Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Worlds of Design: "Your Character Wouldn't Do That"
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 7830869" data-attributes="member: 6677017"><p>I'm not sure how to answer the question. The only time I would ever say, "Your character wouldn't do that," is in the case of magical control. And if possible, I like to let players control their characters rather than take the "polymorph to NPC" approach. Here is an example of a private message I sent to a player recently:</p><p></p><p><em><em>Secret</em> (You failed a save). <The PC> feels as if he has awoken from a dream, as he realizes that this creature is his Master. He will serve, fight for, and die for his Master, to the best of his ability (including using up consumable items). He retains his knowledge, personality, and capabilities, but his devotion to his Master takes priority over all other connections and bonds. He will follow his Master's will and commands: both the words and the intent. (He's basically completely switched sides.) He feels its voice enter his mind saying, "Act as if nothing has changed and you have not awoken, unless I am attacked or in danger, or until I command otherwise."</em></p><p></p><p>In theory I might tell a player that their character wouldn't know something, but my players are pretty awesome and usually ask if they are uncertain.</p><p></p><p>I definitely do remind players of information that they may have forgotten but that their characters would not have, especially if they are indicating choices that make me wonder if they remember. Usually it ends up that either they forgot, or I explained it poorly.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes I'll narrate past boring parts, but I'm pretty careful to only do that when I think the players would want me to do it. I don't have any certain amount of content I need to get done in a certain amount of time. If they are having fun exploring a village and chatting with shopkeepers, that's what we do. If we are looking at having downtime or other offscreen action, I generally ask the players to tell me what they plan to do in general, and then give a brief narration of the details. I might throw in some flavor details about how their characters act based on the way they've played them, just to make the montage scene interesting, but players are free to correct me at any time if that isn't how they would envision their character dealing with the situation.</p><p></p><p>Outside of D&D, that last paragraph is going to happen more, since we play a very sandbox style in D&D, and most systems aren't as good for that style.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 7830869, member: 6677017"] I'm not sure how to answer the question. The only time I would ever say, "Your character wouldn't do that," is in the case of magical control. And if possible, I like to let players control their characters rather than take the "polymorph to NPC" approach. Here is an example of a private message I sent to a player recently: [I][I]Secret[/I] (You failed a save). <The PC> feels as if he has awoken from a dream, as he realizes that this creature is his Master. He will serve, fight for, and die for his Master, to the best of his ability (including using up consumable items). He retains his knowledge, personality, and capabilities, but his devotion to his Master takes priority over all other connections and bonds. He will follow his Master's will and commands: both the words and the intent. (He's basically completely switched sides.) He feels its voice enter his mind saying, "Act as if nothing has changed and you have not awoken, unless I am attacked or in danger, or until I command otherwise."[/I] In theory I might tell a player that their character wouldn't know something, but my players are pretty awesome and usually ask if they are uncertain. I definitely do remind players of information that they may have forgotten but that their characters would not have, especially if they are indicating choices that make me wonder if they remember. Usually it ends up that either they forgot, or I explained it poorly. Sometimes I'll narrate past boring parts, but I'm pretty careful to only do that when I think the players would want me to do it. I don't have any certain amount of content I need to get done in a certain amount of time. If they are having fun exploring a village and chatting with shopkeepers, that's what we do. If we are looking at having downtime or other offscreen action, I generally ask the players to tell me what they plan to do in general, and then give a brief narration of the details. I might throw in some flavor details about how their characters act based on the way they've played them, just to make the montage scene interesting, but players are free to correct me at any time if that isn't how they would envision their character dealing with the situation. Outside of D&D, that last paragraph is going to happen more, since we play a very sandbox style in D&D, and most systems aren't as good for that style. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Worlds of Design: "Your Character Wouldn't Do That"
Top