Normally, I try to beg off of this sort of question since I spend most of my time as GM. But I've noticed that something that's been tripping me up in my recent opportunities as player is also something that's dogged me throughout my GMing career as well.
My characters (PC or NPC) tend to be pretty flat. In the case of my NPCs as GM, I've made a number of attempts to remedy this, as I've mentioned earlier in the month, trying to make them evocative through image choices or performance. But I've realized that's not the flaw.
Because it's come up in my play opportunities as well. It's been really obvious as I've been playing in my friend Jordan's games, since the rest of the playgroup tends toward very "loud" characters. Among a horde of scene-stealers, milquetoast guy really fades into the background.
The majority of it, I think, boils down to having an agenda as a character. It doesn't even have to be a big agenda. Just so long as the character has something to do in every scene, or even most scenes. One of the stronger characters in Jordan's recent D&D games was Zeta, a warforged (robot/golem) fighter who was actually a revived Japanese weapon from World War II. While he was a very effective fighter and got to show off in that way during fights, he also had robot things and Japanese things to do when the heat was off.
It's something I need to keep in mind as I move forward as a player and as a GM.
My characters (PC or NPC) tend to be pretty flat. In the case of my NPCs as GM, I've made a number of attempts to remedy this, as I've mentioned earlier in the month, trying to make them evocative through image choices or performance. But I've realized that's not the flaw.
Because it's come up in my play opportunities as well. It's been really obvious as I've been playing in my friend Jordan's games, since the rest of the playgroup tends toward very "loud" characters. Among a horde of scene-stealers, milquetoast guy really fades into the background.
The majority of it, I think, boils down to having an agenda as a character. It doesn't even have to be a big agenda. Just so long as the character has something to do in every scene, or even most scenes. One of the stronger characters in Jordan's recent D&D games was Zeta, a warforged (robot/golem) fighter who was actually a revived Japanese weapon from World War II. While he was a very effective fighter and got to show off in that way during fights, he also had robot things and Japanese things to do when the heat was off.
It's something I need to keep in mind as I move forward as a player and as a GM.
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