust him - he's never jerked me around, in or out of game. The problem came up when the other PCs came to rescue me from the orcs and goblins, I rolled crappy 3 times in a row to escape my bonds (my character was VERY strong), and couldn't get free until one of the PCs helped me. During those three rounds my PC was getting attacked by orcs et al who didn't want me to escape. My PC hit 0HP, I did well on Death Saves, then got knocked down to 0HP again, and died. Only 1 PC survived this encounter, in fact. We were told the dead PCs would be eaten by the baddies, so no chance to bring us back in the time it would take the surviving PC to find help.

On the one hand, them's the breaks. On the other hand, it could all have been avoided (theoretically) by giving my character some agency.

So, that's a note to myself for the next time I DM.

 

[Salthorae]

And so I have a wonder.

Do any of you do this? Do you explore, confront, encourage, or otherwise poke and prod at yourselves via your characters?

If you do, does it make it harder to play evil characters or those who simply have no moral similarity to yourself? I find it does.

I often find that every character I play is some aspect of myself focused in on and exaggerated to a degree (or a lot).

Or with the abilities to do things I can only dream of (fly, intimidate small towns with a fireball spell, etc )

That I have no problems playing evil characters and doing really horrible things (within the bounds of the game I'm in and the social contract of the table), does make me nervous some times though.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I often find that every character I play is some aspect of myself focused in on and exaggerated to a degree (or a lot).

Or with the abilities to do things I can only dream of (fly, intimidate small towns with a fireball spell, etc )

That I have no problems playing evil characters and doing really horrible things (within the bounds of the game I'm in and the social contract of the table), does make me nervous some times though.

I have that same...anxiety, sometimes, playing evil NPCs.

 

[Shiroiken]

I seldom create a character that is similar to me in any way, except perhaps focusing on a single trait and idealizing it. I think more like a writer, creating my characters, and sometimes (as Stephen King has said) they take on a life of their own, even against my own wishes. I usually have to retire characters that get to that point, because they all too often become disruptive to the game.

 

[ART!]

I have that same...anxiety, sometimes, playing evil NPCs.

Yeah, I literally can't play evil characters. I just...yugh. No thanks.

The two times I've been in games where one is expected to play vampires, I played basically Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd from SCTV in one, and refused to have thralls in the other (thereby being much less powerful than the other PCs). I can't play someone who actively, consciously lives off the lifeforce, blood, or lives of others.

 

[aramis erak]

So, I have been thinking about what makes roleplaying games different from other games.

For me, at least, it seems to be the ability to create a character that allows me to explore my “inner selves”, confront my limitations and inner fears, enjoy and lean into perfectly normal aspects of myself that I was taught to be ashamed of (being sensitive and nurturing as a man, for instance), and like...play a character who has experienced the bad in life that I have, but who gets to do something more substantial, tangible, and satisfying, about it than I ever got to do.

I’ve got characters who let me enjoy my impulsiveness, or explore more fully my brief flashes of easy-going confidence in myself, or express and deal with a shared difficulty trusting that people will stick around, and that their affection and admiration is genuine, or through whom I can express and practice being okay with my need to sometimes shut out all stimulus and find peace in total quiet darkness and the panicked mania that can come when I’m unable to do so.

Or just like, the fun of being able to move like I’ve always wished I could move.

And so I have a wonder.

Do any of you do this? Do you explore, confront, encourage, or otherwise poke and prod at yourselves via your characters?

If you do, does it make it harder to play evil characters or those who simply have no moral similarity to yourself? I find it does.

Generally, I don't. SOme of my players have, especially those with gender identity and/or sexual preference issues. (One player, when they decided to come out as bisexual, got a general response from the rest of the very heterosexual group of, "About time you admitted it." A few months later, "All coming out has done is double the number of people I can be rejected by.")

The value of Catharsis was, last I checked, not well supported in studies. A recent-ish paper (Thomas J Schaff, 2007 — https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2010-01928-003.html ) notes the multiple conflicting results from few methodologically sound studies.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Generally, I don't. SOme of my players have, especially those with gender identity and/or sexual preference issues. (One player, when they decided to come out as bisexual, got a general response from the rest of the very heterosexual group of, "About time you admitted it." A few months later, "All coming out has done is double the number of people I can be rejected by.")

The value of Catharsis was, last I checked, not well supported in studies. A recent-ish paper (Thomas J Schaff, 2007 — https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2010-01928-003.html ) notes the multiple conflicting results from few methodologically sound studies.

Um....okay?

I don’t understand what coming out and the therapeutic value of catharsis have to do with the topic, but sure.

 

[uzirath]

The value of Catharsis was, last I checked, not well supported in studies. A recent-ish paper (Thomas J Schaff, 2007 — https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2010-01928-003.html ) notes the multiple conflicting results from few methodologically sound studies.

I don't know that anybody has been making any therapeutic claims here. Outside of clinical use, catharsis typically just means "feels good" or "lets me get my anger out" or whatever. I imagine that lots of people play games and sports for the catharsis, even if it won't really cure their Big Problems.

 

[MGibster]

Yeah. I have no training in human psychology and I am not licensed by any city, state, or nation located on the prime material plane to be a therapist. I am licensed in the demiplane known as Ravenloft but that's more of a curse than anything else.