First person or narrative

[The J Pizzel]

Just out of curiosity, do your players refer to their character in first person, or narrative. For example (the player is playing a pally named Sir Barrick),

First Person
DM - The lord walks up to you and aks if you have anything to say for yourself.
Player (with a hurt expression on his face) - I have trouble with you accusing me of this. Me and x were simply passing through and saw some ogres attacking the caravan. Weintervened and scare...

Narrative
DM - The lord walks up to Sir Barrick and aks if he has anything to say for himself.
Player (with a normal expression) - Sir Barrick hurtfully replies "I have trouble with you accusing me of this. Me and x were simply passing through and saw some ogres attacking the caravan. We intervened and scare..."

I like when they play in first person better, but I have a few who play in narrative. It causes a clash when they're trying to talk to each other. Any others have this small problem.

JP

[Leadfeathermcc]

We flip back and forth all the time. No issues.

[ALOR]

Most of the time it's 1st person. I think the group prefers that, well at least I do.

[Mr. Friendly]

First person.

Talking in third person creeps Mr. Friendly out! :smallbiggrin:

[Kizara]

When I'm more in character, 1st person. When I'm not immersed as much, 3rd.

:)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Obviously, 3rd person in PbP, because it suits the environment better. It also helps to stave off the character/player differentiation issues that plague a certain game I'm in. A bit.

In person, it's usually first person. More out of the inherent stilted

[Lady Tialait]

As a DM first person...sometimes 3rd...depends. mostly 1st


My usally players are as follows

Palidin always 1st person.

Dark Cleric of himself: 3rd person most of the time

Monk of Chaos: 3rd person always.

Psion: 1st person always.


As you can see...the party flips alot..and the whole thing gets really odd...but over all..we change..no issues really.

[Arbitrarity]

First person, with the exception of some out-of-character conversations relating to the character. Sometimes third when describing something, but that's fairly uncommon.

[Lolzords]

Usually in first person, but occasionally I slip and say something like "my bloke swings his hammer at the druid".

[Satyr]

First persdon in direct speech, and 3rd person narrator mode when describing. it makes it easier to differenciate between those.

[Quietus]

Depends. On Vethedar, I do a lot of third-person, simply because writing feels more natural to me like that.

When gaming face-to-face, however, I have two separate groups : One, an Earthdawn group, doesn't hold my attention all that much, so it's typically narrative. The other is my D&D group, which starts out narrative, and then as we fall in-character, we each slip into first one by one.

[MrNexx]

1st person, definitely.

[SpikeFightwicky]

Depends on the DM.

I typically start out every conversation in Narrative, and change depending of the answer. For example:

Me: I ask the bartender for another round of ale to celebrate some newfound treasure.
DM: Alright, he fills up another round of steins and personally delivers them to your table. "That'll be 10 gold", he cheerfully says.
Me: "That's highway robbery! There's no way I'll pay that... 6 gold and a silver sounds more like it".
DM: *in a disapointed voice* "That will be... acceptable."

OR

Me: I ask the bartender for another round of ale to celebrate some newfound treasure.
DM: Alright, he fills up another round of steins and personally delivers them to your table. He holds out his hand, stating that it will be 10 gold altogether.
Me: *OOC* "That's highway robbery!" *BIC* I tell him that his prices are absurd and that the most I'll pay is 6 gold and a silver.
DM: Looking somewhat disapointed, he accepts your price and returns to his bar.

[Matthew]

On the whole I prefer narrative (also known as third person, I believe), but I often slip into first person during play.

[shadow_archmagi]

First.

I move into position to attack. "Time to learn what the inside of your eyes looks like, yah gorram troll!" I cast Ubersplode.

[Falrin]

3 basic conversation modes


Asking out of Character Info:

Does my character knows this?
Can my character do that?


Stating Actions:

I run up to him.
I open the door.
I tell him to shut up.
I cast spel x.
...


Direct Dialogue.

Most of the time (and most fun) between players.

Shut up, I go that way.
Go ahead, I'll go this way.
Don't open the door!


But generaly a healthy switch between them.

1 "I walk to the door"
DM "Good solid door, bla bla bla, ... "
1 "Does my character think he could break this open"
DM " yes, with some effort'
2 " I tell him to wait and prepare first"
1 " I hit the door with my axe"
2 " WTF? stop that, we need some buffs first"
1 " I hit again"
2 " I run up to 1 and stop his attacks"

by that time we get attacked by a fully prepared band of (insert major enemy)

[Alyosha]

When I am the DM for a group, I use narrative. I am not a character: I govern many characters. It's like when Waylon Jennings narrates an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard.

When I am a player in an adventure, I use 1st person. It makes the game experience more fun for me.

[Felius]

Usually first person, but if I want to make extra clear, particularly if it is on a public space, and me shouting "I kill him" will get me more then a few strange looks, third person.

[Xefas]

My players switch on and off with perspective, and one even does a sort of...mime.

Sometimes it's
"My guy takes out his sword and charges the lizard with the spear"
or "I'll take out my sword and charge at the bastard with the spear"

but then sometimes he'll mime pulling out a sword, point at the map where the lizard is, and just say "Charge". It was pretty funny when he got Fleshgrinding Darts, actually. He could make the sound of a power-drill perfectly.

Anyway, as a DM, I prefer narrative most of the time. Back in 2nd edition, I did it almost entirely 1st person and it lead to awkward "The DM is talking to himself...and himself, again." when multiple NPCs were there.

When I'm playing someone with crazy high intelligence, wisdom, or charisma, I don't even talk with them. I just say "The archon draws his blade and walks stoically to the crest of the hill. From there, he orates an inspiring speech to the masses of gathered troops below. Each word radiates with the unfathomably beauty of Celestia, and the soldiers roar in mounting anticipation."

[Yami]

3rd person for quick converstations (where be the nearest inn wench!)

1st person for the actual conversations(I try to convince the bandits not to take my gear and leave me tied up in the rain?)

[Prometheus]

Technically the first example is second person when the DM is talking and first person when the player is - not that anybody cares.

I use second (first) person when the player is unambiguous or refers to all the party, first when speaking as a NPC, and third elsehow. and my players vary on whether they use first or third. Usually they will describe actions with third and for the dialogue they will skip the "Sir Barrick hurtfully replies".

[Saph]

I much prefer first person. When I'm DMing I encourage the players to use it. Makes the game feel realer. (I try to get them to address each other by their IC names, too, though that takes a bit more work.)

As a player I usually write down the party's names to make it easier, although it does lead to the occasional amusing situation where I'm addressing a seemingly deaf PC who's apparently forgotten his own name.

- Saph

[Gerrtt]

First person for me, in both IM gaming, real tables, and ORPGs.

[Wordmiser]

I prefer DMs to use second person when addressing players and as a player I use first person.

I don't dig the out-of-character use of in-character names, though... that's a creepy tendency my DM picked up recently, which irks me to no end.