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zdashamberJoanna's the character I'm currently playing in my FTF gaming group's campaign, The Country of the Blind. We all have mild psychic abilities, and we're agents of a secret government conspiracy to study paranormal stuff. In the course of this, we came to the conclusion that the end of the world was about a year and a half away, and we started trying to do something about this... That pretty much brings the plot from 2002 to the present.
Most of all, I made her solidly Christian, one of those good decent Christian types, in creed a Southern Baptist. (This was also because I like to explore envelope areas with characters. And I'm so smug—I used Jack Chick tracts to research a RPG character! Ha-ha! [I had to make sure being a practicing psychic was ok. Apparently, yes; so long as you don't consort with spirits, you're good to go.])
I made her somewhat phlegmatic, able to get over stuff, and wise to the human condition—I made her a blues groupie, a dab hand with the harmonica. I figured, eh, if it gets too much, there'll always be a harmonica in her pocket for her to let off steam...
Now, so far as not being suicidal, that's worked out pretty well. The thing with Christianity is, a Christian can always feel that even if everyone else is against them, God understands them and is on their side. Joanna honestly takes comfort in knowing that God will protect her from what she needs not face, and she'll go to Heaven when she dies.
But what's been more important is that her personality lets her deal with stuff... And what's been most important, probably, is that at least a few of the other PCs are decent blokes who care about her. I mean, the group of 6 PCs is like a little family; fun interactions.
The closest Joanna came to despair was saved by one of the PCs (a sarcastic geeky ex-Mafia guy, Chris) making the effort to track her down and say basically, "Yeah, that sucks." I mean, I probably would have decided that by the morning she'd have figured it was just a cross she'd have to bear, but it was damned sweet of Chris, and that's one of my happiest memories of the campaign.
But on the whole, I dunno about Joanna... The trouble is that I can barely rouse myself to give a damn about Christian mythology, and I don't feel I'm doing her justice. When she used to try to convert the other PCs, I was deeply embarrassed, playing it—but should she let them go to Hell? She ministers to the homeless, but it's irrelevant to the game...
Joanna's frustration at their inability to deal with the potential end of the world manifested first in snappishness, which she could mostly manage to subdue as unChristian. Recently, though, she's fallen into a kind of shellshocked deadpan giddiness.
Which is why I was thinking of Mark 8:36 in an earlier LJ entry. Literally—Joanna sees (she does brood and reflect on herself) that this saving-the-world stuff is making her into an immoral person. And what is the entire world beside her soul?
She's currently using the conspiracy for a free trip to Rome and Berlin... But when they get back to the States, should she give notice? It'd screw up the game. I suppose I'll be able to find some excuse to keep her in. After all, I can't even number the times when a group member has been lost in an different dimension and needed retrieval...
Ari's off scoring at a dance clubThat actually was the main idea I started with. My previous two campaign characters with that group ended their games suicidal, and it was time for a change. So I gave Joanna every advantage...
Madeline: "How come Ari gets to do all the fun stuff?"
Mike: "Because I designed Ari to be a reckless partier."
Madeline: "Whereas I just designed Joanna to not be suicidal. Arright, that makes sense."
Most of all, I made her solidly Christian, one of those good decent Christian types, in creed a Southern Baptist. (This was also because I like to explore envelope areas with characters. And I'm so smug—I used Jack Chick tracts to research a RPG character! Ha-ha! [I had to make sure being a practicing psychic was ok. Apparently, yes; so long as you don't consort with spirits, you're good to go.])
I made her somewhat phlegmatic, able to get over stuff, and wise to the human condition—I made her a blues groupie, a dab hand with the harmonica. I figured, eh, if it gets too much, there'll always be a harmonica in her pocket for her to let off steam...
Now, so far as not being suicidal, that's worked out pretty well. The thing with Christianity is, a Christian can always feel that even if everyone else is against them, God understands them and is on their side. Joanna honestly takes comfort in knowing that God will protect her from what she needs not face, and she'll go to Heaven when she dies.
But what's been more important is that her personality lets her deal with stuff... And what's been most important, probably, is that at least a few of the other PCs are decent blokes who care about her. I mean, the group of 6 PCs is like a little family; fun interactions.
The closest Joanna came to despair was saved by one of the PCs (a sarcastic geeky ex-Mafia guy, Chris) making the effort to track her down and say basically, "Yeah, that sucks." I mean, I probably would have decided that by the morning she'd have figured it was just a cross she'd have to bear, but it was damned sweet of Chris, and that's one of my happiest memories of the campaign.
But on the whole, I dunno about Joanna... The trouble is that I can barely rouse myself to give a damn about Christian mythology, and I don't feel I'm doing her justice. When she used to try to convert the other PCs, I was deeply embarrassed, playing it—but should she let them go to Hell? She ministers to the homeless, but it's irrelevant to the game...
Joanna's frustration at their inability to deal with the potential end of the world manifested first in snappishness, which she could mostly manage to subdue as unChristian. Recently, though, she's fallen into a kind of shellshocked deadpan giddiness.
explaining to his mystic elder girlfriend how it was that Chris came to be possessing a pentagon of silver wire, crystals, and laptopsThe trouble with the PTSD giddiness is that it's making it easier to justify to herself actions that are effective, but perhaps wrong. Jeff, one of the other players, was saying that he thinks it's a neat character arc, but I prefer stories of redemption to stories of corruption... And what all of our characters are doing is becoming more like what we always play. Ari is becoming a leader; Derek (Jeff's character) is becoming a psychopath; Joanna is becoming a pragmatist who does not scruple to advance the plot.
"I built a portal so he could step out of possessing the building and into his body." - Joanna
"And..." - Morgan
"And he stepped into the portal. So I put wheels on it." - Joanna
Which is why I was thinking of Mark 8:36 in an earlier LJ entry. Literally—Joanna sees (she does brood and reflect on herself) that this saving-the-world stuff is making her into an immoral person. And what is the entire world beside her soul?
She's currently using the conspiracy for a free trip to Rome and Berlin... But when they get back to the States, should she give notice? It'd screw up the game. I suppose I'll be able to find some excuse to keep her in. After all, I can't even number the times when a group member has been lost in an different dimension and needed retrieval...