Jack7
First Post
ESSAYS ON GAME DESIGN
Essay Ten: U Plus (U+)
You, Plus
Synopsis: Use this method of development and creation to improve both your character and yourself. For it is a method of developing a character based upon your real self, only better.
Note: If you consider Role Play Gaming an activity that is totally divorced from the real world and your real self, or relatedly if you think gaming should be used to escape or get away from yourself, then this method will probably be of no value to you. If however you consider gaming an activity that is complimentary to or a natural part of your larger and greater life then this method of self and character development may very well be useful to you in more than one way. I should also point out that this article (I should develop a better term for this kind of work) is also an interactive essay (meaning you may add to it, or write your own related essay in the response posts). So if after reading this piece you should decide to make your own suggestions as to variations upon the method, or to critique it, or it has inspired a related set of ideas, then feel free to comment and to contribute. Given the limitations or caveat of course of the first sentence of this note. There is no need to point out that, “I have no interest in playing that way because I think gaming should be entirely escapist and unreal.” I already understand that viewpoint. I am not arguing it, and I think it would be useless to spend my time debating that viewpoint as it is diametrically opposed to this method of character and game development. I am however presenting a contrary set of principles. A different model and paradigm for both approaching the game, and for assessing (and exploring) how the game might be useful in a wider sense to one’s larger life. That having been said though if you have a real critique to make or some form of improvement you’d like to suggest regarding this method of game and character development then feel free to weigh in with your comments. I will respond as soon as my schedule allows, and of course you do not need me to discuss or debate these ideas. You can do that quite well enough among yourselves.
Indirectly related to this method of character development is the idea behind the Renaissance Gild, which I do not intend to create a gaming thread about, but the basics of which can be found posted to my blogs. In this sense then you might think of this method of character development as the gaming or avocational version of the Renaissance Gild.
U+: This is a form of Player and Character creation and development that is basically applicable to any role-play gaming system, and maybe to other types of gaming systems as well. I will use D&D as an example of how to apply and play the system as regards the attributes, but it could be used with or applied to any of the attributes of any character during most any type or genre of game. Just so the terms I’ve used won’t be confusing to anyone reading and trying to understand what I’m saying I’ve included a Definition of Terms supplement to the end of this article.
Instead of rolling for character attributes, using any artificial or traditional system, what one does is analyze one’s own (personal or individual) attributes and then apply those to the necessary character attributes. The intention is to produce a character whose attributes mirror your own real world attributes as closely as possible, or at least as closely as desired. This is the You part of the equation, or the Y.O.U. Stage. I’ll get to the Plus part in a moment, which is the second stage of the entire process.
How do you determine and fix your own attributes to a character?
Well, rather than give you a static and not necessarily accurate system for your own game, the way we do it is in three steps. These simple and basic steps can be applied to any gaming system with very little if any necessary modification.
Character Creation:
First and foremost, analyze yourself. Be as brutally honest about yourself, your capabilities, your strengths and your weaknesses as possible. This gives you a basic idea of what you (as a person) would be like as compared to the gaming system that you use to affix attribute scores. The point of this step is to try to express your real self and your real attributes in a gaming form suitable to the way characters are expressed within the gaming system you are using.
Secondly, you and your fellow players and your DM or GM must decide on a “Value-Method.” For example, how do you value strength, and how do you set a strength-value? For instance if a person can bench press 120 pounds (in real life) does that give him a strength of 12? Or, do you take a given real world number or target, say if one is able to bench press 350 (or more) pounds (meaning that if you can really bench press 350 pounds you would have an equivalent game strength of 18), and then let people work out a percentage of what their own strength would mean proportionally and in comparison to that standard? It doesn’t really much matter (within reason) how you set the values or by use of what method, as long as you are consistent and everyone can use the same value standards to determine their own real world abilities and attributes. Of course some attributes, for instance, Wisdom, Charisma, or even Intelligence (in some cases) will be much harder to affix and apply as an objective standard to both player and character. I’ll explain a method of resolving that problem in step three.
Third, the individual player gets together with all of his other players, and with the DM or GM, goes over the attribute scores he has assigned his character which were based upon his own real world attributes, and then negotiation and compromise begins. For instance if a player sees himself as 14 strength (in both real life and correspondingly for the score he desires for his character) but most other people in the gaming group see him as either a 16 (or a 12 if going in the opposite direction), then a compromise might be reached in which the player settles upon a strength value score of 15 (or a 13 if most think him weaker than he thinks himself). Then the same is done with every attribute and every character until agreement or consensus is reached. How long this third step takes, and whether agreement is reached quickly or slowly I suspect would depend upon the nature of the group and the players and DM(s) involved.
After these three steps are finished every player now has a character with all attributes assigned, and each character more or less precisely reflects the nature of the actual player (at least as far as the agreed upon attribute scores are concerned). This is the YOU step of the process, and is the Character Creation stage.
This system of assigning character attribute values is not nearly as easy or quick as more traditional methods, nor nearly as arbitrary as chance, accident, and die roll. But it does provide an excellent system for player-character sympathy and association, and it is a superb method of encouraging both player (individual person) and character development throughout the course of play.
Character Development:
After the Character Creation stage comes the Plus stage. In the plus stage the intention is to foster both on-going and long-term development on the part of both the player and the character. This is accomplished in the following way.
A player chooses one (or more, but I recommend one) attribute in which he or she feels they (both player and character) are weak or deficient or not as promising as they wish to be. For instance if a player feels that both he and his character are not as physically healthy as they wish to be (reflected in D&D game terms as Constitution) then they choose that attribute which reflects their dissatisfaction with their health and toughness (Constitution). Within the game the character then sets out, whenever opportunities present themselves, to increase or augment their Constitution. To improve their constitution score, augment it, or add to it. To build it up. This could be achieved through any number of ways. Through the reading and practice of manuals of health, through exercises designed to increase health and toughness, through seeking cures for diseases, through magic or scientific advances, through self-monitoring and careful observation followed by corrective action, and so on and so forth. Or, ideally, one could employ a combination of useful methods. The point is that over a period of time one sets out to improve the character’s abilities and capabilities within the realm of the targeted Attribute.
At the same time a corresponding effort is made by the player in his non-gaming time (though to a degree the in-game efforts could be considered a form of practice or habit reformation for the real world effort) to achieve the same effect. If the player chose to strengthen his character’s Constitution then he attempts in the real world to do the same for himself. By whatever means necessary (within reason and that is legal and ethical) and by whatever means is actually effective and beneficial. The point is to achieve a concurrent and practical desired improvement on the part of both the player and the character in regards to whatever attribute is targeted. (I use this system for the improvement of general gaming attributes, but it could just as easily, with some modification, be applied to simultaneous player-character improvement in other areas of ability, such as in co-development of particular skills or skill sets.)
The same general process of development can be applied to any attribute (or skill, or capability) one wishes to improve, or to gain new advantage in. So one is not limited, of course, to the example I gave regarding Constitution. One could improve one’s Intelligence, Charisma, Wisdom, Dexterity, observational skills, deductive capabilities, tracking ability, etc. The important thing is that one makes the effort to find effective methods of improving and beneficially developing one’s attributes and/or capabilities both in-game and in the real world. Improving one’s character is used as encouragement and motivation for improving one’s self and vice versa. (The character then becomes a sort of “imaginary model” for corresponding self-development.) Methods of co-development may also be complimentary.
Reading magical manuals to improve one’s strength in-game might correspond to reading books on exercise and fitness and developing weight programs to train one’s physical self in real life. Real world exercises might lead to one developing certain game exercises that have the same effects on one’s character (used in the widest sense of the term to reflect both in-game character and real world character).
One also needs to choose a target objective to develop a suitable time-frame in which real achievements and improvements can be made and measured. The time frame really doesn’t matter as long as verifiable, measurable, and beneficial improvements can actually be made within the agreed upon limits of the time frame or timeline involved. Just as a recommendation however I suggest one year of real world and playing time for a target objective of increasing an attribute by one point (gaining a new one point advantage to the attribute). This gives one time enough to read, research, exercise, practice, and make actual and real improvements and generally still have enough reserve time to deal with family and work demands, as well as to accommodate the unforeseen demands of the accidental occurrence or the unexpected situation. (This is in fact my exact method of employing U+, I use a timeline/time-frame of one year real world playing time to try and make improvements to both my character and myself.)
Through this method one can also achieve complimentary secondary or tertiary objectives. For instance a player wishes to increase both his own strength and his character’s strength. Correspondingly he also wishes to lose (or gain) weight in real life in conjunction with his increase in strength. There may be no need at all for his character to gain or lose weight, but increasing strength and gaining or losing weight in real life may very well be complimentary goals for the player. (For example the player feels he or she is too fat or too thin in real life, but his or her character is of an ideal weight. The character then can serve as a sort of imaginary goal for desired weight and/or physique on the part of the player. Playing the character reinforces this complimentary secondary goal much as it reinforces the other primary goals of attribute and skill development.) So at the same time the player is seeking to increase both his own and his character’s strength he is also looking to lose or gain weight using the same basic principles of development. The practical uses of such a system of development are like the game you play itself, limited only by the power of your own imagination, creativity and desire. It is, because of this, an extremely useful method of Role Play, for the overall intention is to use one’s role to simultaneously develop both one’s imaginary character and one’s real self. Beneficially, positively, and through a method that promotes an on-going basis for continued improvement to both player and character.
Therefore after improvements have been made to the initial target attribute, through whatever method works and in whatever time frame is possible then one may continue to make new improvements to the same attribute (or set of attributes, or skill-set) or move on to a new attribute, set of attributes, or skill, or skill-set. Again the limits outlined by the actual possibilities are merely self-imposed. What you choose to intentionally change and improve is up to you, and your gaming group.
Now, at this point and as a side-note, I am not saying that I think gaming, of any kind, role play gaming included, should be one’s chief, much less one’s only, method of self-improvement, or of any type of improvement. There are many methods of improvement one could undertake, some more effective than others, and gaming should be used as but one tool in the overall toolkit. However I am saying that gaming, role play gaming in particular, because of the very nature of the type of gaming involved, is a perfectly suitable method of training, exercising, and practicing not only one’s role and character, but by extension, one’s real self through that role and character. That gaming can be used as a novel and effective method of focus and encouragement to make improvements to one’s character and to one’s nature, in more than one way, and in the widest possible sense of the terms of both improvement, and character. That one can easily use one’s full force of imagination (through the vehicle of role play gaming) as complimentary to and as a form of exercise towards real improvement in the real world.
(It is at least as vital a method of potential self-improvement as observationally passive methods of skill absorption such as, “How I learned to be a leader from watching Captain Kirk,” or, “What the movies taught me about how to succeed in business without really trying.” But you can’t role-play or experiment with techniques regarding leadership by merely watching Capitan Kirk on television or on-screen. You can however experiment and test different methodologies of action and success through the mechanism of your role-playing character. For that matter you can even role-play Captain Kirk if you wish and over time improve both the character, and correspondingly, yourself.
Conversely I suppose it could be said that gaming could be used as a form of practice for developing or improving malignant traits, or for practicing habits of degeneration rather than regeneration and improvement. That, like anything, it could be used positively or negatively. But I am not making that suggestion. I am rather proposing that it can be used as one method of improvement, and even of encouraging and focusing one towards goals of real achievement in the real world, rather than merely fantasy achievements in an imaginary world.)
A Brief Note on Developmental Background of this Method: In my setting the players have used the Y.O.U. (which stands for Your Own Utility, or usefulness) system of character creation for a long while now. Some time ago I encouraged my players to create characters that mirrored themselves in attributes (or in whatever other way they wished) as closely as possible. It has worked out very well for us and has the added advantage of creating a natural sense of association and sympathy on the part of the player with his character. (Imagine for instance playing a video game or a virtual reality game in which it was obvious the character was you, rather than some artificially created or contrived character only vaguely or suggestively like you in some ways and very much unlike you in others.) However after some experimentation with NPCs and characters who reflected my own attributes and nature I decided to also add the Plus part of the equation to encourage on-going and long-term development on the part of both the Player and the Character. It became, at that point, not merely a method of creating characters like the player, but of simultaneously developing and improving both character and player.
This system of course is flexible and open to many forms of alteration and experimentation, and I encourage both. For instance rather than the process I described above the player might choose one real attribute about himself which is a different attribute than that of his character, which he wishes to improve, augment, or increase. So that the processes of character and player improvement become parallel tracks of development, rather than corresponding tracks of development.
Another form of variation is that one can affix or assign values as I originally outlined, but players retain a “reserve value,” which is merely a group agreed upon number that they can apply to any one attribute they wish that they feel is too low or not a fair reflection of their own personal attributes. When creating their character they hold that number or value in reserve and then use it as they wish after all of the attributes have been initially determined. Adding it to what they feel is the deficient attribute score, from their point of view.
These are just a couple of possible variations upon the You Plus formula and process of character creation and development. Many others are possible and through experimentation the players and the gaming group can reach the best possible format of this system for their own game.
Also I should point out that not every player need employ this system, should one choose to use it in one’s game(s). That is to say that one player might want to use U+, another might wish to use a traditional method of character generation and improvement, hybrid systems might well develop, and so forth. The only real problem of employment is one of agreement, how and in what specific way one’s group agrees to employ the system.
Definition of Terms:
You or Y.O.U. – Stands for Your Own Utility. Basing character attributes for your gaming character (of whatever system or genre) upon the corresponding real world attributes of the player who will play the character. Values are determined and set by the individual Gaming Group.
Plus – The system that encourages simultaneous development (or some variation thereof) of both the character and the player through game play, and through related outside activities.
Gaming Group – The particular group of players and the DM or GM involved in any given game or set of games. The entire gaming group determines character-player interaction values and how exactly the U+ system is employed and works within the context of their particular game or games.
You Stage – The stage of character creation. Divided into three basic steps. 1. Self-analysis. 2. Determination of Agreed Upon Value Method(s). 3. Group-analysis, Consensus, and assigning of Final Values and Scores.
Plus Stage – The stage of character development. On-going and future oriented.
Essay Ten: U Plus (U+)
You, Plus
Synopsis: Use this method of development and creation to improve both your character and yourself. For it is a method of developing a character based upon your real self, only better.
Note: If you consider Role Play Gaming an activity that is totally divorced from the real world and your real self, or relatedly if you think gaming should be used to escape or get away from yourself, then this method will probably be of no value to you. If however you consider gaming an activity that is complimentary to or a natural part of your larger and greater life then this method of self and character development may very well be useful to you in more than one way. I should also point out that this article (I should develop a better term for this kind of work) is also an interactive essay (meaning you may add to it, or write your own related essay in the response posts). So if after reading this piece you should decide to make your own suggestions as to variations upon the method, or to critique it, or it has inspired a related set of ideas, then feel free to comment and to contribute. Given the limitations or caveat of course of the first sentence of this note. There is no need to point out that, “I have no interest in playing that way because I think gaming should be entirely escapist and unreal.” I already understand that viewpoint. I am not arguing it, and I think it would be useless to spend my time debating that viewpoint as it is diametrically opposed to this method of character and game development. I am however presenting a contrary set of principles. A different model and paradigm for both approaching the game, and for assessing (and exploring) how the game might be useful in a wider sense to one’s larger life. That having been said though if you have a real critique to make or some form of improvement you’d like to suggest regarding this method of game and character development then feel free to weigh in with your comments. I will respond as soon as my schedule allows, and of course you do not need me to discuss or debate these ideas. You can do that quite well enough among yourselves.
Indirectly related to this method of character development is the idea behind the Renaissance Gild, which I do not intend to create a gaming thread about, but the basics of which can be found posted to my blogs. In this sense then you might think of this method of character development as the gaming or avocational version of the Renaissance Gild.
U+: This is a form of Player and Character creation and development that is basically applicable to any role-play gaming system, and maybe to other types of gaming systems as well. I will use D&D as an example of how to apply and play the system as regards the attributes, but it could be used with or applied to any of the attributes of any character during most any type or genre of game. Just so the terms I’ve used won’t be confusing to anyone reading and trying to understand what I’m saying I’ve included a Definition of Terms supplement to the end of this article.
Instead of rolling for character attributes, using any artificial or traditional system, what one does is analyze one’s own (personal or individual) attributes and then apply those to the necessary character attributes. The intention is to produce a character whose attributes mirror your own real world attributes as closely as possible, or at least as closely as desired. This is the You part of the equation, or the Y.O.U. Stage. I’ll get to the Plus part in a moment, which is the second stage of the entire process.
How do you determine and fix your own attributes to a character?
Well, rather than give you a static and not necessarily accurate system for your own game, the way we do it is in three steps. These simple and basic steps can be applied to any gaming system with very little if any necessary modification.
Character Creation:
First and foremost, analyze yourself. Be as brutally honest about yourself, your capabilities, your strengths and your weaknesses as possible. This gives you a basic idea of what you (as a person) would be like as compared to the gaming system that you use to affix attribute scores. The point of this step is to try to express your real self and your real attributes in a gaming form suitable to the way characters are expressed within the gaming system you are using.
Secondly, you and your fellow players and your DM or GM must decide on a “Value-Method.” For example, how do you value strength, and how do you set a strength-value? For instance if a person can bench press 120 pounds (in real life) does that give him a strength of 12? Or, do you take a given real world number or target, say if one is able to bench press 350 (or more) pounds (meaning that if you can really bench press 350 pounds you would have an equivalent game strength of 18), and then let people work out a percentage of what their own strength would mean proportionally and in comparison to that standard? It doesn’t really much matter (within reason) how you set the values or by use of what method, as long as you are consistent and everyone can use the same value standards to determine their own real world abilities and attributes. Of course some attributes, for instance, Wisdom, Charisma, or even Intelligence (in some cases) will be much harder to affix and apply as an objective standard to both player and character. I’ll explain a method of resolving that problem in step three.
Third, the individual player gets together with all of his other players, and with the DM or GM, goes over the attribute scores he has assigned his character which were based upon his own real world attributes, and then negotiation and compromise begins. For instance if a player sees himself as 14 strength (in both real life and correspondingly for the score he desires for his character) but most other people in the gaming group see him as either a 16 (or a 12 if going in the opposite direction), then a compromise might be reached in which the player settles upon a strength value score of 15 (or a 13 if most think him weaker than he thinks himself). Then the same is done with every attribute and every character until agreement or consensus is reached. How long this third step takes, and whether agreement is reached quickly or slowly I suspect would depend upon the nature of the group and the players and DM(s) involved.
After these three steps are finished every player now has a character with all attributes assigned, and each character more or less precisely reflects the nature of the actual player (at least as far as the agreed upon attribute scores are concerned). This is the YOU step of the process, and is the Character Creation stage.
This system of assigning character attribute values is not nearly as easy or quick as more traditional methods, nor nearly as arbitrary as chance, accident, and die roll. But it does provide an excellent system for player-character sympathy and association, and it is a superb method of encouraging both player (individual person) and character development throughout the course of play.
Character Development:
After the Character Creation stage comes the Plus stage. In the plus stage the intention is to foster both on-going and long-term development on the part of both the player and the character. This is accomplished in the following way.
A player chooses one (or more, but I recommend one) attribute in which he or she feels they (both player and character) are weak or deficient or not as promising as they wish to be. For instance if a player feels that both he and his character are not as physically healthy as they wish to be (reflected in D&D game terms as Constitution) then they choose that attribute which reflects their dissatisfaction with their health and toughness (Constitution). Within the game the character then sets out, whenever opportunities present themselves, to increase or augment their Constitution. To improve their constitution score, augment it, or add to it. To build it up. This could be achieved through any number of ways. Through the reading and practice of manuals of health, through exercises designed to increase health and toughness, through seeking cures for diseases, through magic or scientific advances, through self-monitoring and careful observation followed by corrective action, and so on and so forth. Or, ideally, one could employ a combination of useful methods. The point is that over a period of time one sets out to improve the character’s abilities and capabilities within the realm of the targeted Attribute.
At the same time a corresponding effort is made by the player in his non-gaming time (though to a degree the in-game efforts could be considered a form of practice or habit reformation for the real world effort) to achieve the same effect. If the player chose to strengthen his character’s Constitution then he attempts in the real world to do the same for himself. By whatever means necessary (within reason and that is legal and ethical) and by whatever means is actually effective and beneficial. The point is to achieve a concurrent and practical desired improvement on the part of both the player and the character in regards to whatever attribute is targeted. (I use this system for the improvement of general gaming attributes, but it could just as easily, with some modification, be applied to simultaneous player-character improvement in other areas of ability, such as in co-development of particular skills or skill sets.)
The same general process of development can be applied to any attribute (or skill, or capability) one wishes to improve, or to gain new advantage in. So one is not limited, of course, to the example I gave regarding Constitution. One could improve one’s Intelligence, Charisma, Wisdom, Dexterity, observational skills, deductive capabilities, tracking ability, etc. The important thing is that one makes the effort to find effective methods of improving and beneficially developing one’s attributes and/or capabilities both in-game and in the real world. Improving one’s character is used as encouragement and motivation for improving one’s self and vice versa. (The character then becomes a sort of “imaginary model” for corresponding self-development.) Methods of co-development may also be complimentary.
Reading magical manuals to improve one’s strength in-game might correspond to reading books on exercise and fitness and developing weight programs to train one’s physical self in real life. Real world exercises might lead to one developing certain game exercises that have the same effects on one’s character (used in the widest sense of the term to reflect both in-game character and real world character).
One also needs to choose a target objective to develop a suitable time-frame in which real achievements and improvements can be made and measured. The time frame really doesn’t matter as long as verifiable, measurable, and beneficial improvements can actually be made within the agreed upon limits of the time frame or timeline involved. Just as a recommendation however I suggest one year of real world and playing time for a target objective of increasing an attribute by one point (gaining a new one point advantage to the attribute). This gives one time enough to read, research, exercise, practice, and make actual and real improvements and generally still have enough reserve time to deal with family and work demands, as well as to accommodate the unforeseen demands of the accidental occurrence or the unexpected situation. (This is in fact my exact method of employing U+, I use a timeline/time-frame of one year real world playing time to try and make improvements to both my character and myself.)
Through this method one can also achieve complimentary secondary or tertiary objectives. For instance a player wishes to increase both his own strength and his character’s strength. Correspondingly he also wishes to lose (or gain) weight in real life in conjunction with his increase in strength. There may be no need at all for his character to gain or lose weight, but increasing strength and gaining or losing weight in real life may very well be complimentary goals for the player. (For example the player feels he or she is too fat or too thin in real life, but his or her character is of an ideal weight. The character then can serve as a sort of imaginary goal for desired weight and/or physique on the part of the player. Playing the character reinforces this complimentary secondary goal much as it reinforces the other primary goals of attribute and skill development.) So at the same time the player is seeking to increase both his own and his character’s strength he is also looking to lose or gain weight using the same basic principles of development. The practical uses of such a system of development are like the game you play itself, limited only by the power of your own imagination, creativity and desire. It is, because of this, an extremely useful method of Role Play, for the overall intention is to use one’s role to simultaneously develop both one’s imaginary character and one’s real self. Beneficially, positively, and through a method that promotes an on-going basis for continued improvement to both player and character.
Therefore after improvements have been made to the initial target attribute, through whatever method works and in whatever time frame is possible then one may continue to make new improvements to the same attribute (or set of attributes, or skill-set) or move on to a new attribute, set of attributes, or skill, or skill-set. Again the limits outlined by the actual possibilities are merely self-imposed. What you choose to intentionally change and improve is up to you, and your gaming group.
Now, at this point and as a side-note, I am not saying that I think gaming, of any kind, role play gaming included, should be one’s chief, much less one’s only, method of self-improvement, or of any type of improvement. There are many methods of improvement one could undertake, some more effective than others, and gaming should be used as but one tool in the overall toolkit. However I am saying that gaming, role play gaming in particular, because of the very nature of the type of gaming involved, is a perfectly suitable method of training, exercising, and practicing not only one’s role and character, but by extension, one’s real self through that role and character. That gaming can be used as a novel and effective method of focus and encouragement to make improvements to one’s character and to one’s nature, in more than one way, and in the widest possible sense of the terms of both improvement, and character. That one can easily use one’s full force of imagination (through the vehicle of role play gaming) as complimentary to and as a form of exercise towards real improvement in the real world.
(It is at least as vital a method of potential self-improvement as observationally passive methods of skill absorption such as, “How I learned to be a leader from watching Captain Kirk,” or, “What the movies taught me about how to succeed in business without really trying.” But you can’t role-play or experiment with techniques regarding leadership by merely watching Capitan Kirk on television or on-screen. You can however experiment and test different methodologies of action and success through the mechanism of your role-playing character. For that matter you can even role-play Captain Kirk if you wish and over time improve both the character, and correspondingly, yourself.
Conversely I suppose it could be said that gaming could be used as a form of practice for developing or improving malignant traits, or for practicing habits of degeneration rather than regeneration and improvement. That, like anything, it could be used positively or negatively. But I am not making that suggestion. I am rather proposing that it can be used as one method of improvement, and even of encouraging and focusing one towards goals of real achievement in the real world, rather than merely fantasy achievements in an imaginary world.)
A Brief Note on Developmental Background of this Method: In my setting the players have used the Y.O.U. (which stands for Your Own Utility, or usefulness) system of character creation for a long while now. Some time ago I encouraged my players to create characters that mirrored themselves in attributes (or in whatever other way they wished) as closely as possible. It has worked out very well for us and has the added advantage of creating a natural sense of association and sympathy on the part of the player with his character. (Imagine for instance playing a video game or a virtual reality game in which it was obvious the character was you, rather than some artificially created or contrived character only vaguely or suggestively like you in some ways and very much unlike you in others.) However after some experimentation with NPCs and characters who reflected my own attributes and nature I decided to also add the Plus part of the equation to encourage on-going and long-term development on the part of both the Player and the Character. It became, at that point, not merely a method of creating characters like the player, but of simultaneously developing and improving both character and player.
This system of course is flexible and open to many forms of alteration and experimentation, and I encourage both. For instance rather than the process I described above the player might choose one real attribute about himself which is a different attribute than that of his character, which he wishes to improve, augment, or increase. So that the processes of character and player improvement become parallel tracks of development, rather than corresponding tracks of development.
Another form of variation is that one can affix or assign values as I originally outlined, but players retain a “reserve value,” which is merely a group agreed upon number that they can apply to any one attribute they wish that they feel is too low or not a fair reflection of their own personal attributes. When creating their character they hold that number or value in reserve and then use it as they wish after all of the attributes have been initially determined. Adding it to what they feel is the deficient attribute score, from their point of view.
These are just a couple of possible variations upon the You Plus formula and process of character creation and development. Many others are possible and through experimentation the players and the gaming group can reach the best possible format of this system for their own game.
Also I should point out that not every player need employ this system, should one choose to use it in one’s game(s). That is to say that one player might want to use U+, another might wish to use a traditional method of character generation and improvement, hybrid systems might well develop, and so forth. The only real problem of employment is one of agreement, how and in what specific way one’s group agrees to employ the system.
Definition of Terms:
You or Y.O.U. – Stands for Your Own Utility. Basing character attributes for your gaming character (of whatever system or genre) upon the corresponding real world attributes of the player who will play the character. Values are determined and set by the individual Gaming Group.
Plus – The system that encourages simultaneous development (or some variation thereof) of both the character and the player through game play, and through related outside activities.
Gaming Group – The particular group of players and the DM or GM involved in any given game or set of games. The entire gaming group determines character-player interaction values and how exactly the U+ system is employed and works within the context of their particular game or games.
You Stage – The stage of character creation. Divided into three basic steps. 1. Self-analysis. 2. Determination of Agreed Upon Value Method(s). 3. Group-analysis, Consensus, and assigning of Final Values and Scores.
Plus Stage – The stage of character development. On-going and future oriented.
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Ah well.
