At 07:26 PM 2/18/2002 -0600, Carl D Cravens wrote: >While I've never really thought this way formally, I see this pattern >arising unintentionally... the players who put the most work into the game >get the most attention from me. A lot of that is because the more details >characters have, the more it gives me to work with and the more it >_inspires_ me. I can get a lot of great plot ideas from detailed >character backgrounds, motivations and goals. Characters that aren't >looking to go anywhere usually don't end up anywhere interesting. Exactly. And one thing I've found is that even a passive player -- many of the players I know are excellent players, but tend towards a very passive, following stance -- can become wonderfully motivated when the character itself is fully developed. Give the GM strings to pull, and by doing the work up front as a player, the GM will reward you by cheerfully pulling those strings and helping create the world and the plot all around you. Of course, this only works if both the players and characters are into it. On the other hand, I've had GMs who when they request "creative players" seem to expect me to do all the work. I create a rich character background, and then they sit back and say "okay, where are you, what are you doing, and how are you getting involved with everything else." And I go "huh?" To me, its a major give and take. If I'm the GM and you hand me a character with amnesia, I'll ask you a few questions about what you do and don't want done, and then I expect to be able to run with it. When starting any player in a game, I expect to build the "where" with them, and then start to play through things to see how they'll fit in. If, as a GM, I don't tickle their interest with *something* no matter how motivated the character is, they are quite likely to just sit there. For example, I play characters who get into and create trouble. Its um... a weakness. Very typical of me, anyway. But... I can't create that trouble without some idea of where to go. I'm not the GM, so I need the GMs help building the story. Once I've got some hooks into the GMs world I can start letting neurons fire and cause all kinds of fun. *grins* BUT... I need the GMs help. Okay, so I'm babbling. I guess I'm just going off on the whole cooperative thing. I don't want to put the whole onus on either the player or the GM. Now, to switch the conversation slightly... what do you do when you have excellent players who are all of the "follow" style as opposed to the "lead"? I've lost all my leaders. *sighs* What I really need is to find a way to turn a more passive style of player into the troublemaker style of player (using "troublemaker" as a good description here). Sometimes it works well, as long as I can keep dropping odd pieces of plot on people's heads, but I've found that it is actually harder to run a tightly plotted game in a passive mode, because they don't get into subplots as much. Or rather, they tend to get too focused on what's happening and don't pick up the subplot hints. They react more to the big things, and a lot less to the little things. And I just don't have the energy any more to do all the work myself. Thoughts? D. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GAMERS Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gamers/
