The Boring Long Lived Character
Why do we play these games? Do we say to ourselves "Let's all get together next week, and instead of leading our boring lives, lets pretend to be fantasy characters living their boring everyday lives?"
Being a hero takes to elements.
1. Courage to put your life on the line, and a villain that represents a serious threat to it. Would you pay money to see a movie where a hero stood around ever confronting his arch nemesis face to face, or a hero saving his own skin, hiding behind others rather than risking the slightest scratch?
No thanks! Give me a character who does brave deeds! Give me a character about whom I can tell a good story, even if he does buy the farm! Ben Franklin said "To be remembered, write a book or do somthing worth writing a book about" if I recall. Over the past 25 years too many players have come to believe that living means winning in an RPG. This philosophy gives up heroics for security. You can soak up an awful lot of experience points sitting back and letting the other characters do the dying for you, but where is the fun in that?
The point of roleplaying isn't whether you live or die, its how you play the game. So if you're going to play, play a hero!
1. Find Your Characters Kryptonite
2. Give Your Character Automatic Reactions
3. Take Charge of Your Own Destiny
4. Be Creative
5. Be Thoughtful og Other Players Needs
We all know how helpful character backgrounds can be. Don't let your character just spring out of nowhere. Give her an origin, and a background. However, as you creating the background story, take a lesson from Superman's weakness. Did you ever wonder why there are so many different kinds of Kryptonite? Why is this stuff, a supposedly ultra rare element from a destroyed planet, far away, so readily available to nefarious underworld figures when they need it?
The answer is surprisingly simple:
Superman would be a super-bore without Kryptonite. He would be unstoppable and what kind of story would that be? Achilles had his heel, and every good hero has had his or her equivalent since. Your character needs some vulnerability, and its up to you to see that they get it.
This doesn't have to be restrictive as it sounds. You should give your character:
One thing she will fight to the death over. This can be anything-an innocent in distress, injustice to ther poor, injustice to the rich-whatever the character's background might indicate.
One thing she will quail from every time. Fear of anything works fine her, whether its fear of a type of monster, object, or action. I once had a cleric that had a profound fear of rope. This seemed harmless enough to the party until they had to descend down a 30ft shaft. This forced another player to tell me a story about his "Magic Rope Powder" that made any rope safe. That the mysterious powder was salt was never mentioned in front of my character.
No one but you should control your character. In your hands is the ability to change the game flow. If the game is dragging you can change that. If the game is too fast, well-its never too fast. The appeal of roleplaying games is that they forge camaraderie and encourage cooperative behaviors. BUT if the result is not heroic, then its time to take matters out of the hands of the committee. I suggest one of the following guidelines.
DO SOMETHING! If you character hasnt done anything in the past 5 minutes, do something- anything. Conan never consults with his adventuring companions. Why should you always do so? Once I played a great little character in a swashbuckling game run by my good friends Mike Sakuta and Nicole Harsh. I decided my character was a former sidekick/servant of a Zorro type of masked avenger, who through his own negligence had caused the death of his master. So I took on his crusade and persona to atone for my mistake. Nicole's character knre nothing of my and had come to a grand ball to secure information to continue the adventure. Thinking she was in trouble, my character donned his ill fitting costume and made a dramatic entrance. I leaped! I soared! My blade flashed among the crowd. Chaos ensued at the ball. Nicole and I both leaped to swing from the chandelier at the same time in -OPPOSITE directions. Hanging from the now stationary lamp, her eyes narrowed asn me as she said "…who is this guy?"
Leave difficult puzzles. If you can't solve a puzzle in 10 minutes, leave it. I love a good riddle in an adventure, but if you cant solve it you either haven't found enough information to deal with it properly or the DM isn't doing his job right. The answer lies elsewhere. Its not going to appear mystically why you all stand around and ponder the possibilities so get on with it. This rule applies to other circumstances as well.
A. The Impenetrable Tomb Rule: Hey if the tomb has not been plundered, there's probably a reason for it. If you find yourself facing a puzzle to which you cannot find the answer, simply say loudly, "Alas my fellow adventurers, this riddle has beaten us like it has countless others! Let us go elsewhere in search of our fates!" Then walk away from the entire adventure. I bet that your DM will somehow get you necessary clues to get you past that "impenetrable" puzzle.
B. The Throw Yourself On The Grenade Rule: If a trap can be sprung only once, and it is holding up the show, spring it. If your character survives the damage, take your lumps, find a potion, and get on with it. If the trap is deadly, do in anyway, but be sure to do it with a lot of style! Have a death scene speech prepared. Chances are the DM is going to allow your new PC to show up any minute so you can remain in the game.
C. The Too High To Climb Rule: If you cant get over it, get under it. If you cant go around it, go through it. Player characters have a lot of power in the game. Sometimes even the trickiest trap can be worked around with a little cunning and brute force.
If you have any training in theater, use it. Your voice is your most powerful tool in any role playing game. Through your voice paint a picture of your character. Let your voice portray your feelings. Also, draw on real feelings. Dont let your character wander through your games like a mindless hulk. Your experiences fuel and understanding what your character is feeling. Here are some things to try:
Make a speech. It doesn't have to be a long speech, as long as its full of bravado and self-righteous indignation. Make it pompous. It doesn't have to be full of meaning so much as it should sound like it is meaningful, much like politicians speeches.
Strike a pose. Create a moment for your character that would look really good on a movie poster. Place your fists on your hips and throw your head back and laugh like Errol Flynn. Grimace now and then. Pause for the camera. This works especially well when you're making that speech.
Create a scene. I was privileged to play in a game run by Peter Askison, Sector Head of Wizards of The Coast. It was not going well. We were trying to take back our ancestral home and grounds had been given to someone who was innocent of any real crime against us. We nearly killed the old guy in the courtyard by mistake. My character leaped forward in the nick of time with a healing potion and I said I would use my bard abilities to make a speech. It might not have been the Gettysburg address in fact, it sounded like something Tim the Enchanter would say, but I delivered it with panache and ardor. With the tip of my blade pointed at the man's throat, the sunlight broke through the clouds behind me as I lifted my sword and magnanimously freed him.
It was a moment.
Think movies. Whether giving a speech, posing, or creating a scene, think movies. Imagine how it would look on the poster. Ponder how your favorite actor or actress might deliver the lines your character is about to speak. Remember, melodrama is good.
Try to take an innovative look at everything around your character in the dungeon, and use as much of it as you can. If you can see it, odds are you can use it to your advantage. This means you need to train yourself to observe anything around you and have the innovation to use it. Once I was in a dungeon where we ran into a library. It was obvious the book in the center of the room (the one with the column of light shining on it) was the one the DM wanted us to look at. I however just started asking about the OTHER books in the library "Just books" said the DM, "Gimme some titles" I said. The DM thinking to embarrass me came up with Love Rituals of the Orcs and Passion Dances of the Ogres. I told him I would take the books.
He then forgot ALL about them until we encountered a group of orcs and I pulled those fully illustrated works out and distracted them. Now that was an effective distraction. Here are a couple rules to remember about the stage dressing in an adventure.
If the DM describes it you can use it. Even if you don't use everything you find, at least be aware of it if you could use it if you needed to.
Objects have qualities, use them! McGuyver often escapes with nothing but a paper clip, find a way to roleplay with it. If it is a mere chandelier, swing from it. If there is a table, leap on it. If there is a chair throw it at the enemy. Got a spoon? Threaten the enemy with it.
Use Everyone around you. Inanimate objects are not the only things that you can use to your advantage. NPCS when run properly are a great source of information about what is going on around your character, as well as occasionally providing direct help.
Don't forget NPC interpersonal skills. Treat NPCs as people for good or ill. Entire taverns are populated with extras non player characters who are there just for set dressing. You can AND should use these characters to your advantage. Try talking to them some time. Find out who they are and where they live. Ask them about their jobs. Your DM might be hard pressed to come up with this information on the spur of the moment and might be tempted to make it up on the spot. If he DOES use everything he tells you!
DO unto cohorts as you would do unto PCs. Treat them as an extension of your Player Character. Give them a depth and a history as well. Who knows…you might even engage in dialogue with your self. Speaking of dialogue…
Get to the point in scene dialogue. Scene dialogue is different from how we normally talk. It is shorter and more to the point, so don't engage in meaningless parleys unless all you are after is pleasant conversation.
In your headlong rush towards individuality, remember that the needs of other players are different from yours but just as important. You must keep other players in mind just as a good PC would. Don't merely consider their capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Just as your party is balanced and works to use all the talents of its group to its advantage, so too must your game work together for the best success.
However, in my experience the greatest fun in roleplaying games comes when everyone in the group is trying to out-do each other with this same "leap into the breach" attitude. Here are some things to try:
Try to "Outcool" each other in the game. Playing your character in high gear is TWICE as fun when another player is trying to do the same thing. Which one of you looks best during a daring leap? Will her dramatic speech be cooler than yours? Will your charge into the enemy be more awe inspiring than his? This is a race where everyone wins!
Plan your PCs relationships. How did you all meet? DON'T tell me it was in a tavern! Establishing a story not only for your own characters history but also her relationship with everyone else in the party lays the foundation for some really great improvisation.
Invent Relationships On The Fly. During one session half our party had gathered in the tavern. I called over an NPC tavern keeper and asked "Do you remember me?". The DM looked at me for moment and said "Why, yes sir, I do remember you!" "When did we last meet?" I asked, with a simple question I opened the opportunity for the DM to create a relationship. I could have just as easily indignantly said "What do you mean, treating us as if we were strangers?! We have known each other since childhood!" At this point the DM could have the NPC call me a liar, or simply go with it and use the opportunity to tell some background. Either way, it makes for a lot more fun!