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Message: <blockquote data-quote="soviet" data-source="post: 8627302" data-attributes="member: 6925338">I don't think that no myth or only lightly defined characters are essential ingredients for Story Now play.I do agree that done badly a detailed background can be abrasive to narrativist play, relegating the core tensions of a character to past events rather than future conflicts we can play out, and creating an overly elaborate but static picture of the character that the player can only try to embody, rather than feeling like a dynamic protagonist that might change and isn't always predictable. This would represent a large dose of Story Before which would absolutely be something to avoid. But I think there is a way of using pre-planned background and a heavier weight of character detail as a way of reinforcing Story Now play too.I made a game called Other Worlds that tries to support a Story Now agenda, and does so with PCs that are defined in advance in significant detail in the form of lots of different descriptors based on their culture, profession, goals, relationships, etc. (So freeform traits rather than an essay, but a lot of them.) I feel like in my home games this gave us a really solid grounding in who the characters were, allowing the players to immerse (yeah I said it) in the situation and making it much easier for me as GM to identify what kind of conflicts and stakes I should be throwing their way. The traits as words on a character sheet that can be evoked for a bonus (or penalty) to a roll created tensions for the player in terms of incentivising different courses of action or articulating potential internal conflicts - things like being Merciful but having sworn an Oath of Vengeance, or having abilities like Betray Ally or React with Furious Anger.  Simply having to say out loud the traits the character is drawing from in each conflict is also an effective means of characterisation, showing us as the audience what's going on in the character's mind and what previous events have led up to this.Not saying this more detailed approach is for everyone, of course. But I think it is also a valid approach to Narr play that does lead to some satisfying games.</blockquote>

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