|
|
|
Wag
 
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Today @ 5:42 AM
Posts: 1,227,
Visits: 10,393
|
|
I've always fancied the idea of using film/theatre terms for LRP....actors, supporting actors, extras, producers, art directors, directors etc etc. Just thought it'd work better. Why? Because I've always found people have differant ideas of what a PC is or an NPC or a monster or crew or whatever......just a thought.
_____________________________________________________
RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:01 AM
Posts: 338,
Visits: 1,961
|
|
Shelford (7/8/2008)
I've always fancied the idea of using film/theatre terms for LRP....actors, supporting actors, extras, producers, art directors, directors etc etc. Just thought it'd work better. Why? Because I've always found people have differant ideas of what a PC is or an NPC or a monster or crew or whatever......just a thought.
There was once a game called Dick Britton and the Voice of the Seraph that used those conventions, in a game system called Cinedrama...
To the extent that players playing Stars stayed IC in between "takes" - no "Time in" here, it was all "Action!" - not as the Star, but as the actor playing them... I guess you had to be there.
It absolutely rocked.
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Friday, November 07, 2008 11:08 AM
Posts: 350,
Visits: 1,612
|
|
Nath (7/8/2008)
DC: Directed characters The term 'DPC' already exists, as a halfway house between PCs and NPCs. I'm wonderigng if you actually read Smitts post, or just jumped on a point to try and sound clever ... specifically I'm thinking about the bit where he said that he thought the word 'player' should be removed to reduce IC OC bleed by making the character as distinct as possible. Then you wade in to say that DPC (Directed Player Character) already exists, and then utterly miss the point of the thread in your reply as well? Fail.... no, wait Epic Fail.
|
|
|
|
|
Squire
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 9:32 PM
Posts: 33,
Visits: 503
|
|
Rich (7/9/2008)
Nath (7/8/2008)
DC: Directed characters
The term 'DPC' already exists, as a halfway house between PCs and NPCs.
I'm wonderigng if you actually read Smitts post, or just jumped on a point to try and sound clever ... specifically I'm thinking about the bit where he said that he thought the word 'player' should be removed to reduce IC OC bleed by making the character as distinct as possible.
Then you wade in to say that DPC (Directed Player Character) already exists, and then utterly miss the point of the thread in your reply as well?
Fail.... no, wait
Epic Fail.
Wow, good bile!
Or, Nath simply wanted to mention the term 'DPC', as it had not been specifically brought up at that point. Which then led to his, Mr P and others' postulating on whether a DPC is a hybrid of PC/NPC or a Grendel-esque offspring. Which I thought provided some interesting & pretty funny viewpoints... so the original comment was hardly a 'fail' in terms of a discussion point.
-----
CP - Game Team (Dogtanian)
Serenity LRP - Prince, Grace's Gunsharks
PD - Cassio, Elect of the Weaver
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Friday, November 07, 2008 11:08 AM
Posts: 350,
Visits: 1,612
|
|
Minty (7/9/2008)
Wow, good bile!
Thanks
Or, Nath simply wanted to mention the term 'DPC', as it had not been specifically brought up at that point. Which then led to his, Mr P and others' postulating on whether a DPC is a hybrid of PC/NPC or a Grendel-esque offspring. Which I thought provided some interesting & pretty funny viewpoints... so the original comment was hardly a 'fail' in terms of a discussion point.
Not really a discussion valid to the original post though, wanting to discuss the validity of DPCs could be another thread in its entirety, however in this thread, specifically about removing the term 'Player' from the concept of Character I'd suggest that it is at best inconsequential to the discussion, and at worst a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the true thrust of the topic.
|
|
|
|
|
Overlord
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:21 PM
Posts: 1,588,
Visits: 4,230
|
|
[admin hat on]
Lets keep this civil please, I don't really want to stifle what is an interesting debate. Rule 1 on the posting terms and conditions is pretty clear.
http://forums.rule7.co.uk/Topic95-55-1.aspx
[admin hat off]
|
|
|
|
|
Prodigal
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 11:54 AM
Posts: 861,
Visits: 2,449
|
|
-FC: Free characters, those that are portrayed by a player who is free do portray them as they please (... erm within reason)
-DC: Directed characters portrayed by crew etc, whose behavior is in some way controlled by the writers
In classic fantasy linear, the PC / NPC distinction makes sense. In other larp formats, it doesn't. Consider a freeform where all characters are prewritten, but once handed over to the players they 'are free to do as they please' (not sure I'd put it that way). Is everyone a PC or NPC? How are you defining 'controlled by the writers?' (does character creation count as control, or do you mean something more directed?) To my mind, all characters (regardless of who generated them) should be protrayed in a way true to the character, not influenced by external factors such as 'monsters don't attack downed players, ever' or 'try to kill the duke at 3pm.'
------ <insert really amusing sig here>
|
|
|
|
|
Champion
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:30 PM
Posts: 297,
Visits: 770
|
|
At the bottom of a box somewhere, I've got a copy of the Adventurer's Guild mag from about 15 years ago that contained an article that gave about half a dozen different types of character, from free-willed PC at one end of the scale, down to fully-directed monster roles at the other. So the idea that there are more character possibilities than just the binary PC/NPC option is hardly a new one.
Smitt (7/8/2008)
What if instead of PC and NPC we have:
-FC: Free characters, those that are portrayed by a player who is free do portray them as they please (... erm within reason)
-DC: Directed characters portrayed by crew etc, whose behavior is in some way controlled by the writers
If it's your game, then obviously you can use whatever terminology you like. But if you invent new terms, then you may find yourself having to spend more time (and space in your rulebook) explaining those terms, than if you had used more familiar language.
More widely what can we do to help players get out of themselves and into their characters, those of you who believe their characters are actually a stronger force than them as a player, how do you reach that state?
Most responses so far seem to have ignored this question.
As I've had a long day, so am I. 
But it is a good question.
____________________
"Fantasy is the artificial sweetener upon the poisoned cake of materialism." - R. J. Stewart
|
|
|
|