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[arashiz]

instigator_ash: I'd like to hear about theory of the social dynamics of roleplaying games. Or about roleplaying games in general, tabletops specifically. What works? What doesn't work? What do you like or dislike about various systems? Every had an interpersonal conflict surrounding a game, and how did it pan out

Comments

[arashiz]

yup. fixed.

[instigator_ash]

Hmmm. That's a very different way to think about it, because you came at the origins of roleplaying games in the opposite order as they happened historically. P&P happened first, and video games happened later.

Anyway, on the notion of goal formation, can you be more specific? What are some examples of these long term goals that characters want more than anything else? I'm going to be DMing some new players, and they have no idea how this works and when presented by big questions like that, often get overwhelmed by the field of choice.

[arashiz]

Well, I've usually just been told to write down a literal goal -- "I want to become the best." "I want to escape the shadow of the past." But yes, that can be pretty overwhelming.

I would say, start the first mission by just letting them make their characters as is, and then ask them at the end what their characters want to do with the information they now know. Don't set it up as a backstory question, pose the long-term goal in the frame of the story. If they answer "I want to solve the mystery," or "I want to beat the badguy," ask for a reason behind it.

The first game should give them enough structure to decide what kind of person they're playing, and give them a general idea of the forward momentum they can take.

[instigator_ash]

Hmmm... I have a tendency to reveal the main, true arc of the story on later. I wonder if this makes players feel lost and undirected at the beginning. I shall noodle upon it.

[zethrin]

A decent character should always have some kind of personal motivation outside the plot. Makes them more of a person that way.

[stepping_stones]

Good post. Makes me want to play more Spore.

MOAR SPOAR!

[arashiz]

MOAR SPOAR!