Player Interviews – The Answers, Part 4 (Long)

Two of my players sent in their responses to the interview I put up last week, like the others, it’s an interesting peek into how their player minds tick, and maybe there’s something I can draw out of them that will help me run a better game.

Victor

1. What’s your thought process when creating a character for a setting?

Hmm nothing definite.. i actually have several ideas and depending on the time frame needed to cook up a story to fit the story, i actually cycle through what i like to play at that time depending on my mood at the time the story starts.. think russian roulette.. not sure where the ball will end at the time its time to make the choice.. though i do tend to limit my choices to typical hack/slash stuff.. never a girl character.. i’d be too embarassed to act those things out on my scenes.. i just tend to grow more into character the more i know about the story..

2. Given that you’ve formulated your character, do you come into a game with any set expectations as to how your character should ideally progress in terms of storyline and stats?

Depends on who’s actually telling the story.. nico.. more anime-ish.. with ric… think unexpected.. with jay.. logic comes to mind.. err.. thinking hurts.. hahaha.. just kidding..

I’m really interested in starting small and working my way into god-levels if i can manage it..

3. How do you feel about being given narrative focus, or the ability to steer the plot towards a direction of your choosing? Would that be onerous to you or would you prefer it?

i don’t mind at all.. but i prefer having a team with me.. i did come to roleplay after all.. or interact with a group.. if i wanted to play by myself, i’d have just stayed at home.. lolz..

4. Would you prefer to be a Leader or a Follower (or some other role) in terms of Party Dynamics?

To be honest, it depends on the group.. if the group is not taking any initiative, i’d lead.. but if there is already a strong character who likes to impose his will on how the flow will go, i don’t mind.. although i do tend to try to wrest control sometimes.. its more fun that way.. especially if someone is getting too much gameplay.. i’d like to be fair and all but i want my cut too..

I hate it when someone tells me what i need to do. But if it was a decision based not on someone telling me what to do but it was discussed say over a campfire that this is the best course of action for the entire group.. i’ll go along with it..

5. What’s your favorite in-character gaming moment, and why?

thats a good question.. to be fair.. all the characters i play have sorta found their way to my favorite list.. otherwise.. whats the point in playing.. you have to understand that yes there are good moments and bad moments with every character i played.. but i take everything into consideration and everything still evens out..

still there are some moments that are memorable..

at the moment.. i like my swordmage.. initially i thought it would have been very weak to begin with… but overtime.. it proved that the concept was a good option.. no matter how short of its life was.. i did like my mage who charged at the first sign of battle.. albeit he died in the end.. it was a good mage.. also my lunar from nico’s game was pretty good.. hmm.. alot of other things come to mind which brings me to the point i’m trying to make..

I came to “play”..

Does this make sense? i hope not.. hehe..

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Victor is one of the newer players in the team and his interview does seem to coincide with the observations I’ve made during my short stint of running for his suicidal Wizard in 4e D&D, and the character that replaced it.

I find it interesting that he’s really looking for a long term game.  At the moment none of the games have shown promise to take it all the way from Zero to Hero, so to speak, but there’s still some potential to make characters grow.

His resistance to being told what to do is to be expected, it’s his character after all, but he made a good note there of bringing up decisions in-character, rather than out of character. It’s an interesting event that should happen more, but is often overlooked.  Characters develop outside of combat after all.

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Mappy

1. What’s your thought process when creating a  character for a setting?

First I take a looksie at the game, setting and all, then the mechanics behind it. Depending on the setting I’ll have a number of pre-made characters (all in my head, mostly based on stuff I want to do in the setting or previous characters).

I usually start it all with a list of stuff under “what I want to do” or basically a “let me tell you about my character” spiel to myself. Then, looking into the mechanics, to see if that character will fit into the game’s mechanics itself. Translation: You can’t build Captain Jack Sparrow using D&D 3E when the GM tells you to start at level 1 (I bet some people will argue with me on this).

From the list of “what I want to do” or what I can gleam off my own “let me tell you about my character” spiel I build from there. Or I just give the laundry list of “what I want to do” to someone who knows the mechanics of the game better and tell them to build it which is what I usually do when it comes to Exalted or HERO.

2. Given that you’ve formulated your character, do you come into a  game with any set expectations as to how your character should  ideally progress in terms of storyline and stats?

Not to be made useless. If I build a character that does X, I better be able to do X.

Also, I expect my GM not to disappear, the campaign to dissolve, or the GM to take on a bazillion and one players. Yes, that has happened to me which is also kind of why I tend to disappear for a few sessions.

3. How do you feel about being given narrative focus, or the ability to steer the plot towards a direction of your choosing?  Would that be onerous to you or would you prefer it?

Giving me the steering wheel to a plot will trigger one of two things: the ultimely end of said plot, usually in a fantabulous crash or I get deer-in-the-headlights-ed. Usually what happens is that I freeze and won’t know what to do next.

I prefer the all powerful carrot and the stick GM-ing method of plot. If the player is steering the plot in the direction you want to go, here have a carrot. If not, hey, I have a stick here that wants to make some lumps in your cranium. See? Paranoia does teach you new things.

Narrative control over the game is somewhat an illusion in my opinion. The GM will only allow it to go as far as he, or the other players, as he is comfortable. Describing the snuff film like interrogation of a known cannibal mage done by your character in every detail… like the part where you inject water into his eyes to make them pop. See what I did there?

Everyone has a right to push the “see how cool my character is?” button for themselves, but there comes a time when Stephanie Meyer should stop writing Twilight as her character’s backstory in that Vampire game someone is running for her. All the while the other players are bringing a few sheets of their character’s backstory.

4. Would you prefer to be a Leader or a Follower (or some other  role) in terms of Party Dynamics?

It depends on how much I know the game. I don’t mean it in a metagaming way where you can recite the stats of a common orc warrior from memory and calmly put the pointy end of your spear through his gut.

If I took a stroll in the woods in a Conan-esque fantasy world with my run of the mill barbarian, I expect to come home with fifty or more kills under my belt. Mostly carnivorous plants, brigands, orcs, innocent passers-by, etc.

The more comfortable I am with a setting, the more I’m able to be a leader so I can effectively lead my band of heroes to their doo… to victory, yes, thats it.

5. What’s your favorite in-character gaming moment, and why?

I’ll start with the character. I was tired of trying to build an Exalted character that could stand up to the monstrosities that the more experienced players seem to make on the fly, so I had the GM of the game make me a character that did the exact opposite of combat. If you got stabbed, shot, blowed-up, I could put you back together.

Then I told the GM that my character had a quirk, he had selective gullibility. Meaning a solar could come up to him, anima banner glaring, and say he was a travelling merchant and my character would warn him that solars have been seen in the area, to be careful, and to contact him to bring the wild hunt (or whatevar its called\spelled). It was just who the character was. In fact, he “joined” the wild hunt because someone wanted his autograph…

Now the scene was this:
I entered the noodle shop to inspect for sanitary practices so I could narrow down the source of a disease that’s been affecting the city to find that another player in the game put a gaping hole in an old man’s chest. Furiously looking around for the Lunar that he’s been hunting since we entered the city.

I see the big burly blonde I met earlier who was kind of friendly. I ask what happened, he replies that the guy there just up and killed the old man. The other player asks who I’m talking to, and I say that I’m talking to Chuck (I forgot the name, sue me) here.
Chuck who?
He’s standing right there?
Where?
Are you feeling ok? Didn’t take any drugs or anything?

Long story short I held him up on his hunt and threw him off the trail… mainly because the Lunar was standing right beside me full knowledge that I was a dragonblood. I had fun on it, the GM had fun on it, the other player did not have fun on it. (I’ll give you three guesses who it was)

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Mappy’s answers lead to demonstrate that he is actually quite comfortable being a solid follower of GM plot.  As long as the GM properly and clearly articulates the objective (in game of course) Mappy feels that there’s motion, and acts accordingly.

His stress on making sure that he is not made useless echoes that of Niccomawfs, and is also a valid concern.  I’m not sure if they’ve had bad experiences with GMs that neuter their characters, but it’s certainly something I should avoid doing.

The last thing that stood out of these answers would be the mention of a level of comfort with a setting.  Perhaps that’s one thing I should also consider, a better briefing of players to the new settings, especially the more complicated ones.  It’s sometimes unfair for the GM to expect that the players should move according to knowledge only present in his brain after all.

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I know I said I wouldn’t be posting as often, but hey, I might as well put these up before fulfilling another request from Sheimaruen… which is to actually put up a separate interview for the GMs.

So, watch out for it, I’m currently going through the questions at the moment, and I’m hoping to get it all nice and sorted by tomorrow.