One-Shot Thought Experiment

[bryant]

This isn’t something I want to run immediately; I’ve just been contemplating character generation and systems lately and I wanted to do a thought experiment. Thus, if you feel like commenting on the following, please do. Or even run through the exercise of answering the questions.

So: modern occult game with some action, a touch of conspiracy, you know the genre. Occult is defined as weird stuff, including mad science, psionics, and so on. The framework is a group of free-lance journalists/bloggers; they might know the occult exists but don’t have proof. They’ve got a group blog and cooperate on investigations. Funding is sparse. Thank God for Google AdWords.

Players in the one-shot can define their characters before the game by answering the following questions in prose.

1. What is the core of your character? This could be a profession, a hobby, a way of looking at the world. Describe it in a paragraph or so.

2. What’s another thing that defines your character? Could be a side profession, a skill, a possession, a heritage, whatever. Again, describe it in a paragraph.

3. And a third defining element.

4. OK, now tell me what your character’s flaw is. Same deal, give us a paragraph.

5. What’s your motivation? Why do you do these things you do?

6. What’s your big secret? You really don’t want people knowing this.

7. And, finally, tell me about an important person in your past.

Originally published at Imaginary Vestibule.

Comments

[head58.livejournal.com]

I ran a ConX game at one point back in the heady days when X-Files was still cool and had all the players answer a questionaire for their characters (can't remember if I actually had stats or not). I honestly don't remember if this was my own bright idea or if it was suggested in the book, but I'll have to see if I still have those around somewhere. I think this is a great tool to get some good fleshing-out stuff nailed down at the start of character creation as opposed to later on when (if) it usually comes up.

[bryant]

Yep yep. And I'm thinking I could use the results of the questionnaire to do pre-gens.

[space-parasite.livejournal.com]

That looks familiar somehow... :)

[bryant]

*whistles*

That's perhaps the experiment part. :)

[michele-blue.livejournal.com]

Just leaving a reminder so we can talk more about the play-by-blog thing I mentioned earlier on AIM. Squee!

And yeah, this is neat stuff! I like the simplicity of the character generation.

[kodi]

I don't know if you're viewing the questions as a collection or as a sequence, but if it's the latter, I would move the third defining element later in the sequence. It's obviously not a huge difference, but it just seems to fit better like that for me.

Also, "Thank Godonline blackjack is also one of the oldest. for Google AdWords."?

[kodi]

Hm. Yours is one of 3 WordPress blogs that have an ad for new-blackjack in a <noscript> element, according to Google. (others are http://eatdrinkrunwoman.com/ and http://www.clecavaliers.com/) But I don't think it was there when I initially viewed this post. Curious!

[kodi]

Oh, and some more come up on a link: search using different text.

[bryant]

I see it. Hm. I bet this is that Firefox blogging addon. Grrr.

[bryant]

Odd. What search are you using on Google?

[kodi]

"Blackjack is one of the oldest" with quotation marks turns up Imaginary Vestibule and the other two. "link:www.new-blackjack.com" turns up others.