alt.wish.71
Ginger and Michael take a well-deserved rest this week, but in the spirit of community, I present:
For Players: Do you rely on the NPC as presented, or are you usually looking "between the lines" to figure the elements that are hold-backs? Do you care that the NPCs might have as many conflicted qualities as the PCs? Should a game really revolve around the PCs in every respect, including a certain 'artificial' quality to the secondary cast? Or are you happier if the NPCs are 'sticky'?
Players really seem to like investing back story and extra bits in the creation of Characters they are going to run. While there are plenty of folks who can just "start a PC and find the voice"—there are as many who want the whole canvas sketched in, even if no one ever finds out about the story invested.
[This is not to be confused with PCs and NPCs who have a 'long-held secret' that comes out at the first family dinner in the game. That's certainly cliche 'showboating'.]
It seems that I've always favored a GM or author who 'holds back' a larger amount of a Character. Even if I'm not playing in a campaign—I expect I won't learn everything I need/want to know about the NPCs.
I like that—respect it—and am not one of these 'modern readers' who expects the narrative to clear up all the loose ends and justifications for what is going on. Life is messy and confusing—so I expect my fiction and gaming to simulate that.
Which isn't at all about story being opaque or tale flat because I never understand the characters or plot or because the author just doesn't get his meaning across to me.
Another aspect of this is portrayal. Players will make interpretations of important NPCs. Some sort of chemistry happens and it isn't easily predicted. If your GM is doing a consistent portrayal—the Players will each reach a slightly different conclusion about those NPCs. Sometimes those OOC (out-of-character) coversations about NPCs in the game reveal more about the PCs than the NPCs.
This is good stuff. If I knew how to make it happen all the time—I think I'd be making more Sticky NPCs and better games.