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<blockquote data-quote="Nagol" data-source="post: 7352003" data-attributes="member: 23935">Success at whatever task I choose is much more important than how dramatic the story would sound on retelling.&nbsp; I don't care whether the narrative would be considered good literature or story-telling -- developing the story is tertiary to having fun at the table as a group and being true to the character I'm trying to portray.As a player, I am more concerned about acting as I think the character would act.&nbsp; Would the character try to generate drama?&nbsp; Possible, but not likely.&nbsp; Because of my nature, it is more likely the character would try to be competent and effective in his role.&nbsp; If I think my PC has the capability to stop a bomb in 10 seconds, but we're at the two minute mark, would I delay trying until the time becomes more dramatic to enhance the narrative? No.&nbsp; Would I strive for a dramatic confrontation if I think I can win more quietly? No.&nbsp; Would I as a player seek out or attempt to inject any form of dramatic impact on the narrative?&nbsp; Only so much as the character would.&nbsp; Competent and effective characters tend to avoid drama save that which directly suits their purpose; dramatic moments tend to be messy and unpredictable.I don't care if the narrative ends up being a good story.&nbsp; Let's face it: we're not professional story-tellers by and large.&nbsp; Most times tables can at best pull off cheesy, cliché ridden, and corny stories anyway.&nbsp; And that's OK.&nbsp; We're not trying to make a wonderful story with appropriate narrative highs and lows in a 3 or 4 act structure with a strong beginning, middle, and end.&nbsp; We're trying to have fun at the table while portraying people/things that aren't us. If I have fun raiding a temple that ends up being a cakewalk because the group did a good job investigating and planning, hey, that's great. Better in fact than if we spent the time to do a crappy job investigating and planning and the raid ended up more suspenseful and climactic 'by the skin of the teeth' win because we weren't prepared.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nagol, post: 7352003, member: 23935"] Success at whatever task I choose is much more important than how dramatic the story would sound on retelling. I don't care whether the narrative would be considered good literature or story-telling -- developing the story is tertiary to having fun at the table as a group and being true to the character I'm trying to portray. As a player, I am more concerned about acting as I think the character would act. Would the character try to generate drama? Possible, but not likely. Because of my nature, it is more likely the character would try to be competent and effective in his role. If I think my PC has the capability to stop a bomb in 10 seconds, but we're at the two minute mark, would I delay trying until the time becomes more dramatic to enhance the narrative? No. Would I strive for a dramatic confrontation if I think I can win more quietly? No. Would I as a player seek out or attempt to inject any form of dramatic impact on the narrative? Only so much as the character would. Competent and effective characters tend to avoid drama save that which directly suits their purpose; dramatic moments tend to be messy and unpredictable. I don't care if the narrative ends up being a good story. Let's face it: we're not professional story-tellers by and large. Most times tables can at best pull off cheesy, cliché ridden, and corny stories anyway. And that's OK. We're not trying to make a wonderful story with appropriate narrative highs and lows in a 3 or 4 act structure with a strong beginning, middle, and end. We're trying to have fun at the table while portraying people/things that aren't us. If I have fun raiding a temple that ends up being a cakewalk because the group did a good job investigating and planning, hey, that's great. Better in fact than if we spent the time to do a crappy job investigating and planning and the raid ended up more suspenseful and climactic 'by the skin of the teeth' win because we weren't prepared. [/QUOTE]

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