Do any of you guys play up the characters personal lives in your games?

Do any of you guys play up the characters personal lives in your games?

Do any of you guys play up the characters personal lives in your games? There really isn’t any pure gameplay incentives for that, right? Or am I missing something?

9 thoughts on “Do any of you guys play up the characters personal lives in your games?”

  1. They are people, too. Family members, loves, caring about your neighbors, or even jobs. All are good things to flesh out and care about.

    There doesn’t have to be a gameplay incentive for good roleplay.

  2. I think the game has tools to create those kinds of interactions. For example, in a game I recently played, in Chargen, during debt establishment, the Revenant was trying to to answer his first debt question: “Someone mourned your death truely and deeply. Who are they? You owe them a debt.” The aware spoke up, “How about I’m your ex-girlfriend?” Boom. Now there is a mechanical and story hook that sets them up as personally involved. They want to interact over that debt in order to advance, and mark the relevant factions, and the MC has a reason to put them together in scenes. These kinds of incentives are all of the game, you just need to use them.

  4. I agree whole-heartedly Steve Moore! But I’ve noticed that my players are more hesitant of interacting with things without mechanics. When they are in the situations they roleplay great (the blessing of your groups consisting of actors and psychologists), but if it’s not on the sheet, they’re not going to get into the situation or set scenes.

    I think I’m gonna have to go with Aaron Griffins and Jesse Abelmans tips here and make some suggestions of how to tie their real lives into Mortality-debts! Cheers all of you! 🙂

  5. Victor Segell remember that some playbooks have initial questions that provide insight on who is important for that character. And you can always ask for example for their family or friends at any moment. And then use this family or friends in the story. Maybe the brother of one character finds out that another one is a vampire and now they have to deal with this.

  6. Thanks KaribuI – you are very right there! I’ll make sure to go another round on those questions.

    I gotta say now that I’m closing in on ending my first year in roleplaying AND as a GM that I’m very grateful for the likes of you all. It’s so wonderful that you take the time to answer all my nooby questions! Without you, I would be nothing!

  7. Everything depends from player expectations toward the game and what you want to play.

    Getting into personal stories is a more emotional than killing “evil” vampires, some players don’t want to threat that territory, some other want.

    When someone plays an Aware is is even requested that he must have some mortal obligations and he needs to juggle supernatural and mortal life.

    As to everyone else. If players are up to this, then involve friends and family members into the ongoing plot. Have your rival kidnap your younger brother, or maybe your sister was turned into vampire and now you have to hunt her down. Will you be able to save them from death or damnation?

    So it doesn’t have to be boring and no-mechanics involved part of the game.

    Does your Veteran have a family for which he retired? Cool, then let the Wolf show up and say “if you don’t make me this weapon by tomorrow evening, I’m going to burn your house and everyone in it”.

    The game I’m currently playing, my character biggest rival is her Vamp brother. Some other character have kids that might soon become targets or players in the political game.

    But be always ready to pause and pull back if someone starts feeling uncomfortable. Have X-card on a table just in case.

    US is most interesting (to me) when instead of stopping Vamp plot to take over the city and country, the game resolves around character.

    If a Hunter has a girlfriend, every now and then have her find out his silver arrow automatic xbow and ask about it, play a scene as he says her farewell when he goes out hunting. It will make the character so much more deep when he gets into danger and have to make tough calls.

  8. An example from my own game that maybe helps to give some ideas.

    The fairy hit the streets to ask her girlfriend about some information about her fairy faction (they are from opposing factions), but the roll was an incomplete success and she selected the option of a cost greater than expected.

    The result was that the girlfriend told her all she knew but they could not meet again until the current thread is resolved, they had an intimate moment and she promised that she will look further into some other problem in the meantime. The next morning they said goodbye without knowing when they will meet again.

    My player was expecting a new debt when she selected the greater cost, and it surprised all the players when the cost wasn’t something mechanical but it felt much more costly due to that.

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