Game Dream 3.

[zdashamber]

Thanks to shadowflyer, I'm aware of these "Game Dreams" which appear at Doc's Blog on Fridays. I intend to do the ones that interest me. Thus, the one from Friday before last:

Some people play RPGs to enjoy a viewpoint or way of acting that they just couldn't do in real life. Others seem to play characters whose motivations are more their own. And some folks do all of the above and everything in between :) What character of yours was most like you "in real life"? Which of your characters is the least like you? Which did you find more fun to play, and why?

At first, I was fretting that all of my characters are about equally like and unlike me... There are threads of character design that I don't want to escape (I can't stand to sit on my duff when there's some way I could be advancing the plot... But if the character had no loyalties outside of the plot, where would interesting tension come from?), and there are threads of character design that I can't seem to escape (none of them are the kind of stupid which doesn't care if fights are based on misunderstandings that could be talked out, and they're all freeking compassionate, even the evil socially inept asses, dammit). But after a bit of thought and running down the list, I was able to sort two out:

Unlike: Sfinx. Yes, that's how she spells it, because she is dumb as a post. On the other hand, she's brilliantly good at social stuff, and oozes charisma. On the other hand, she has no nose. (I haven't decided whether it was bitten off by an angry ex, like she's mentioned, or if there's more to the story, or if it's a different story entirely.) She's my character in my group's occasional Exalted game... I felt like making a Jack Sparrow sort of character, except she turned out to be far less temperate. Sexually overactive, often drunk, gets all gushy about animals, loves the sea... Very much not like me.

Like: Pavel Anatoly Dmitri Edouard Yanitarovich, known as "Pasha." Unknown bastard of Corwin from the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Took up his father's profession of spying, stalked Corwin through the centuries as a hobby. Exceedingly phlegmatic, pragmatic, patient, and proud; romantically loyal to the Russian monarchy, scornful of communists, gets maudlin when drunk. Smart enough to have a nice dry sense of humor, reticent enough to mostly keep these amusing observations to himself, badass enough to deal with anyone offended by the ones he does quietly share...

Which was more fun? Oo, they're both fun. Good thing they're about equally played (that is, just a couple sessions each) so the comparison is fair. I guess I prefer Pasha... 'Cuz with him I get to do a silly accent. Hoo hoo hoo! God, I love silly accents! Er. Also, one con game I played him in, I brought along and wore a droopy false mustache to ensure proper pronouns. Hell of a good time. :D

But seriously (well, the trimmings are serious. More deeply, then: ), I worry that Sfinx might veer into parody, living as large as she does. I mean, if I was a guy, could I play a female character that loose? Also, the blasted aforementioned tendency to pause and ask the bad guys why they're about their bad deeds doesn't mesh so well with the whole "dumb swashbuckler" bit, so I worry that I'm not playing her well there, too.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Heh, Sfinx has no nose :) Cool idea for a character quirk. Makes it unforgettable!

One of my friends had an imaginary bird named Quirk in one of my campaigns. He'd throw bird seed around periodically and plaintively cry "Quiiiirk, where are you?"

D