quote:
Original post by Paul Cunningham
From the players persective, how would one create a role for their character. As i see it, the first step of bringing back role-playing is to emphasize the role you wish to play. Then you (as the player) would understand your role.
I suppose I am arriving a bit late, because it seems you have all drifted quite far from the topic, but anyway.
Does any of you around here ever played Pencil&Paper Roleplaying Games ???
If not, there is a brilliant technique to create character, and help newcomers to get an idea of there role.
First give them an appearance. If the player (I will assume hereafter, that we talk of a beginner, and someone who actually CARE about playing a role) see his character, it helps him a lot.
Then create a story with bits and pieces, Multiple Choices Questions. I think Daggerfall had something like that, but it didn''t create an actual story, rather it geve you a class of character. Same in Ultima IX, when you have to choose between different attitudes.
I think the first time I saw this "background story generator" in effect it was for Cyberpunk (the RPG), some ten years ago ... and no one from the computing RPG seem to have noticed ? Otherwise why are you asking the question ?
Allright, I just browsed through my books, and here is an example of such system :
1. How old is the character ?
2.Depending on the age, you have lived more or less significant events in your life. You may have only skills, or a real job, more or less money, etc. (this is done in another section)
3.Choose your past : (depending on your age, throw the dice, and you get a type of event, then another dice to get the event, on a 2D6 system, a 2 or a 12 usually gives you a really cool/uncool event, while a 7 might be just casual situation)
ex : I am 36 (this gives me 6 events)
-event 1 : (I get a 7 then a 2)
You spent most of your childhood in a gang (this gives me a free skill related to Gangs)
-2 (7, then 12)
Same event ... I must have spent a reaaaally long time in this gang.
-3 (7,10)
A gang lord has a debt towards me, he owes me a service. (those three events gives me the ability to know one NPC from a gang)
-4 (3,7)
You have realised a video from a bomb attack on a corporation, this video was played on a Network. (You get money, you have the possibility to choose Reporter as your job).
-5 (10,10)
You have a debt towards a Ronin (a killer), he can asks you a service anytime.
-6 (9,9)
The Yakuza (the japanese Mafia) has a reward for your head ...
(you can''t choose a job in the Yakuza)
Then, YOU create a little story with those elements... anyone wanna give it a try ? Well, here''s mine with thse elements :
"
I spent my childhood in a gang ... until I was 21, the Gang was my only family, and Crusher, the boss, was quite protective with me, especially after a took a bullet he was supposed to get. But I was tired with all this violence. I wanted to become Reporter, bring those bastards from the Corporations to the Justice, destroy them with the only weapon effective against them, the media. So I got a little camera, and started practising. I got lucky, so to speak. I filmed a bomb attack on the Matsushita corp. What I didn''t know, is that minutes before the bomb exploded, the local boss for the Yakuza was meeting the CEO of Matsushita in this building ... and there I am filming him. When they saw the film on the Network, they weren''t sure that the visage had been noticed. But there is no place for such a risk, the tape was "recovered", and now there is a price on my head, jsut in case ... so I went back to the Gang, to hide. A team of Yakuza killers attacked us, but Hiro, a ronin our gang rented, defended me. I owe him big time ...
"
So there. 5 miutes to create a nice storyline for your Cyberpunk character, this gives us 2 NPC to relate to the player, a goal in life (escape the Yakuza), and endless possibilities for the skilled GameMaster.
Now how do you apply that to computer RPG ?
(I am sure the post is a bit long, but I''d love to see comments on that one)
youpla :-P
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