From: swaim@owlnet.rice.edu (Michael Parks Swaim)
Subject: Re: Point Allocation vs Random Generation
Organization: Rice University
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 18:25:06 GMT


>Let's start again since, I think, we agree a lot more than we disagree.
>
>1. Concept is key. Character concept guides the hand of the creator and
>drives the development of personality.
  Agreed.

>2. The more you know about a character, the more real he/she seems. The more
>real a character seems, the easier it is to play the character in a way
>that conveys the personality of that character.
  Ditto.

>3. While character generation in most game systems is a creative process,
>there isn't much creativity involved in filling out a character sheet.
>Some, but not much.
  Generally yes. But I've seen a number of exceptions.

>4. Character sheets don't adequately describe character personality.
  Depends on the character. In our Ars Magica campaign we have had a number
of minor characters who end up being played by different people. (And a player
might have multiple minor characters.) In those cases, a character sheet and
prior play might be all that a player has to go on. 
  I think part of our differences is that we've got different ideas about
what character sheets are. I think that you just have game stats and equipment
on your sheets, and put everything else on supplimental documents. I generate
mine using a word processor, and include whatever I think might be important.
This has included several paragraphs on a character's appearance, goals
for the next few years, reputations as they spring up, and whatnot. 

>5. Suplimental documents are necessary to effeciently describe the
>personality of a character.
  See above.

>I'm pretty sure we agree on #1, which is the biggy, hopefully we agree on #2 
>as well, and perhaps we agree on some of the others.

>BTW, I'm not saying that you need a character history or other supplimental
>documents to PLAY a character. You need them if you want to show the character
>to someone else in a way the will demonstrate the personality and creativity
>involved in creating the character.
  I'm not sure about this. We've had plenty of memorable characters played
by different people using nothing but the character sheet. The characters
are rather broad, but quite memorable.

>I did an experiment in my HERO campaign a while back. I gave out points for
>character histories. Three points for trying and up to ten for a very good
>job. Every player submitted a history and I gave out two 3s, and two 9's.
>The players that got 3s basically reiterated what was on their character
>sheets in more words but no more detail. The players that got 9s obviously
>got into the process and created backgrounds with lots of extra detail.
>As I ran the sessions, I planned and executed adventures that touched on the
>history of each character. The adventures that flowed from the more extensive
>histories where easier to devise, held together better, and were more fun
>for everyone. A big surprise! NOT!
  Generally, anything that helps to flesh out your characters helps. 
Descriptions of what they look like, long term goals, plans for the next
year, like/dislikes, general personality, and so forth. We're currently
running a lot of stories based on what the characters want to do. 

>So while I believe that histories are important (BTW, I keep picking on
>histories because that what I find usefull, but other sorts of written stuff
>might work just as well), I know that they aren't for everyone. IMHO a
>good player will always be helped by having a history and a poor player
>may or may not be helped, but I don't think it ever hurts.
  Anything to make the character more of an individual helps. 



-- 
Mike Swaim            | Canada will become the next world power
swaim@owlnet.rice.edu | and they will work to ENSLAVE all the nations
Disclamer: I lie      | of your planet. -Ricardo
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