Shtick Protection

DRAFT

This is currently somewhat incoherent as it is 1 AM and putting stuff in order requires some sleep.

  • Change audience to be my players rather than this odd first person thingy.
  • Create better threaded examples - first is "first-level polearm fighters"
  • Better organization / sections, and say what you're going to say.

This is meant to be a guide for my players, so they are happier with their characters, we have a diverse pool of skills and backgrounds to draw on, and to prevent or handle conflict in creation and play.

What is schtick protection? Most commonly, it is described as preventing too much overlap in character design. There’s always going to be some overlap - the majority of players will be in combat, use skills, interact with NPCs, ask for a share of the treasure, exert some narrative control. You get bad overlap when:

GM: OK, you’re walking down a 10’ x 10’ corridor and come to a stop as you see a large scorch mark on the floor.
A-ko the Thief & B-ko the Rogue: I check for traps! (roll roll roll)
C-ko the Trapmaster: (sigh) I assist whoever rolled higher…

This is a problem for a few reasons, but I maintain it all comes down to spotlight time, the time when your character gets their own bit of story and everyone is paying attention, the part you remember as story the next day, the bit where you get to shine. To help ensure apportionment of spotlight time in both role-playing and challenges, I encourage players to think about what it is they want to be unique about their character.

I support shtick protection. I also recognize that initial character creation is one of the most fragile parts of starting up a game. A player who comes up with an idea they love, crafts it to something they can’t wait to play, then reads the post where someone else their own similar character...it can be quite discouraging.

Therefore, I start my players out in a few ways:

In Character Creation

  1. I tell them I support shtick protection, first come-first served. Post what you’d like to play, as short or as long as you like, but stating the part you’d like to protect. Claiming “I’d like to be the rogue” can work in a small game, but “I’d like to be the party talker” rarely does, as I don’t want to funnel the entire NPC experience through one player. OTOH, “I’d like to explore being a member of this rare and outcast race” is an excellent thing to call early, lest another player make the same claim, and it’s kind of hard to play the last of your kind if there’s a counter-example standing next to you.
  2. I set expectations. All characters require GM approval, partly for protection, and partly to support the story. In other words, don’t get your heart set on that Urban Ranger you have all written up - your favored terrain may be a city you’ll never see again in-game, and it's my job to pass that along.
  3. I help provide alternates and check boundaries. Perhaps that “last of their race” character doesn’t care if they are a Mer-Orc or a Fire-Elf, but the other player really wants to be a Fire-Elf to match their Elemental theme. I can see what both players’ interests are early in the character design so folks can switch out non-key aspects.
  4. I help players find what it is they really want to protect. Sometimes they want to be the archer because they don’t like getting hit in combat (good luck in that in my games), and they might be better suited as a high-AC focus. Perhaps they want to build a portion of the world that’s close to one I haven’t fleshed out and would make a good story, and I connect them up.
  5. I never put the blame on the person who claimed first, and try keep players from doing so, as much as possible, otherwise they might feel bad about their character, and that would suck twice as much.

In World-building

No matter how familiar the setting, you always have room to define some portion of the world, even if it is just your background. But since a good GM uses player backgrounds, you’re reserving some plot for yourself, a special moment where your character can shine. 

First, Eve has written that Gruum-Thaka the Orc comes from a nomadic group that reveres their barbarians, and has determined that since her character is unable to rage, she turned to Alchemy to duplicate the effects.  She has a cold, chemical rage that totally failed to endear her to her community, and has left to prove there are other ways of being an Orc in the world.  The GM has modified the Orcs in various parts of the module to play off this need to find a place in the world.  Eve expresses that she doesn’t not care about shtick protection on class, combat skills, or skills, just the racial background.
Later, Fortinbras wants to bring in an Orc Barbarian straight out of the Core Rule Book, and picked the race solely for the combat benefits.  They like puzzles and combat, and puts in minimal effort on role-playing, as that’s not their favorite part.

Eve's choices affect Fortinbras' choices in the game. Fortinbras doesn't have to play into being revered and envied by Eve, but it does add a nice tension to the game and difference to the characters. As a GM, I'll moderate, but I'll lean towards narrative control that makes the game more fun for all of us. Depending on the players' rapport, I may request that Fortinbras pick a different character race.

In Specific Actions

I don't allow multiple players to do the same action then pick which happened based on the higher roll. If two characters try to pick the same lock at the same time, they're going to trip over one another. If they both try to con the guard without coordinating, it's going to be a mess. I encourage the players to pick one person, then go around the table for actions (related and un-) so folks aren't left out, and the assistants might choose a different action. People assisting have to say how they assist to justify their plus 2.

GM: OK, you’re walking down a 10’ x 10’ corridor and come to a stop as you see a large scorch mark on the floor.
(short player discussion)
B-ko the Rogue: I check for traps! 
C-ko the Trapmaster: I assist by taking a moment to sniff the air for what could have caused that scorch. (adding +2 to B-ko's roll)
A-ko the Thief: Looks like B-ko and C-ko have got it. I'll grab a healing potion to have in hand in case we fail spectacularly; for my move, I'll get 30' away.
(roll roll BOOM.)

Overlap on treasure

...so who gets the ÷2 chain shirt?

I let the players work that out. I am not fond of tailoring everything the players find to suit them entirely. A few subtle things, stuff that fits the story, actually used by the critter they fought it for, the remains of the last practitioner of a prestige class they later get mistaken for...that kind of thing.

Overcoming Shtick Conflict with Style

Vivian's Character Creation Hooks

Lin and Lu are both first level fighters specializing in polearms, have similar stats and overlapping skills, but are extremely different characters, based on having different hooks. Their perspectives should give them different results.

    • Lin, the third daughter of the Master Trader, trained in negotiation from childhood, but secretly meets up with a guard from House Crab to learn the ways of the naginata. Sadly, Crab used this opportunity to blackmail her into giving them favored status, earning her mother's disapproval, resulting in her position going to her cousin. She has three major hooks: desire for revenge, rivalry with the cousin, and a personal goal of learning to defend herself. She also has the social class and upbringing as an heir to the Master Trader, personality flaws and virtues, etc, but the first three define her.
    • Lu, the orphaned farmer, traded his family’s fields to his neighbor in return for their grandmother’s spear, a masterwork that dates back over 500 years, and left his home to join the Sparrow guard. He once saw one of Master Sparrow’s disciples demonstrate the spear, and had a vision of himself saving the life of someone he only saw in shadows. He does not know that the spear may some day awaken and question his ownership.