After thanking the Omnivangelist for a chance to be a guest columnist, I wanted to start with something that that would lead to an increase in “fun; now”. I can’t take credit for the idea of “fun; now” it belongs to friends at the Forge, but I think you may see it as a common theme across most of my posts.
So, I’m after something that is going to benefit all of us, player or GM, and is independent of any kind of edition or game. Let’s have better characters, both as PCs and NPCs. I’m not interested in a long, slow building reveal in which we find out a month from now why the Abbot clammed up on the subject of his brother. I want the conversation with the Abbot to be a good time the first time. Therefore, an increase in ‘Fun; now”.
How do we do this? I know the answer, but I need to review how we don’t do it first.
DM: I’m really excited about today’s session, I wrote some really awesome NPCs, and they have this great backstory which I think will come as a total surprise, especially the Abbot.
<hour of gaming goes by>
Player One: Hey, maybe we can get some help from that guy.
Player Two: What?
Player One: The guy with the ears.
DM: Um, most Ardonians have ears, actually. Can you narrow that down?
Player One: The guy with the big ears, the Rabbit
Player Two: You’re a moron.
Be honest, how many of you DMs have spent too much time working on character background, to have players ignore or misinterpret it? And players, how many NPC names have you written down or remembered? It’s not even half, is it?
Here’s the real problem. Gaming is a social activity, that we do with the other people. While we’re looking up rules, rolling dice, and eating snacks, we’re trying to communicate to other people. The slow part of that process is the listening speed of your audience. Now, before you assume that your gaming group is made of low-grade simpletons, remember that everyone, I mean EVERYONE, can speak faster than they can listen. It’s also why you don’t remember more than three things from that lecture on King Henry the VIII. So, now that we know this, how does it help us be better gamers? Glad you asked.
Your initial character concept needs to be the kind of thing that can be communicated quickly and clearly. To really be good at this, limit yourself to two words, an adjective and a noun. Which characters come to mind when you hear “Angry drifter” “Neurotic android” or “Nut-ball sorcerer”? Add other stuff over time, of course, but keep those simple too, like “afraid of trees” or “afraid of snakes” or “never, ever reloads”
Here’s the one I used, which was tremendous fun in play, every session. I build a Paladin of Al’Akbar, who was focused on mounted combat and had a Persian background, name of Sayyid. I then asked myself “What changes, if you completely, totally, devote yourself to a militant God?” And then I had it. Sayyid would be “Overconfident Paladin” He didn’t back down from anything (and was in fact, immune to fear eventually). Opportunities to role-play actually increased greatly, because I was getting my idea across to everyone. Once our rogue started a sentence with “After Sayyid charges like a fool,…” I knew it was working.
Give the idea of simple characters a shot. And when you do, be sure to let us know how it’s going.
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