"So... How do I attack?" - a player's guide to RPG
Well, I know it's not the case, but let's
just say that my previous publications made you interested in RPG (yeah,
right... xD). So you would like to try it. You find some friends who play it
and they agree to let you play with them, hooray! So what do you do?
First of all you would have to ask the GM
about the exact setting of an adventure. By 'setting' I mean two things: first
the world. Various scenarios take place in various realms: the most classic is
medieval fantasy and even that comes in many flavors. It can be regular, dark,
epic or else. But often an RPG session is played in the modern world, in the
future, in the Star Wars realm, or some more "customized". Often the
GM will feel like creating an adventure in the world of a single book or movie.
So now we come to the second part of the setting which I personally define as
the 'style' of the session. Will it be combat focused? Like being Neo in the
matrix? Or maybe more adventure focused? Like tomb raiding Indiana Jones style?
Maybe the story will be espionage? Or maybe a crime thriller?
It is very important to understand these
aspects of a scenario, so that you can prepare an adequate hero. Although it is
mainly the GM's job to place your character in the story, you should help him
by creating one, that actually fits it.
So now you ask yourself: who will this
character be? When playing according to a rulebook you can check it up to find
some inspiration. Rulebooks contain information about the various races (if the
setting allows for something else than human) and classes (read: jobs) you can
choose from. Generally speaking, reading pats of the rulebook used by the GM
(if any) is a good idea. It can help you understand how to craft the hero, how to
write his past, so that he best fits the setting and how to role- play it.
Yes, creating a good and interesting
character is a lot of work. I could go on and on about it, but for the sake of
this presentation I'll make it short. So, as I mentioned, it is good to create
a past for your character. From where did he come from? How was he treated? How
did he live? How does that reflect on him now? What events from his past made
him the person he is now? You don't need to be a famous book author to write a
short but interesting story. I believe it's fun for the player and also helps
the GM a lot. Armed with the biography of the hero, the GM can bring up events
from his past, making the story have an especially strong impact on the players
character and therefore making him an important element of the scenario. I
believe that being in the spotlight is enjoyable for every player. More on that
in the next publication.
Now we go to what actually is the most
important thing when playing a RPG - role playing. Don't feel shy or silly
about role playing your hero and describing in detail the actions he takes. The
details are those things, which really show who your character is. Instead of declaring
"My hero asks the guy if he knows anything" it's a way cooler to say
stuff like "Sir Galahallt approaches the commoner with pride and after
giving him a dominating stare, he asks him with his booming voice: 'Seen you
not anything, simple peasant?!'". This example might seem funny and/or
stupid, but believe me, when you take the RPG session and your character
seriously, you can have lots of fun and create marvelous and epic tales with
your friends, each time becoming someone completely different. No invisible
walls, no limitations known from computer games. Just do what you want, the way
you want and be the hero.
In my next publication I will talk about
being the game master in RPGs. Meanwhile:
1. Do you have a favorite character? It can
be any person, fictional or real, from any movie, book, game, etc.
2. Why him/her? If you don't have a
favorite character I don't believe you and go back to question 1 :P
3. If you were to create your own
character, who would he/she be? And in what setting would you place that
character?
Comments
I also love Harry Potter and the magic world of Hogwarts. If I had to create a fictional character for myself, I would place it in the Rowling world. I could be one of the wizards in the Griffindor home. I would like to have adventures as cool as Harry had. This summer I was on a trip in Warner Bros Studios and I bought a magic wand, so I am one step closer to become a wizard, right?
Cheers!
If I had to create my own character I think that we would be a lot like these two I mentioned above. I don’t like any character that is always good or always bad (nothing like this exists in nature). My character would sometimes do god things but not always. His own interest (or the one he cares about)would be his only compass in life.
he still have human feelings and doubts. He is not "hollywood hero" which kills without thinking and consequences to their psychic.
When I comes to create own character I typically choose the "Berserker" or the "Barbarian" class, so probably my hero for RPG would be as such class: strong female and first hero to fight - questions would be asked later :) Little dose of fury in the eyes would be desirable. About setting: I think please where my heroes hands could be often covered by the 'fresh meat' would be nice.
2. I had a lot of fun playing as him. We had many funny and awesome moments in these stories I played as him.
3. Well so Gregory is living in actual times Seattle, is a mage (Mage: The Ascension) and a member of outcast team called Dovakhiin. We don't shout and kill dragons but we blow things up and kill vampires and werewolves.
2. Very interesting personality ( depending on whom is playing :) )
3. I would create some cyberpunk hacker with built-in-me data storage and access to Internet with limited knowledge of usage of weapons and high engineering skills.
There are so many of them :) I'd take for example Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. He represents typical "f* the system" attitude.
2. Why him/her? If you don't have a favorite character I don't believe you and go back to question 1 :P
I like the way he thinks and interacts with other people. He also look at things from different view than his peers.
3. If you were to create your own character, who would he/she be? And in what setting would you place that character?
Regarding RPG, I like playing different characters, it's a good exercise for your mind - for example playing a girl, thief, knight, dancer, killer etc. I try to understand how these people feel and act in the game accordingly.