by dragon I was brought up, from the time bedtime stories were okay, to my current fiasco of reading The Lord of the Rings for the fifth time in as many years. My father's version of bedtime stories consisted of mythical epics that would have made Tolkien sit back in stunned silence. Firesingers and their ilk filled my head all through school. And I have ALWAYS wanted to reach into my favorite stories, told or read, and change things around just a little. "What would I do if I were in that position?" "What would happen if he'd done THIS?" And then I discovered roleplaying. Roleplaying is not exactly a game...not exactly a story...but it's some wierd bastard child of both. I mean, if you go in thinking it's really a game, then you're going to blow it. You are the goodguy. Everyone else must be either an ally or a badguy. Either way, YOU are the main character, and main characters have this way of everything working out for them. Bad guys cower at a glance, allies rally to your side, and luck just seems to be with you at every turn. If you have an illness, injury, or other inconvenience, it's only there to eventually make you stronger. ...That sucks. I've seen way too many players like this, and avoid them like the fucking plague. It's not a story, really, because...well...who's the author? And the fun of roleplaying is the unexpected parts. You're tromping along, and suddenly someone pops up and NEEDS to be fitted into the scheme of things. You can't just keep going like nothing happened; you've a totally new facet to your tale that needs to be played out and incorporated. Besides, a story has a beginning, middle, and an end. Roleplay, whether people like it or not, keeps going. Inside it, you can have chronicles that have beginnings and endings, but (most of) the characters go on with their lives afterwards. What I get out of it, or at least, out of a good roleplay where something was accomplished and characters were explored, is a sense of purpose and excitement. (Like those wicked FMV's between action sequences in your favorite RPG) There's this feeling of accomplishment and a job well done, EVEN if your character got messed up in one way or another. What doesn't work...invincible characters with moronic players who all think they're the main characters in the story and should thus be allowed to do whatever they want, no matter the impact it has on anyone else's characters. And these same players be the ones that everyone loves because they're so friendly and make lewd comments to the oppos- nevermind. to anyone. Consideration, anyone? Mmm? |
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