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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5683115" data-attributes="member: 3820">Not really (if you don't count things like Everything Is Terribly Dramatic or The Big Guy Who Is Popular With The Crowd Wins More), but they're about as close as anything to the kind of organic storytelling that is the bailiwick of RPGs. But that's an important thing, I think: RPG storytelling is organic. I don't think that the threefold model of central characters and viewpoint presenters works very well, either, because there are few RPG groups out there that elect one person to be the decision-maker. To use an obvious example, many groups listen to the fighter (or similar martial character) on matters tactical or military, to the sorcerer on matters arcane, to the priest on matters divine and to the rogue on those cunning streetwise questions. The question of specialization within a party somewhat undercuts the concept that you have a central decision-maker.The idea of the central guy who represents "humanity" is kind of a strange comparison in an RPG, because all the principals are specifically viewpoint characters. My wife's aasimar paladin is the moral center of the group in my friend's D&D game, but my tiefling warlock is my viewpoint character -- and neither of them, nor the dhampyr assassin, represent ideals as they come together in all of humanity. One represents the ideals of a chosen warrior who has faith in love and strength, another the ideals of a clever spiv who has a good heart but certain ethical flexibilities, and the third the moral code of a guy from a lifetime of hard decisions who still falls back on expediency though he respects the "higher ground" that's still new to him.To my mind, having a central character who is supposed to be a viewpoint character for an imaginary audience would take a lot of the interest out of these three characters' interactions. Their arguments and decisions reflect them, their singular backgrounds and shared experiences. This probably makes a session's tale rather less relevant to someone outside our gaming group, but it's much more relevant to us.</blockquote>

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