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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8227057" data-attributes="member: 16814">Yes, I defined it previously, and game examples.&nbsp; Protagonism is where the focus of play is on the character's dramatic needs.Dramatic needs are things that the character is about -- ie, things that are defining for the character -- and that you can hang a story on all by itself (ie, it can drive an entire story arc in play).&nbsp; I'm not talking about scripting, here, but that the dramatic need is the impetus for story.&nbsp; The examples I gave including such things as &quot;I will get revenge on the murder of my family, no matter the cost.&quot;&nbsp; This is meaty -- it's defining, and it's something that a lot of story can hang on.So, then protagonism would be that the game that features the character with the above example of a dramatic need would have play that focuses on that need, and not something the GM wants in play.&nbsp; IE, the protagonist of the story is the character, because the story is going to be about them.This is clearly NOT D&amp;D, as D&amp;D is focused on a story/location/hexcrawl/sandbox created by the GM, often without direct concern for the characters.&nbsp; Sometimes the characters are built into a session, but only as the GM allows.&nbsp; This means the play is usually about something other than the dramatic needs of the PCs -- usually it's about the dramatic needs of some NPC, which the players then try to foil.&nbsp; This isn't a bad thing -- D&amp;D does D&amp;D very well, but that's just not protagonism.&nbsp; As I still run D&amp;D (and am doing so now), this clearly isn't something that I think is, in any way, a bad or negative thing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8227057, member: 16814"] Yes, I defined it previously, and game examples. Protagonism is where the focus of play is on the character's dramatic needs. Dramatic needs are things that the character is about -- ie, things that are defining for the character -- and that you can hang a story on all by itself (ie, it can drive an entire story arc in play). I'm not talking about scripting, here, but that the dramatic need is the impetus for story. The examples I gave including such things as "I will get revenge on the murder of my family, no matter the cost." This is meaty -- it's defining, and it's something that a lot of story can hang on. So, then protagonism would be that the game that features the character with the above example of a dramatic need would have play that focuses on that need, and not something the GM wants in play. IE, the protagonist of the story is the character, because the story is going to be about them. This is clearly NOT D&D, as D&D is focused on a story/location/hexcrawl/sandbox created by the GM, often without direct concern for the characters. Sometimes the characters are built into a session, but only as the GM allows. This means the play is usually about something other than the dramatic needs of the PCs -- usually it's about the dramatic needs of some NPC, which the players then try to foil. This isn't a bad thing -- D&D does D&D very well, but that's just not protagonism. As I still run D&D (and am doing so now), this clearly isn't something that I think is, in any way, a bad or negative thing. [/QUOTE]

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