Day 14: RPG with Compelling Characters
Hmm, another tricky one, but I like interpreting these questions in different ways.
What do we mean by Compelling Characters? Presumably, interesting characters that players are drawn to and want to run.
How much of this is down to the system and how much to a combination of GM and player?
When we started playing D&D in the seventies, character generation was simple. Roll 3D6 six times and use the scores for abilities. We later assigned the die rolls where we wanted, but originally, it was play as rolled. This is why my first long term character was a fighter with DEX 18 and STR 12.
The longest time taken was usually equipping the character. Little or no thought was given to what sort of person they were, why they were adventuring, or what they'd done beforehand.
But were our characters all one dimensional fighting machines? Some, maybe, but as we played, our characters developed.
My fighter, Eric Harminon, who started out the angry second son of a disreputable knight, but grew to accept this and eventually expunged his father's deeds and brought redemption to his family.
The wizard and cleric couple, who's relationship grew along with their players (still married).
The rogue who's curiosity often got him (and his companions) into scrapes.
The cleric who founded a temple and forgave the person who betrayed his father.
None of these personalities were rolled at creation or determined with charts and tables, they grew organically through play.
Even up to fourth edition background was provided by the player (or foisted on them by the GM). There was very much an understanding that this stuff was important for roleplay, but it wasn't baked into the system as a rule mechanic. It was up to each player to engage with it as much or as little as they wished. [A handy GM tip I learned was when a player states that their character knows or can do something, ask what happened in their past that led to this. This encourages even the most back story averse player to think a bit more about it].
My, how things have changed.
Now most of the RPGs I read require background to be created at the generation stage, indeed, character abilities are often tied to backstory. I understand that the new edition of D&D even has the ability score increases tied to background rather than race species.
While there's nothing wrong with this, and in some cases, it could provide helpful guidelines, there's something in me that balks at this. I want the freedom to gradually explore my character as I play. Indeed, I've seen many players feel trapped by character background created in session zero that no longer worked for them.
In short (not that I ever are), I think it's down to individual players, with the GMs encouragement, to develop compelling characters.
That said, some games make it easier, and this seems to be a trend especially in newer games. Do I agree with this? That depends on the game.
One game that had the potential to produce compelling characters was Golden Heroes. A UK based superhero RPG, the heart of character generation was randomly rolling on the powers table and then coming up with a rationale for them.
When we played, most of the group were pretty happy with their rolls, though I think we all ignored one or two of them. The best bit was tying in backstory and powers to create a superhero, but personally I found the random scattergun approach a little off putting, I'd much rather have chosen, but I had little experience of the Superhero genre; perhaps the random rolls helped? Once created, the characters went on to have a series of amazing adventures, and the system was a good one for what it portrayed.
But there was something special about just grabbing a piece of paper, rolling eighteen dice, plus hit points, and getting straight into the game.
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