Bjarkmundur
2019-09-03, 04:43 AM
Erm, does anyone here do theater, improv or take acting lessons?
I remember a watching a theater group practice when I was in school and the teacher had these 'tips and tricks' on how to extract your character from a script. It revolved around thinking about that characters goals in a scene and, based on the character's dialogue, be able to tackle a completely unscripted scene as that character. It was based around the theme that 'It's only a character if he has to make decisions. Understanding where your character is coming from and where he is going is a way to deduce what kind of choices he'll make in scenarios not in the script.'
I am not a creative person. You could say I'm more interpretatively creative. I can work with people to create, I can take things and change them, but when staring at a blank piece of x, I don't get anywhere.
If I have a character that's only meant to deliver some dialogue, how do I accurately guess what kind of choices that character makes if forced into the role of a more dynamic NPC?
For those familiar with Waterdeep, the NPC in question is Melanner, the Emerald Enclave's quest giver. In the module, we get nothing about her. We simply get 'Friendly but humorless'. We don't even get a description of the Phaulkonmere estate or the personal motivations of the two characters found there. It's easy to make decisions as a farmer or a member of the City Watch. I know what their main motivation is. One wants consistency, safety and profit in his life, the other one wants to uphold the law, he doesn't want any trouble and wants to 'keep the blood of the streets'. If these characters were to make decisions I have these ideals to fall back on, and interpret into a more dynamic NPC.
For those more creative than me, coming up with personalities for Melanner is a breeze. But for someone more interpretive like me, I am completely at a loss. I have nothing to fall back on if that character has to make a decision. She is given no motivation. Even if she were given motivation, I'd probably get no reason as to why that's the motivation she was given. This is quite different from other quest givers, such as The Harpers' Old Wolf, which is a pretty well fleshed-out NPC.
How do you create a decision-making algorithm for a character who has a place in the world, but no clear motivation or goals?
I remember a watching a theater group practice when I was in school and the teacher had these 'tips and tricks' on how to extract your character from a script. It revolved around thinking about that characters goals in a scene and, based on the character's dialogue, be able to tackle a completely unscripted scene as that character. It was based around the theme that 'It's only a character if he has to make decisions. Understanding where your character is coming from and where he is going is a way to deduce what kind of choices he'll make in scenarios not in the script.'
I am not a creative person. You could say I'm more interpretatively creative. I can work with people to create, I can take things and change them, but when staring at a blank piece of x, I don't get anywhere.
If I have a character that's only meant to deliver some dialogue, how do I accurately guess what kind of choices that character makes if forced into the role of a more dynamic NPC?
For those familiar with Waterdeep, the NPC in question is Melanner, the Emerald Enclave's quest giver. In the module, we get nothing about her. We simply get 'Friendly but humorless'. We don't even get a description of the Phaulkonmere estate or the personal motivations of the two characters found there. It's easy to make decisions as a farmer or a member of the City Watch. I know what their main motivation is. One wants consistency, safety and profit in his life, the other one wants to uphold the law, he doesn't want any trouble and wants to 'keep the blood of the streets'. If these characters were to make decisions I have these ideals to fall back on, and interpret into a more dynamic NPC.
For those more creative than me, coming up with personalities for Melanner is a breeze. But for someone more interpretive like me, I am completely at a loss. I have nothing to fall back on if that character has to make a decision. She is given no motivation. Even if she were given motivation, I'd probably get no reason as to why that's the motivation she was given. This is quite different from other quest givers, such as The Harpers' Old Wolf, which is a pretty well fleshed-out NPC.
How do you create a decision-making algorithm for a character who has a place in the world, but no clear motivation or goals?