Beyond the Dots: The Pet peeve

October 30, 2008

I have a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to role playing games, and that’s players who concentrate only on the dots on their character sheets.  Those who define their characters by what they can do, how many dice they roll, and the kewl powerz that their character has.

Why does this bother me?  Well, partially its because of my theatre background.  When I think of role playing, I think in terms of playing a role, identifying who the character is, what they want, what their goals are, their likes, dislikes, and where they came from.  I like to know what makes them tick.  And that’s just preparation.  Some of the best role playing experiences I’ve had – correction – ALL of the best role playing experiences I’ve had have been due to interactions with other players, based on our role play with each other, rather than based on the dots on our character sheets.  As a game master, some of the best game sessions I’ve run, were ones where I was able to simply sit back and let the players simply play their characters, without needing to roll a die.  In LARP, I have been in situations that simultaneously in tears, while also thinking exultantly “this is so great”.  Some of the worst experiences I have had are ones where more time has been spent staring at the character sheet and rolling dice, resolving challenges and otherwise worrying about rules and resolutions.

This is not to say that I don’t like rules.  Rules are important.  Rules are a framework that defines the world of a game.  Without the rules, a game based in a fantasy world becomes like a children’s game of cops and robbers:

“Bang bang! I shot you” shouts one child.
“No you didn’t you missed” shouts the other.

The rules are necessary to build some believability into the fantasy.

But there needs to be more to a role playing experience than a focus on the rules.  I am reminded of the first time I ever played Dungeons and Dragons.  I was 16.  And some of the people I knew were playing the game, and I was invited to sit in on a session.  I remember that I was curious.  I knew of the game. I’d seen people with the books and who talked in a mysterious language of paladins, orcs, halflings, and elves.  And so, when I was asked to sit in on a game, I was a bit excited.  We sat down and rolled up some characters, and then the game began.  It turned out to be one of the most boring things I had ever done.  There was no “your characters meet in a tavern”, no reason for going on a mission.  We went into a dungeon for no reason, and moved from room to room, encountering creatures, rolling dice, and not really accomplishing anything.  So miserable was this experience that I said at the time that I would never play a role playing game again.

Fast Forward to the mid 90s.  I had recently graduated from theatre school, when I encountered something called The Masquerade.  It was a LARP.  I had no idea at the time what this LARP was, but once it was explained to me, I realized that it was something that I could use my acting skills with.  Soon, I realized the truth about that first experience with a role playing game: it wasn’t the game that was the problem. It was the GM and the other players.  Role playing games could be more than just the dots on the page, they could be, in their own way: theatre.

And that’s what this series “Beyond the Dots” is for.  To help you lift your character off the sheet, and to become a three dimensional character, much more than just the dots on the page.

A few things to right at the outset:

1. I have some elitist views on role playing.  To me, the best role playing is the kind where you go on an emotional journey.  I recognize that there are other views.  I might not like them, but they are just as valid as mine.  If you are the kind of gamer who enjoys combat, for example, I’m not going to say that you’re style of gaming is wrong.  I will ask you to step outside of the combat to examine your characters motivations, but when we’re done you can take your expanded understanding of your character’s emotional state, and go right back to beating the crap out of other characters and NPCs.
2. I will use theatrical terms.  I will talk about motivation.  I’ll ask “why” a lot. I’ll ask about the character’s emotional journey.  All I’m asking you to do is think about these things.  But I can assure you, there is no right or wrong answer.  And there won’t be a test after.
3. I believe that the best choices that the player can make for their character are the choices that are worst for the character.  These poor choices will create great drama.  I believe that you win a role playing, by losing.  This does not mean that when you are journeying through the tunnels of a dungeon hunting orcs, that you must make the choice that gets your party killed.  But rather, if you are in the tunnels, and your characters had been arguing about something earlier in the session, and this is something that has festered and grown in your character, that although its wrong for the safety of the character…it might be RIGHT to allow the argument to start anew, louder and more violent than before…even though you will alert the orcs to your presence.  You might have a tough fight, but I guarantee that everyone will enjoy the scene a lot more.

With that said, I hope you’ll join me next time for the first installment of Beyond the Dots.

Written by grinningskull | Filed under: Beyond the dots, LARP, RPG |