Melodrama? [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Melodrama? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kelida42
07-06-03, 08:38 AM At our gaming session last night, my group (3 + the DM) got into a discussion about what character backgrounds should be like, spawned mostly out of some bad experiences on a Neverwinter Nights ROLEPLAYING server. Apparently, two of the characters they are playing are a high elf fighter and a human paladin. Now, on this particular server, there are dozens of drow, half-dragons, half-demons, etc. The high elf naturally considers drow to be evil no matter what (and they usually are) and generally attacks them on sight. The paladin considers all of the above to be abominations, and will generally attack them on sight.

The problem is, people don't seem to understand that this is a roleplaying server. As such, people go there to play a character, not just to kill things.

Many of the weird characters are, in fact, evil. There is a reason for a high elf or a paladin to kill them. However, there are quite a few Drizzt-archetype characters. ("I know my people are evil, but not me, I'm chaotic good, I swear!")

These people especially don't seem to understand roleplaying.

There is always a farfetched melodrama that somehow in a convoluted way explains why the character is evil (murdered family, raped as a child, beaten, abandoned, hates the world, whatever) or good (same as above but wants to make the world a better place) as opposed to sticking with racial and cultural characteristics.

My question is:

How much melodrama is too much?

I know that adventurers are not really just average people, that something in their background has set them on whatever path they are on now. However, I don't see why there are so many characters who have suffered some awful traumatic experience? I mean really, how many people actually have had those problems? And out of those people, how many become adventurers as opposed to accountants or RNs or whatever? Is it just me, or do some people need to learm the difference between a bit of drama or a character development device and full-blown cheese factor because their character is such a cliche?

-Kelida
Tzor
07-06-03, 11:05 AM First of all I have no problems with people who want to play non typical characters. One of my best campaigns I was in had a half drow paladin (this was back in 2E days so this was exceptionally odd) and he played the part exceptionally well. As long as the reasons are indeed role play and not power play, I find nothing wrong with it.

However, if you are going to play such a character you should be prepared to accept the consequences. Let's take the half drow paladin. My dwarf character first encountered him comming back into consciousness after a poison cloud nearly killed everyone in the town. Saving a person from death tends to make that person trustworthy in your eyes. Yet everywhere he went he had to prove himself, especially in normal elvish communities.

The problem is that people like to play good monsters, and then assume that everyone will simply accept them because they say, "but I'm a good drow." That's not role playing, that's trying to avoid role playing. Even in role playing it is actions not words that need to speak out.

Oddly enough I have rarely played a character who has suffered a traumatic experience. I've done it a few times in birthright, if only to get rid of a parent who was regent before my character, but never as a part of the general character background. If I want such characters I often use the death of a thousand cuts to a death of a single blow. Small less traumatic life changing experiences as opposed to major ones. If I want Agnst I play VTM. :smirk:
Kelida42
07-07-03, 04:01 AM I should clarify.

I have no problem with ROLEPLAYING. But what you said is correct. Often, it is the avoidance of role-playing that drives people to cliches.

-Kelida
BetterButterBuddha
07-08-03, 11:02 PM Hah! Good topic, this is something I have a great deal of experience with. So far, I agree much with what you're saying. Many of the people in my group who are actually interested in role-playing do take to a melodramatic past. In fact, my current character fits this mold to a tea.

It's one of the kitchiest cliche's you can run into: a terminally ill character, AND the last of his tribe.

I know what you're thinking. And you're right. I am the king of bad taste. I realized it about halfway through second level, when I was talking to a little kid about it, and he said, "Wow. Sucks for you".

So how do I counteract this horrible, horrible meldrama? It's pretty easy actually. It's reached the point where there's nothing that my character can do about it, except bumble around randomly in hopes of a cure. So now I just try to focus on the little things, the details of a campaign. I've turned myself from Cancer Boy, from kids in the hall, to a real character, one with aspirations beyond living past tomorrow, moral dilemmas to work out, and a damned lot of other character flaws that actually make sense.

So, melodrama can work, I think. As long as the melodrama-inducing event is treated more as an unimportant detail that is pushed aside until the party comes across an angsty goth paladin or the like, there really isn't any problem with it.

Plus, it makes it all the more ironic when you run across people with problems like your own. Cause then you don't need to feel bad for them! Hah! Stupid old folks with their easily-breakable hips!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kelida42 07-06-03, 08:38 AM	At our gaming session last night, my group (3 + the DM) got into a discussion about what character backgrounds should be like, spawned mostly out of some bad experiences on a Neverwinter Nights ROLEPLAYING server. Apparently, two of the characters they are playing are a high elf fighter and a human paladin. Now, on this particular server, there are dozens of drow, half-dragons, half-demons, etc. The high elf naturally considers drow to be evil no matter what (and they usually are) and generally attacks them on sight. The paladin considers all of the above to be abominations, and will generally attack them on sight. The problem is, people don't seem to understand that this is a roleplaying server. As such, people go there to play a character, not just to kill things. Many of the weird characters are, in fact, evil. There is a reason for a high elf or a paladin to kill them. However, there are quite a few Drizzt-archetype characters. ("I know my people are evil, but not me, I'm chaotic good, I swear!") These people especially don't seem to understand roleplaying. There is always a farfetched melodrama that somehow in a convoluted way explains why the character is evil (murdered family, raped as a child, beaten, abandoned, hates the world, whatever) or good (same as above but wants to make the world a better place) as opposed to sticking with racial and cultural characteristics. My question is: How much melodrama is too much? I know that adventurers are not really just average people, that something in their background has set them on whatever path they are on now. However, I don't see why there are so many characters who have suffered some awful traumatic experience? I mean really, how many people actually have had those problems? And out of those people, how many become adventurers as opposed to accountants or RNs or whatever? Is it just me, or do some people need to learm the difference between a bit of drama or a character development device and full-blown cheese factor because their character is such a cliche? -Kelida
Tzor 07-06-03, 11:05 AM	First of all I have no problems with people who want to play non typical characters. One of my best campaigns I was in had a half drow paladin (this was back in 2E days so this was exceptionally odd) and he played the part exceptionally well. As long as the reasons are indeed role play and not power play, I find nothing wrong with it. However, if you are going to play such a character you should be prepared to accept the consequences. Let's take the half drow paladin. My dwarf character first encountered him comming back into consciousness after a poison cloud nearly killed everyone in the town. Saving a person from death tends to make that person trustworthy in your eyes. Yet everywhere he went he had to prove himself, especially in normal elvish communities. The problem is that people like to play good monsters, and then assume that everyone will simply accept them because they say, "but I'm a good drow." That's not role playing, that's trying to avoid role playing. Even in role playing it is actions not words that need to speak out. Oddly enough I have rarely played a character who has suffered a traumatic experience. I've done it a few times in birthright, if only to get rid of a parent who was regent before my character, but never as a part of the general character background. If I want such characters I often use the death of a thousand cuts to a death of a single blow. Small less traumatic life changing experiences as opposed to major ones. If I want Agnst I play VTM. :smirk:
Kelida42 07-07-03, 04:01 AM	I should clarify. I have no problem with ROLEPLAYING. But what you said is correct. Often, it is the avoidance of role-playing that drives people to cliches. -Kelida
BetterButterBuddha 07-08-03, 11:02 PM	Hah! Good topic, this is something I have a great deal of experience with. So far, I agree much with what you're saying. Many of the people in my group who are actually interested in role-playing do take to a melodramatic past. In fact, my current character fits this mold to a tea. It's one of the kitchiest cliche's you can run into: a terminally ill character, AND the last of his tribe. I know what you're thinking. And you're right. I am the king of bad taste. I realized it about halfway through second level, when I was talking to a little kid about it, and he said, "Wow. Sucks for you". So how do I counteract this horrible, horrible meldrama? It's pretty easy actually. It's reached the point where there's nothing that my character can do about it, except bumble around randomly in hopes of a cure. So now I just try to focus on the little things, the details of a campaign. I've turned myself from Cancer Boy, from kids in the hall, to a real character, one with aspirations beyond living past tomorrow, moral dilemmas to work out, and a damned lot of other character flaws that actually make sense. So, melodrama can work, I think. As long as the melodrama-inducing event is treated more as an unimportant detail that is pushed aside until the party comes across an angsty goth paladin or the like, there really isn't any problem with it. Plus, it makes it all the more ironic when you run across people with problems like your own. Cause then you don't need to feel bad for them! Hah! Stupid old folks with their easily-breakable hips!