Yeah I know, I just posted something else. But I had more to say that had nothing to do with all that, so think of this as something totally separate. Pretend its on another day even.
I just wanted to write out my character Tanisevania's current situation, since she was in the middle of an altered state when we left off this session. I should then be able to reread this next Sunday and better get back into her state of mind.
Our party had just been attacked by three warg-riding Goblins, while we were travelling on horseback. This gave few of us time to dismount so we could fight better. My character did not, so she was still on her pony holding her badger Frances when the attack came to her. Her plan was to ride the pony away from the battle, then cast Summon Nature's Ally and send a Dire Badger in to fight in her place. However, one of the wargs reached her first, damaging her and knocking her and Frances off the pony.
I have mentioned before that she's a pacifist. Until now this has all been theory, because she's never been in real battles. We had had one battle before this that day, but we were able to prepare for it, and she was able to send a summoned creature in and stay out of it herself. So this was the first time ever, probably in her whole life, that she'd ever been attacked. She wasn't hurt too badly, but she panicked anyway and did the first thing she could think of. She had gotten a magical waterskin the previous night as a gift from one of the NPC's. All she knew about it was that its command word was "Stream." So, in her panic, she tore it from her belt and activated it, thinking that it might knock the Goblin (who was on the ground at this point, the warg having been killed by other party members) away from her.
Instead, all it did was create a very slow-moving stream of water, letting out a gallon per round. She cursed and fled, Frances following her (and she stopped the water too, but on the way, so she left a trail). She then sank down behind a tree, huddling and clutching at her wound. After the battle, Grim came and found her. She was still huddling there, acting shaken. Very concerned, he took her to Conalla (the new party cleric) and demanded she heal her. She did, curing half the damage, which calmed Tanisevania down a bit. She also managed to croak out a thank you to both of them. She continued to let Grim hold her, however, her head laying on his shoulder.
She's still going to be like this when we pick up next week. I know Grim's rage is going to end soon, and if he tired very suddenly, she would ask him to put her down. Then she would attend to the horses, making sure none of them were hurt. She'd get back on her pony and ride as usual, but she'd be very quiet, and noticeabley pale. When we make camp again, she'll probably make a point of not volunteering for any of the watches, wanting to sleep off her embarassment and fear.
And I think that's all. Hopefully this helps me next week :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Roleplay-related Rant
Well, sort of a rant. More of a discussion with myself.
Anyway, my girlfriend and I just got back from a session of the DnD game our friend Heather runs and we play in, along with other friends of ours. She's playing a Kender rogue, and I'm playing my Gnome druid. As a Kender, her character is very outspoken and chatty and active and such, and she does an amazing job playing her.
My character, who's named Tanisevania and has been mentioned already here in great detail, is very different both from my girlfriend's character and any other character I've ever played. She's kinda passive, and not as outspoken as she could be. She's also a pacifist, so she hates being engaged in battle or having to deal with fighting. This can lead to situations where she is.... well, not as active in roleplay as others. We also play with a very chaotic group of people, and I'm VERY passive, so sometimes its hard for me to get a word in.
Anyway, when we came home tonight, we talked about the amount of additional roleplay-based experience we got from the DM. We either got the same amount or she got less, I'm not sure. Her character did quite a bit this session - I think we all did, and played our characters well. Because of all the chaos, however, some of what she did probably was lost to the DM (she sits at the other end of the table from her), so she probably didn't get XP for all of it. When discussing this, she said that she did more than I did, so she should have gotten more XP than me.
That is technically true, but it has lead me to interesting thoughts. In tonight's session, I played my character as best I could. She was quieter than most in many situations because that's more her nature. She's not as outspoken as most of the other characters. So, how much of that is roleplay accurate, and should I be missing out on XP because of it?
Most of the roleplay I've done thus far while playing her has been in one-on-one situations with other characters or in very small groups. She's only had to interact with large numbers of people a few times, and in all those situations, I have kinda clammed up.
The first was a bar brawl, only in a fancy restaurant, so she hid under a table for the extent of it. The brawl actually formed out of a party, and while that was going on, I did do some roleplay via secret paper to Wayne, who is playing the character my character is currently sleeping with. But when the fight began, she just did that, and I didn't do much of anything.
The second was a royal ball, for which some of us got to go to the palace. Before it started, when she was mingling with only a few other people, I was better at playing her. But when the ball started, I just sat back and let the assumption go that she was dancing with anyone who asked her and making small talk. Again, I didn't do much of anything.
Then tonight, we ended up finally with the whole party in one place. There's six of us, plus 3 NPC's now, so that's a considerable group too. I was better at getting her to interact with people than the previous two examples, but I can still see what my girlfriend meant. There was a lot more that I could have done. There's a woman in our party, a human cleric named Conalla, who is a total stranger to all of us. My character would have talked to her more to try and figure out what kind of person she was. The small quest we're on now is also taking her away from her main goal, and I hinted at her discomfort and distractedness a bit, but I could have played it out more. We're travelling now too, on a road through the forest, so she's MUCH more comfortable now than she has been at any point since we started playing. I blatantly stated this, but I could have made it obvious with examples instead. Like maybe she should have been humming, and have a more relaxed posture, and looking around happily. Stuff like that. But I didn't. She also didn't really do any roleplay with Grim (Wayne's character) to explain why they couldn't have sex while they were camping with the whole party, and now that I think about it, that would have been crucial. Crap.
Okay, my girlfriend was entirely right. I kinda sucked at the roleplay thing tonight. I am not entirely blaming myself though. I have difficulty getting a word in when everyone else is chattering around me, so that made it difficult. But I should have tried harder. Yes, based on past roleplay, Tanisevania seems uncomfortable in huge crowds. But that's no excuse for her to not interact with the party.
I will try harder next week. Ugh, I feel like an ass.
Anyway, my girlfriend and I just got back from a session of the DnD game our friend Heather runs and we play in, along with other friends of ours. She's playing a Kender rogue, and I'm playing my Gnome druid. As a Kender, her character is very outspoken and chatty and active and such, and she does an amazing job playing her.
My character, who's named Tanisevania and has been mentioned already here in great detail, is very different both from my girlfriend's character and any other character I've ever played. She's kinda passive, and not as outspoken as she could be. She's also a pacifist, so she hates being engaged in battle or having to deal with fighting. This can lead to situations where she is.... well, not as active in roleplay as others. We also play with a very chaotic group of people, and I'm VERY passive, so sometimes its hard for me to get a word in.
Anyway, when we came home tonight, we talked about the amount of additional roleplay-based experience we got from the DM. We either got the same amount or she got less, I'm not sure. Her character did quite a bit this session - I think we all did, and played our characters well. Because of all the chaos, however, some of what she did probably was lost to the DM (she sits at the other end of the table from her), so she probably didn't get XP for all of it. When discussing this, she said that she did more than I did, so she should have gotten more XP than me.
That is technically true, but it has lead me to interesting thoughts. In tonight's session, I played my character as best I could. She was quieter than most in many situations because that's more her nature. She's not as outspoken as most of the other characters. So, how much of that is roleplay accurate, and should I be missing out on XP because of it?
Most of the roleplay I've done thus far while playing her has been in one-on-one situations with other characters or in very small groups. She's only had to interact with large numbers of people a few times, and in all those situations, I have kinda clammed up.
The first was a bar brawl, only in a fancy restaurant, so she hid under a table for the extent of it. The brawl actually formed out of a party, and while that was going on, I did do some roleplay via secret paper to Wayne, who is playing the character my character is currently sleeping with. But when the fight began, she just did that, and I didn't do much of anything.
The second was a royal ball, for which some of us got to go to the palace. Before it started, when she was mingling with only a few other people, I was better at playing her. But when the ball started, I just sat back and let the assumption go that she was dancing with anyone who asked her and making small talk. Again, I didn't do much of anything.
Then tonight, we ended up finally with the whole party in one place. There's six of us, plus 3 NPC's now, so that's a considerable group too. I was better at getting her to interact with people than the previous two examples, but I can still see what my girlfriend meant. There was a lot more that I could have done. There's a woman in our party, a human cleric named Conalla, who is a total stranger to all of us. My character would have talked to her more to try and figure out what kind of person she was. The small quest we're on now is also taking her away from her main goal, and I hinted at her discomfort and distractedness a bit, but I could have played it out more. We're travelling now too, on a road through the forest, so she's MUCH more comfortable now than she has been at any point since we started playing. I blatantly stated this, but I could have made it obvious with examples instead. Like maybe she should have been humming, and have a more relaxed posture, and looking around happily. Stuff like that. But I didn't. She also didn't really do any roleplay with Grim (Wayne's character) to explain why they couldn't have sex while they were camping with the whole party, and now that I think about it, that would have been crucial. Crap.
Okay, my girlfriend was entirely right. I kinda sucked at the roleplay thing tonight. I am not entirely blaming myself though. I have difficulty getting a word in when everyone else is chattering around me, so that made it difficult. But I should have tried harder. Yes, based on past roleplay, Tanisevania seems uncomfortable in huge crowds. But that's no excuse for her to not interact with the party.
I will try harder next week. Ugh, I feel like an ass.
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