problem-characters
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Storyboard: The problem in your group is you
There are a lot of ways that roleplaying can go south. Over the past two years, I've tried to focus on how to look out for problems before they happen, how to identify problems coming from others, and how to solve problems with a minimum of drama. It's important to try to fix miscommunications, after all. Unfortunately, there's a problem that comes from analyzing everything other than yourself: Sometimes, the real problem is you. Maybe you've been trying to fix all of the problems in your group without realizing that the real pot-stirrer was the jerk trying to fix everyone else. Maybe you've been trying to enforce a specific standard that no one else wants to adhere to. Heck, maybe you're just playing a character that you like a lot but everyone else loathes. Whatever the reason, you aren't the solution any more; you are the problem that needs to be fixed. And that means figuring out what to do when you find out that you have seen the enemy and he is you.
Storyboard: Mistakes I know I was making
When I write this column, I talk a lot about what works within the context of roleplaying. I make suggestions, declare certain things as being bad ideas, and otherwise make a point of speaking as someone who knows what he is doing. This is not unfounded; I've been playing MMOs for eight years and roleplaying for fifteen, so I at least have some benefit of experience to work with. But a lot of the conclusions I've reached and the ideas that I've formed have been the result of trying something, failing, and learning from the experience. Today, I'm going to look back to three characters whom I played, characters I was excited about, characters who absolutely failed to work. Beyond just that, however, I want to talk about why they failed to work and what I might have done to overcome their innate problems and make them fun to play after all. These are points I've touched on before, definitely, but it never hurts to fit these things into an actual context.
Storyboard: Problem children
Sometimes you have a character concept that just doesn't quite work. We've talked about that before, at least in the context of trying to make sure your awesome new idea doesn't wind up on your list of discarded alts. But there are also times when the concept is problematic long before you get as far as playing. There are certain archetypes and ideas that just do not work for various reasons or that (at the very least) require your square-peg character to be shoved in the roundest of holes. The loner, of course, is the classic archetype that people love to play without its ever working correctly. It's hard to have a proper loner in an environment where socializing is necessary. But there are other problem types that aren't highlighted as often, sometimes because they're not as common, and sometimes because the people who want to play these concepts get very enthusiastic about them. Here, then, are some of the major problem children among character archetypes, as well as some suggestions about how to make them work right after all.
