What first in your TTRPGing - Story, Game or Character?

[John Dallman]

Setting first. I tend to create those first, find some initial stories to tell in them, then ask the players to make characters who can do things in the setting. Gameplay is the way we explore the setting and the consequences of the things in it. The shape of the final story after becomes visible after a good deal of gameplay, and then gets played out.

 

[Pedantic]

So, I think all of these are important. But I can see some prioritizing in my playing and running RPGs.

When my goal is game-first, I don't reach for an RPG to scratch that itch. I reach for a board or computer game - Gloomhaven, Sentinels of the Multiverse, or the like. The least satisfying RPG sessions I have ever played are ones in which my focus was on the rules of the game, and manipulating them. But in Gloomhaven, that's a highly satisfying session of play.

When I'm picking up an RPG, my priorities become mixed and varied between character and story. When I am playing, I probably lean toward character, and allow the GM to worry about the story. When I'm running the game, I lean more to story, in which the players can deal with character.

Broadly, I think of rules as the framework through which we get to character and story. I then become kind of system agnostic, on the whole - I'll play virtually any system, and find the characters and stories that system supports.

My position is exactly the opposite of this, resulting in this model:

Game -> Character -> Story

I play a ton of board games, and there's nothing more frustrating than feeling like I shouldn't bring that accumulated set of skills and decision making processes to a TTRPG. TTRPGs, ideally, are a platform to do some things "better" or at least more than a board game can allow, by being unbounded in playtime and/or victory condition.

Boards games aren't an off-ramp for some kinds of play, they're a starting point that a TTRPG can build on. Ideally, they're a means to enhance the experience of gameplay, by allowing me to bring in elements of character/story exploration.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

It isn't really easy to disentangle Game, Story or Character... For me, people need to have characters they love before anything else. Then the game needs to provide exciting activities that they want to do, supported by good rules (otherwise "make it up" feels empty and unimpactful). Story arises from that.

 

[kenada]

I would rank game first with story (particularly emergent story) coming closely after it. Character is a distant third. I have an idea who the character is, but it’s otherwise not very important to me.

 

[overgeeked]

For most games it’s game then character with story as an afterthought at best. I play and run mostly procedurally and the dice are there to provide randomness. Whatever “story” results is whatever emerges from the unique combination of game rules, referee prep, player choices, and dice results.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Hmmm.

I agree with those above who've said the three are closely entangled.

When I GM I'm always thinking "story first." I do intend for the story to be one the characters and players can interact with in a fun way. I put character second, not because I value them less but because, as GM, they are not my first responsibility. They're the players' responsibility. My job is to facilitate fun for the characters with a good story.

When I'm a player I put my character first, mostly. As someone who is so often the GM I am quite aware of the GM's role when I'm a player. I realise that they have put a lot of work into the game. So I will lean into the story they've come up with. I'll accept the premise and the tropes and play with them.

The game is the dials and switches we get to flip to interact with the story and character elements. And I do enjoy me some dials and switches. But I think this element comes third for me. It's not nothing for me. I mean, I won't play DND 5e because I find the system so dull. (Full disclosure: I am playing in a 5e game but that is out of a sense of loyalty to the GM not any interest in the system.) I do like it when a system enhances certain types of story and/or character. eg. Ars Magica and it's magic system creates a very strong style.

Hmm. I think maybe system = style. This would make story and character as the substance. But will have to cogitate on this a bit more.

 

[Campbell]

I'm not sure how to separate story and character in a way that allows me to answer the question. Character is the engine of story. It provides the motion, the momentum for it.

 

[payn]

I'm not sure how to separate story and character in a way that allows me to answer the question. Character is the engine of story. It provides the motion, the momentum for it.

I dont see it that way. The setting and meta plot in my style of GMing doesn’t rely on the PCs entirety. The two go back and forth in a proactive and reactive dance. However, a known state of the story, a beginning I suppose, is always there to fuel the process.

 

[pointofyou]

I'm not sure how to separate story and character in a way that allows me to answer the question. Character is the engine of story. It provides the motion, the momentum for it.

There have been some people answering in terms of chronological order and there have been some answering in terms of importance and at least one has answered in terms of something like structure. I agree that as someone else has said above story and character can be hard to entangle. I don't think any of these answers are exactly incompatible but the different viewpoints might well be hard to reconcile at one table.

 

[MGibster]

I'm going to echo the sentiments of others, it's not always easy to cleanly separate story, game, and character. Well, character is usually easy enough. Broadly speaking, I consider story to be made up of setting, themes, and the actual plot and this is where I usually start. I might start out thinking I want to run a cyberpunk game and from there figure out what I want the player characters to do in that campaign, then I figure out game, and then they figure out their characters. It might not go in that order though.

For my last campaign, I decided I wanted to play the cyberpunk genre, I wanted to run a heist, and I ended up selecting Cyberpunk Red. I explained the setting, forbade Corporate and Cop characters, and the players figured out their characters from there. By the way, Cyberpunk Red is terrible. Will not run again.