tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post777245116477757503..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: The HurdleAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-40057793207605351342013-11-22T16:42:07.583-07:002013-11-22T16:42:07.583-07:00On the other hand, the woman you were describing a...On the other hand, the woman you were describing at the Wal-Mart counter is real too, right? So perhaps it is an accurate portrayal of a very unlikable, socially-inept person?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-40312720584374508262013-10-30T07:45:41.355-06:002013-10-30T07:45:41.355-06:00I have been contemplating the tendency of my rolep...I have been contemplating the tendency of my roleplaying group in the 1980's to play ourselves in games, then serendipitously came across your post courtesy of <a href="jeffro.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/blog-watch-uncovering-a-world-turning-hippies-to-visigoths-and-the-angry-walmart-woman" rel="nofollow">jeffro.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/blog-watch-uncovering-a-world-turning-hippies-to-visigoths-and-the-angry-walmart-woman</a>. While we were doing so primarily as a form of self-aggrandizing entertainment, and I can recall reading a pulp paperback during the period in which roleplayers found themselves in their game world, your exposition gave me additional insight into our motivation, and particularly that of the DMs. Practicing our own reactions to the imagined world was an exercise, even if undertaken unconsciously, in making it more real in our own minds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-49078996651215867152013-10-25T09:12:51.006-06:002013-10-25T09:12:51.006-06:00Jason,
That's a very good point ... and my re...Jason,<br /><br />That's a very good point ... and my response to that sort of thing is worthy of a longer post. Sometime today, I think.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-80264060530953114722013-10-25T08:09:32.906-06:002013-10-25T08:09:32.906-06:00I often wonder if a game where the point was to be...I often wonder if a game where the point was to be a self-important young noble, who had always had Daddy's accolades and Mummy's attention, and for whom every whim was but a request away wouldn't produce player characters that actually could survive for more than a few minutes, acting on their own.<br /><br />I've encountered more than a handful of players who are unable to create a character who isn't an utter sociopath. Some of that, I'm sure, is simple entitlement - "I'm the star of the picture, of course I get what I want!" - while another part must surely be the lack of real consequences for their actions. Too many GMs will bend over backwards to avoid killing off a character because he is so socially inept or otherwise broken. And for those who do take the heads of the PCs that offend the powers that be, more often than not the punishment is "roll up a new character." A non-punishment for many, and certainly one with little in the way of teeth.Jason Packerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02240705069654358715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-87396786921859516392013-10-23T06:18:59.041-06:002013-10-23T06:18:59.041-06:00This is a very well written post, and serendipitou...This is a very well written post, and serendipitously interesting. I have been reading the archives of your online campaigns and had just last night finished the posting where Delfig chose to have his character commit suicide, even though you all but indicated that there was a deus ex machina already in motion to attempt to free him from his captivity.<br />Discretion being the better part of valor (or simply understanding the risks inherent in situations) is an all too common problem. Highlights from some of the player lunacy that I have had the headache of presiding over include a gunslinger executing a banker in cold blood for not extending him a loan (he did not rob the place, just felt the banker was rude by looking down on a penniless stranger who drifted into town and wanted a large sum of money randomly), and a paladin (of all classes) quite literally asking a Duke ‘Where is my money? Bitch.’ (Even more tragically they were not the same player.) All very sigh inducing moments and generated a wonderful ‘pre-headache’ contemplating how to explain that in a fantasy world, there are logical and natural consequences.<br />Jhandarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305832462589582095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-2971815238878319622013-10-22T23:18:27.248-06:002013-10-22T23:18:27.248-06:00I hope you don't mind my discussion of the spe...I hope you don't mind my discussion of the specific case that has occurred in the online game, rather than the general case outlined here.<br />I suppose you can delete this if you prefer, I won't be annoyed so long as you give me some direct feedback on that through another channel. Because you see, I am not really able to play any character other than myself, and I do know this.<br /><br />In the most-recent post I made a comment in which I used the unfortunate turn of phrase "Maximillian feels" and you responded with a comment similar to the effect of this post. I didn't have time to respond at the time, but I meant to tell you that I intended only to differentiate between my feelings towards you the dm and my feelings about the circumstances within the game.<br /><br />I will fully admit that a real person born in the 1600 would likely feel that their superiors had authority to fling their lives around at will. That's what I meant when I said my actions were anachronistic.<br /><br />I am not a writer nor an author, and in truth, in games played face-to-face I almost never act out my character's dialog. I don't have the basis to play a character in a time-appropriate manner, I can only build on my own experiences.<br /><br />Thus, I took in the situation, where we are likely to be errand boys for the gnomes for some time, and made an attempt to negotiate a better deal for ourselves. Where I slipped up was perhaps attempting to convey this through spoken word instead of saying something like. "I don't like how this is going. These guys are asking a lot and everything we know about them says they will not show any regard for our wellbeing. I'd like to make a wis or cha check to see if I can persuade them that we can be valuable to them, and maybe get repeat business or at least get some sort of compensation for our risk."<br /><br />But I'm trying to grow as a player. Maximillian Boiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09712157905126165888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-36572699924035314232013-10-22T13:55:38.049-06:002013-10-22T13:55:38.049-06:00It's almost shocking when people have a charac...It's almost shocking when people have a character act rationally. A lot of people do seem trapped recreating maniacal-homicidal-kleptomaniacs (with a touch of pyromania) again and again. It seems a lot of folks can't understand you can have fun playing a character that isn't a Sociopath so they don't make the leap.<br /><br />JDJarvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691101939920824546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-79243057809795764332013-10-22T11:09:18.794-06:002013-10-22T11:09:18.794-06:00My character personalities tend to be based on the...My character personalities tend to be based on their strengths and weaknesses (with a heavy chunk of myself of coarse.)<br /><br />Lukas is more cautious and favors planning to reflect his fragile mage body and enhance his spellcasting with coordination.<br />He uses aggression as a defensive trait attempting to stun or incapacitate as many as possible.<br /><br />Kismet will probably be more aggressive, moving in quickly and encouraging focus on himself to soak damage for softer allies. He will probably strike out against whatever opponent threatens the most allies or is most uncontrolled as priority.<br /><br />That said, one of my biggest weaknesses is playing on character intellect. I always plan, prioritize and think through things and 'dumbing down' tends to be frustrating.Lukashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05779189363430537747noreply@blogger.com