Maybe a funny question:
Do you root for your characters?
Coming from solo wargaming, I find there's a split between people who play one side and fight "against the system" so to speak, and people who view the game neutrally and are just seeing what will happen.
When role playing, I find that I tend to take the latter view a bit: If the heroes get eaten by a monster, that's how that story goes.
But then, some people are into it to tell (or experience) a deep story and that sort of attitude won't really work for that.
So where do you stand?
Heck yes I root for my character, since I'm playing them as an extension of myself. They're my avatar in the matrix so to speak.
ReplyDeleteNow in mini's/wargames/thematic boardgames, I'm the opposite. More as you describe above. There is more of a "disconnect" for me. In those cases I'm playing out the action to see what happens. I'm not as engaged on the personal level. They seem more like playing pieces on a board or outside actors whose exploits I'm viewing, whereas in an RPG I identify as the character I'm playing, & view & interact with the world through them.
It depends if I play as a player or if I play as a GM. As a player I focus on my character and the solo system works as the rest of the (hostile) universe, when I play as a GM I use the solo system like a tool to run the adventure and to put the PCs into interesting situations, if they fail it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI made Bivius Tunnels&Dragons to let me play both way.
I think I always tend to root from one side or the other. I wish it wasn't so, but I can't help it. Yet I don't necessarily root for "my characters"... in my view, the line between PC and NPC is very thin when soloing.
ReplyDeleteevandro novel well, sometimes you realize an NPC turned out to be way more interesting :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I solo RP, I generally have a small party. And I root for one of them, but I enjoy the "side characters" failing
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely a split between the mechanistic view -- let's try this system out -- and the narrative one -- let's see what story unfolds. I'm in the latter camp. But I think both approaches lend themselves to seeing how the game unfolds in play.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can root for a character even if I'm playing director; in fact, when I'm directing things I'm even more a fan -- after all, I'm making things difficult so they can show their stuff and be awesome!
I like stories where the hero wins, but winning doesn't mean anything if there's no challenge, you know? And sometimes a bad die roll when you're out of resources means your hero dies after one scene and that's just how it goes.
In RPGs, I find I get invested in my characters, I feel for them, but I don't root for them.But I'm very big into an emergent narrative in my games, and a character dying isn't necessarily the end of their story.
ReplyDeleteThen there's those times when you just hope they die so you can move on to something else... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI usually start out unbiased. But as a skirmsoh unfolds, and you have your imagination engaged, a narrative takes shape between the dice rolls and the maneuvering. Somewhere along the line I always find I have a favorite, and then I do root for them. A side effect is that I become concerned that I'll go too easy on "my team" at that point, so I start looking even harder for ways the bad guys can pounce so that the game stays fair-ish.
ReplyDeleteI tend to root for, and plot against, all my PCs.
ReplyDeleteGerard Nerval I don't need to plot against my PC's. The random tables & oracles seem to do a fine enough job of it as it is! :)
ReplyDeleteWell if you have unlucky dice then the entire world will be against them :D
ReplyDeleteI had a PC die after one scene the other day due to a combination of bad rolls and arrogant resource spending. It was a humbling reminder that it's a game in addition to being a story!
ReplyDeleteI'm still in my first game, but yea, I root for my PC. It wasn't until I entered my first combat that I realized, "Oh, crap! That probe droid could wipe him out before he clears the first act!" And THAT was when I dumped XP into the Force skill that let me upgrade combat checks against my PC...
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