Character Creation Through Gameplay
A while ago I had a short lived idea about a game where the character's are at unknown skill levels until they test themselves. My thought being there might be some unknown quantities related to a person's skill even with training. I imagine if you train your whole life to hit archery targets when a mythical monster comes at you it might be a little different.
I wasn't sure how to make that happen exactly though. I just had some vague idea of getting right into the narrative of play with an RPG and getting the character's information sorted out when it became relevant.
The other day someone posted a link on r/osr to Luka Rejec's blog about Quantum Characters and it got my brain clicking about testing a character when it is relevant and not wasting valuable time table-time making the characters. Having the players come to the table with a character made has always been a non-starter for me. I believe character creation should be a group process. Everyone should have a vague idea of the type of group they are part of so you don't have a bunch of lone wolves inexplicably adventuring together.
It's just a matter of making randomization jive with player agency. Maybe a certain # of advantaged stat/skill rolls to set their base level possible for the character and each one they user means they are forced to take something else at a disadvantage later. I like the idea of giving the players something to think about critically when creating a character, just to keep them involved with the game as well as their characters.
I think by necessity it can't be. There needs to be a slower pace to the action. When you're using the first session's story to create characters you'd have to plan to give them a lot of opportunities to decide what they want their character to be. On top of that most games have more components to the character than just skills/stats.
I imagine it's very system specific, but in general I think that requires more heavy lifting on the GM's part before the game gets started. It could be tables of random options, or options linked to the system stats or skills. That may be the easiest option for the players, but it requires a lot more heavy lifting on the GM's part before it even gets started.
This type of system would definitely make it easier to do one-shots of systems that I want to show my groups, but don't necessarily think they'd be super into playing a campaign of. Heavy prep is not my favorite kind of GM-ing, but I might give into the inner grognard if it means I can play some of the games I grew up with. None of my players have the patience for bio-e points or dealing with two hours of character creation. Ain't nobody got time for that shit these days.
I wasn't sure how to make that happen exactly though. I just had some vague idea of getting right into the narrative of play with an RPG and getting the character's information sorted out when it became relevant.
The other day someone posted a link on r/osr to Luka Rejec's blog about Quantum Characters and it got my brain clicking about testing a character when it is relevant and not wasting valuable time table-time making the characters. Having the players come to the table with a character made has always been a non-starter for me. I believe character creation should be a group process. Everyone should have a vague idea of the type of group they are part of so you don't have a bunch of lone wolves inexplicably adventuring together.
It's just a matter of making randomization jive with player agency. Maybe a certain # of advantaged stat/skill rolls to set their base level possible for the character and each one they user means they are forced to take something else at a disadvantage later. I like the idea of giving the players something to think about critically when creating a character, just to keep them involved with the game as well as their characters.
- This is great for players, but what does this mean as far as running the game from the GM's perspective? Would it be the same as any other session?
I think by necessity it can't be. There needs to be a slower pace to the action. When you're using the first session's story to create characters you'd have to plan to give them a lot of opportunities to decide what they want their character to be. On top of that most games have more components to the character than just skills/stats.
- How do you let the players select that stuff without it just stopping the flow of things and handing the a menu to browse?
I imagine it's very system specific, but in general I think that requires more heavy lifting on the GM's part before the game gets started. It could be tables of random options, or options linked to the system stats or skills. That may be the easiest option for the players, but it requires a lot more heavy lifting on the GM's part before it even gets started.
- What's the point of even trying this anyway?
This type of system would definitely make it easier to do one-shots of systems that I want to show my groups, but don't necessarily think they'd be super into playing a campaign of. Heavy prep is not my favorite kind of GM-ing, but I might give into the inner grognard if it means I can play some of the games I grew up with. None of my players have the patience for bio-e points or dealing with two hours of character creation. Ain't nobody got time for that shit these days.
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