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<blockquote data-quote="darkbard" data-source="post: 8483834" data-attributes="member: 1282">For me, the process of discovering who a character is rather than preconceiving character in overly detailed fashion is pretty important. And that is virtually impossible without exposing that PC to the pressure cooker of gameplay wherein actions taken when stakes matter often determine who that PC is. Often that can be part of mechanical build, like when my wife's ([USER=20459]@Nephis[/USER] ) Wizard in our Dungeon World game used her Storm Aura spell (a custom move that allows the Wizard to discharge Hold either to cast a lightning bolt or ride the wind a la Storm from X-Men) to leap down a well alone to confront the source of a miasma animating the skeletal remains of a dragon graveyard against us. This character from before Session Zero was framed as impulsive, but this particular instance defines for me (and for the rest of the group, I think) what that impulsive nature really means and looks like.But I also recall an example from one of [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] 's Actual Play posts when a Dwarf PC made a critical Diplomacy roll in that 4E game (if memory serves, without any training in that Skill) for the deciding roll in a Skill Challenge. I don't know how pemerton or the player feels about that moment of play, but it certainly stands out in my memory as an outsidw observer as character defining because of what was at stake in play and the particular action the PC took. We found out something vital about that character in that moment of play, what mattered enough to be attempted outside of the usual widgets of build etc.So ultimately, I think PC actions, regardless of mechanical in/outputs, fundamentally determine PC character. And those actions require at least a modicum of actual gaming episodes to manifest.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="darkbard, post: 8483834, member: 1282"] For me, the process of discovering who a character is rather than preconceiving character in overly detailed fashion is pretty important. And that is virtually impossible without exposing that PC to the pressure cooker of gameplay wherein actions taken [I]when stakes matter[/I] often determine who that PC is. Often that can be part of mechanical build, like when my wife's ([USER=20459]@Nephis[/USER] ) Wizard in our Dungeon World game used her Storm Aura spell (a custom move that allows the Wizard to discharge Hold either to cast a lightning bolt or ride the wind a la Storm from X-Men) to leap down a well alone to confront the source of a miasma animating the skeletal remains of a dragon graveyard against us. This character from before Session Zero was framed as impulsive, but this particular instance defines for me (and for the rest of the group, I think) what that impulsive nature really means and looks like. But I also recall an example from one of [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] 's Actual Play posts when a Dwarf PC made a critical Diplomacy roll in that 4E game (if memory serves, without any training in that Skill) for the deciding roll in a Skill Challenge. I don't know how pemerton or the player feels about that moment of play, but it certainly stands out in my memory as an outsidw observer as character defining because of what was at stake in play and the particular action the PC took. We found out something vital about that character in that moment of play, what mattered enough to be attempted outside of the usual widgets of build etc. So ultimately, I think PC actions, regardless of mechanical in/outputs, fundamentally determine PC character. And those actions require at least a modicum of actual gaming episodes to manifest. [/QUOTE]

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