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Westenev

Westenev

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You know, every time I look at "short history", I keep thinking up a five-page-novel story that will likely never see the light of day in any sane plot. This made me wonder - what if this aspect of a character was delivered by the GM themselves, thus allowing for past interactions between characters and potentially the plot?

Hmm.

Well, back to procrastinating!
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02-Jan-2017 04:17:39

Azi Demonica

Azi Demonica

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Interesting you should mention something like that West, my planned dreamscape RP did have a similar feature to what you just said, of which users would be randomly given, or choosing, a past-based subplot meant to be a driving force for their character. For example, one character-based subplot would be something like:

"Ever since you and [another user's character's name goes here for example] failed to defeat Akeiras, the fabled Spider King who you believe imprisoned your sister, you have not been able to find your sister. You thought you finally located her at a witch's treehouse, only to discover Akeiras' men had already raided the place. On her dying breath, the witch told you your sister escaped the Spider King's men long ago, but she has never seen or heard of her again, and died before able to tell you any more. With Akeiras' men looking for you and your sister, you must choose either to slay Akeiras or find your sister, or regroup with [other user's character's name] wherever he/she may be, and see what he/she has discovered since your departure..."

Basically, my dreamscape RP has plans to allow users to create their own story that intertwines their characters' backgrounds with the flow of the RP as a quest or subplot, or even use random events to continue storylines. However, if I recall correctly, I was criticized by Inferi and Chasers that my style was, say, too one-way or assertive. Another user criticized me for "railroading" As Demons Weeping, though that user has not reappeared since, so I don't know what else he may have meant.

02-Jan-2017 04:49:14 - Last edited on 02-Jan-2017 04:50:40 by Azi Demonica

Westenev

Westenev

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Azi, I am, by no means, a saint - and I welcome criticism myself - but your style of GM writing tends to summarise other's posts. That in itself isn't a terribly bad thing, but I imagine this could annoy certain people by adding your own flavour of context to something that wasn't in the original text - or by assuming certain actions or inaction's... which, at times, can make one feel a little railroaded.

THAT SAID, you DO take a vested interest in how a character develops - I know this based on how you could describe for yourself the characters in As Demons Weaping, and seemed genuinely excited in what happened next. I think this that is an especially important trait to foster - the successful threads I have observed usually consists of roleplayers who genuinely care about other roleplayer's characters.



As for pre-recorded histories, would you imagine these to be a vague implication of character defects for people to run with, or would these be used to assign greater roles in a story?
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02-Jan-2017 07:42:38

Azi Demonica

Azi Demonica

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Happy New Year indeed, well, it is the 2nd now.

I'm no saint either. Yes, I tend to summarize previous posts, also in RolePlayGateway. I summarize because I want to prove I am reading the posts, and it helps me memorize what is going on, though it has also led me to make mistakes or misinterpret things. You're right, my style can certainly annoy some people, and at times may seem that I am adjusting them to suit a bias, and if we really think about it, considering the several RPs I made, I think it's safe to say we can all trust that I am doing my job right, at least half the time. I think it is time for me to slow down on my summarizing, it's not that anyone's asking for it, and as Inferi said, the users can simply reread the previous posts anyways.

You are quite attentive. But yes, I try to work on characters in relation to the environment, though I will admit I put more effort in my stories than my RPs in character development. I want the characters to drive the RP whilst exploring the environment. This is also why I tend to not RP as major characters in my own RPs, often sticking to minor or NPC-like characters, as I want the RP characters to play the most important roles.



I feel that the prehistory of a character would best be used to drive the RP's future events, or lead to major events, but, I suppose strengths and weaknesses could be studied in these backstories, I actually never thought of that. And yes, I think they should be rather vague, like a prologue or summary, just to serve as a basis to work with. Of course, if I make the next RP, users will have the option to create their own backstory, or leave it blank if they prefer a mysterious character, why not.

ANYWAYS, it's 12:28 AM, I'm off to bed before my eyes fall out, g'night, be back tomorrow.

02-Jan-2017 08:26:26 - Last edited on 02-Jan-2017 08:28:03 by Azi Demonica

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