Feelings > Actions
When I’m playing a role-playing game, I’m much more interested in hearing what someone’s character feels about a situation than what they do.
If we understand the character’s feelings, even taking no action is informative. And if we don’t know their feelings, any action remains a mystery. Why did they do that? We don’t know.
And if you ask a player what their character feels about something and they can’t answer, all the more reason to slow down, dive in, and let them figure that out. Take that time! Understanding your character’s feelings makes deciding what they would do a whole lot easier.
There’s a very old school tendency to tunnel vision on problem solving: there’s a situation, so our characters have to fix it. That’s our job! In the worst case, the characters just become tools doing what the situation demands, without ever showing us what they personally want or think about things. They become interchangeable troubleshooters rather than people with their own desires or biases.
I want to hear if your character is passionate about finding a cure for the Duke or thinks it’s a fools errand or is just doing it for the money. Maybe you wind up doing the exact same thing, but I want to know how you felt about it. That’s what makes it a story.
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I have published an excerpt of this on my blog (with linked attribution).
“Understanding a Character’s Feelings” https://www.xenograg.com/887/excerpts/understanding-a-characters-feelings
It’s an interesting question! Some would argue that any change in life is inherently a conflict. The conflict between staying who we were and becoming who we could be. Which side will win???
Dogs In the Vineyard had a really insightful mechanic where, during your training, your mentors tried to rid you of a bad habit and you basically rolled against yourself. Literally the side of you that was trying to change versus the side of you that was resisting and trying to stay the same.
Yes! I have been searching for ( and trying to create) a solo RPG that focuses not on tasks but feelings & relationships and the ever-shifting balance of these. Moreover, when I speak of relationships I mean both internal – examining the individuals relationship with various aspects of themselves as well as their interpersonal relationships. While some advise that conflict is an essential part of story, I feel that it is not sufficient – it also requires a journey (literal or metaphorical) and transformation.