thread: 2006-01-24 : Still More Character Ownership
On 2006-01-24, Matt Wilson wrote:
V:
Here's the not-short version of my answer to all the stuff you've said. I have to think of it in terms of how it *might* work in play in order to get a handle on it, because there isn't a game yet that will let me do what you're describing.
The problem with protagonists is yeah, sometimes my guy doesn't feel like a protagonist in play, and I feel really let down, because everything says my guy is supposed to be a protagonist (I mean, come on, in PTA that's what they're called, for cryin' out loud). We're all doing something wrong if my guy has a star on his door and he's not getting cool lines and crises. The game made a promise it ain't delivering. In terms of shared ownership, we're all not making it happen, and it was supposed to.
So if we're gonna let the fiction decide, then what we really need to do is actually let the fiction create the characters, not just determine whether they're the stars or not. What if, like fan mail, we award each other development dice in play? I like how clinton's character is progressing, so I give him point thingies with which to actually buy traits, or your character hasn't really taken off yet, so I spend a point thingy to give you a cool shitty situation, which might turn out cool, which might inspire someone to give you point thingies.
The original thread you quoted was about characters leaving the story early. I don't like when that happens because all that stuff on the sheet was a story that needed to be told, so it's like you took the book from me before I could finish reading. If the sheet starts out blank, like in my ideer above, then I don't feel cheated.
I'm after that same solution right now, but I'm coming from the other end, I think. I want us all to invest in the protagonist in play and to get something out of it.
Are we like sorta agreeing and stuff now?
