Hi I'm sick and in a bit of a haze right now so I've decided to ask a random question that popped into my head three seconds ago. How many people are willing to break character or allow something to happen to their character that wouldn't normally be possible to allow conflict, drama, and storylines to form? Do you think that people should do this kind of thing? Do you think people shouldn't? I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this.
bit confused on what you mean by not normally possible, but I have always been a major proponent of people collaborating oocly to specifically design scenarios for maximum drama its something i dont see very often around here but i think it should be embraced more
As long as it's a believable mistake one could do or a lapse in judgement that is reasoned around I don't think that would even constitute 'breaking character' moreso a moral or cognitive failing on their part. I've had my arm twisted before due to miscommunication of two groups of people who had agreed to bend RP into a favorable outcome for one party behind the scenes, and I not being told about it absolutely refused to go along and got my arm twisted via ooc brute force and was only told after the fact I had 'interrupted' their RP that was happening in a very public place. Had I known I would have been more willing to bend things into the shape they wanted it to fit. I am willing to break character in believable ways and fuck up to help a story move along but it's a lot smoother of a process if everyone involved is aware you are entering a scripted sequence, not an open rp.
It depends. I don't think character should be broken per se to cause more of something IC. I think that can lead someone down a path of potentially inconsistent personality in their characters and how they behave, which is generally a bad thing if that in itself isn't part of the character IC. I think what people should do though is think about what might break a character's normal composure in advance and how they'll act when it happens. Regular people "break character" all the time. They lose their tempers, have mood swings, and generally things just happen that make them act a bit out of the ordinary. Those kinds of things should be considered more often.
I think a lot of problems can arise from the creation of characters that have to break character to be interesting. “My character saw a CRP on this hub! They don’t like being in danger, so now they’re never coming back.” “This is the most intelligent thing for my character to do, so they’re doing it, even though it leads to a boring or frustrating conclusion.” “My character is wary of weird Fringe strangers, so they won’t talk to most characters, even though they still hang out in public.” “My character won’t go into public at all. You can only RP with them if you already know them, or have a reason to seek them out, which most people don’t.” Yeah, real brave of you to play a sane, intelligent character in the Fringe. Always doing the most reasonable thing, and never making mistakes that cause conflict. God forbid they be in a situation where Fringe bars are their only source of socialization and they go stir crazy otherwise, or they’re a temperamental person and they maybe cause more arguments than they should… my point is, you shouldn’t need to break character in the first place. But that’s not really what this thread is about. 9k pointed out that real people are not consistent all of the time, and I agree. I think a better term for what he’s talking about is “bending character”, and you should always be willing to do it for the sake of drama. I love it when people RP their character as making stupid mistakes when they didn’t need to, or overreacting to something innocuous, etc. Some of the above scenarios I described could be prevented through designing a better character, but it could also be prevented by having a more flexible approach. “Would my character do this?” Is a great question to ask yourself when writing posts, but also consider: “How could I make my character do this?”
I feel like if you have to break character for conflict to occur with them then they aren't a very compelling character. If a character's default reaction to conflict is walking away because it's "in character for them" then their player is just sorta setting themself up for failure, unless they're just really into tame slice-of-life stuff. Maybe that's just me being biased cause I am violently thirsty for major conflict to happen again but I just do not see the appeal of a character who's too smart and sensible to get involved in anything stupid. I know we kinda seemingly dropped the theme a while ago but this is still the Fringe, which is meant to be a rowdy, rough-and-tumble bad neighborhood wrought with strife and chaos. If someone being rude in a bar is enough to get one's character to go "ow my ears" and scurry away then they probably wouldn't come to the Fringe in the first place. tldr; be wacky go stupid the most fun ive ever had with rp is when my characters are being totally braindead and get their ass beat as a consequence people should try it out i highly recommend it
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i specifically design all my characters around the thought of conflict; mostly inner conflict. ive designed whole species around concepts that are almost entirely internal, like religious beliefs, out of the box upbringings, identity, and even the concept of what kind of mental toll empathy would take on ambush predators, because i feel like these types of things are integral to what make your character tick and what motivates them. a character that feels safe in their ideologies is static. i like my characters to be challenged in ways that make them question themself, the world around them, and the things or people they love. specifically; i dont think a character acting "out of their character" so to speak is a bad thing, ESPECIALLY if they're someone who is being challenged on something they previously never considered or never thought they'd encounter. your character SHOULD be changing, evolving, and reacting to their situations in ways that are informed by knowledge they're constantly obtaining what matters ultimately is the core of your character, things that you can point to as 'pillars.' these include things like flaws, motivations, and all the stuff thats so ingrained in them it will never change. for example; masina has changed a lot over her time on GC, but several things have always remained true about her. these are things like religious and generational trauma, being passionate in her beliefs whatever they may be, victimhood and survival, what it means to live and die, and hope for a better society. these have all been part of her character since her inception. however, she has gone from a kind and gullible luudite pacifist with beliefs so devout that she'd make herself a martyr to an irreverent punk ready to throw herself against insurmountable odds for what she believes in and is more than willing to get her hands dirty on her way to doing that. she didnt change because i made her act out of her original character, she still maintains the aspects of her 'pillars.' she changed because the world around her challenged her into becoming that person. hope this makes sense and hopefully helps
couldn't agree more. ive seen characters these days leave the room because another character was insulting them. that's like, the WORST possible response! either burst into tears or try to kill them. smh!!
