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When good roleplayers rebel...
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<blockquote data-quote="Orryn Emrys" data-source="post: 1260593" data-attributes="member: 6799"><p>I <em>do</em> appreciate all the advice, but, now that my period of self-recrimination has winded to a close, I feel I should qualify the single comment that seemed to get the most attention from my previous narration. Interestingly enough, I find it very revealing that my fellow players and DMs will respond quickly and strongly to any hint of "railroading", if you will. Well... count me as no exception here.</p><p></p><p>Frankly, by "it will likely take time" (to get things back on track), I was referring to the fact that my primary concern is that the player characters should have every opportunity to pursue the course that is most relevant to their own intentions, and that I will reward their efforts accordingly. Eventually, however, although the "McGuffin hunt" may not turn out to be the vehicle I use, there are campaign developments tied to the journey I intend the PC's take across the sea to the west. Of course, the key, as suggested by a couple of the fine respondants who posted above, is to give the PC's appropriate cause to follow such a course.</p><p></p><p>I realize that I didn't explain this well in my initial post above, but I was wallowing in self-pity at the time.... I have since come to my senses. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This, by the way, is a direction I hadn't considered. If the artifact hunt turns out to be the best way to get the events of the campaign to fall into place, this might be the way to get things started.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well... I think <em>good-natured</em> would be a stretch. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> Allow me to explain.</p><p></p><p>The players in my game tend to avoid meta-game thinking like the plague. If their characters aren't tuned in to the "big picture", then they will similarly avoid any serious consideration of events on their own part. Or, more specifically, they never let it affect play. Consequentially, "railroading" tactics generally fail to deter them from following the trail laid by the events of the campaign. Events beyond their control are the meat and drink of the experience to them, as it provides ample opportunity for angst and strife and other factors that promote bonding with their characters.</p><p></p><p>That doesn't keep them from calling me names... but they do keep coming back. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>In any case, I construct my campaign to take advantage of this devotion to their characters' perspectives and philosophies. Events are frequently designed to elicit a realistic emotional response in a character or characters, and thus generate a will to proceed... or a need to, depending on the level of exploitation.</p><p></p><p>In fact, this has been the direction of development for my gamers for a long enough period that I am loathe to reward a player for complex roleplaying activity... as this is now the standard. The young prince mentioned in my first post will have to deal with the consequences of his actions, his choices, without any fateful favoritism... as a realized depth of character is its own reward. If his decision to attack the villain directly turns out to be a foolhardy one, he will hopefully live to learn from the experience. And that learning experience is, in itself, what the player will cherish the most.</p><p></p><p>I <em>do</em> wonder whether there are other groups out there that operate in this fashion. I don't necessarily feel that it is the "ultimate" expression of the roleplaying experience, but I do feel that it is a direction that requires a great deal of effort on the part of everyone involved, and would thus likely be a fairly rare application of the roleplaying experience.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And, finally, as you can probably tell from my previous comments, Lazy GMing never works with this group. The characters' well-being is so important to these players that, anytime I give them time and/or opportunity to truly decide their own path, they'll take the time to seek less stressful distractions... often for the mental and emotional well-being of their characters. And this tends to be a liability for the flow of the game in the long run, since I will then be assaulted with constant requests to roleplay every little thing. The players know how this affects the pace of play, but are regretful of any lost opportunity to explore characterization. For day-to-day details, I can generally manage to provide just enough interaction to keep them satisfied... but a group that wants to rest for a week should seriously consider allowing me to glance over the week and move on....</p><p></p><p>Which they do... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> ... they just grumble a bit... and schedule time amongst themselves to roleplay conversations between characters outside of game time.</p><p></p><p>So... perhaps there is a balance after all.... But I would have to do a <em>lot</em> of damage to "destroy their interest and immersion in the game", if you follow my meaning.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orryn Emrys, post: 1260593, member: 6799"] I [i]do[/i] appreciate all the advice, but, now that my period of self-recrimination has winded to a close, I feel I should qualify the single comment that seemed to get the most attention from my previous narration. Interestingly enough, I find it very revealing that my fellow players and DMs will respond quickly and strongly to any hint of "railroading", if you will. Well... count me as no exception here. Frankly, by "it will likely take time" (to get things back on track), I was referring to the fact that my primary concern is that the player characters should have every opportunity to pursue the course that is most relevant to their own intentions, and that I will reward their efforts accordingly. Eventually, however, although the "McGuffin hunt" may not turn out to be the vehicle I use, there are campaign developments tied to the journey I intend the PC's take across the sea to the west. Of course, the key, as suggested by a couple of the fine respondants who posted above, is to give the PC's appropriate cause to follow such a course. I realize that I didn't explain this well in my initial post above, but I was wallowing in self-pity at the time.... I have since come to my senses. :D This, by the way, is a direction I hadn't considered. If the artifact hunt turns out to be the best way to get the events of the campaign to fall into place, this might be the way to get things started. Well... I think [i]good-natured[/i] would be a stretch. :D Allow me to explain. The players in my game tend to avoid meta-game thinking like the plague. If their characters aren't tuned in to the "big picture", then they will similarly avoid any serious consideration of events on their own part. Or, more specifically, they never let it affect play. Consequentially, "railroading" tactics generally fail to deter them from following the trail laid by the events of the campaign. Events beyond their control are the meat and drink of the experience to them, as it provides ample opportunity for angst and strife and other factors that promote bonding with their characters. That doesn't keep them from calling me names... but they do keep coming back. :D In any case, I construct my campaign to take advantage of this devotion to their characters' perspectives and philosophies. Events are frequently designed to elicit a realistic emotional response in a character or characters, and thus generate a will to proceed... or a need to, depending on the level of exploitation. In fact, this has been the direction of development for my gamers for a long enough period that I am loathe to reward a player for complex roleplaying activity... as this is now the standard. The young prince mentioned in my first post will have to deal with the consequences of his actions, his choices, without any fateful favoritism... as a realized depth of character is its own reward. If his decision to attack the villain directly turns out to be a foolhardy one, he will hopefully live to learn from the experience. And that learning experience is, in itself, what the player will cherish the most. I [i]do[/i] wonder whether there are other groups out there that operate in this fashion. I don't necessarily feel that it is the "ultimate" expression of the roleplaying experience, but I do feel that it is a direction that requires a great deal of effort on the part of everyone involved, and would thus likely be a fairly rare application of the roleplaying experience. And, finally, as you can probably tell from my previous comments, Lazy GMing never works with this group. The characters' well-being is so important to these players that, anytime I give them time and/or opportunity to truly decide their own path, they'll take the time to seek less stressful distractions... often for the mental and emotional well-being of their characters. And this tends to be a liability for the flow of the game in the long run, since I will then be assaulted with constant requests to roleplay every little thing. The players know how this affects the pace of play, but are regretful of any lost opportunity to explore characterization. For day-to-day details, I can generally manage to provide just enough interaction to keep them satisfied... but a group that wants to rest for a week should seriously consider allowing me to glance over the week and move on.... Which they do... :D ... they just grumble a bit... and schedule time amongst themselves to roleplay conversations between characters outside of game time. So... perhaps there is a balance after all.... But I would have to do a [i]lot[/i] of damage to "destroy their interest and immersion in the game", if you follow my meaning. [/QUOTE]
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