RE: (TFT) Personality Facets

[Todd Archer <todda39@hotmail.com>]

Oh, yes; something like pg. 7 would work for someone who has absolutely no clue about what to do for a personality.

Re. the common case: well, that's what an observant GM's for.

Interesting that you should mention GURPS' use of personality traits like that (they have their problems, too, which were addressed quite nicely in the first compendium by creating a rule a la Hero Games' way of dealing with personality).  Red Lion, the original (?) creator of Ars Magica had an interesting mechanic to give teeth to personality: give the PC some points to use as adds for certain personality traits eg likes to gamble +2 or cowardly +1; whenever it looked as though those traits might be expressed to the PC's detriment, a d10 was rolled and the number added to it.  If the sum equalled or exceeded another number (10, IIRC), the trait manifested. Of course, these traits could also be altered over time, showing a changing personality.

----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:09:31 -0700
> From: pvk@oz.net
> To: tft@brainiac.com
> Subject: RE: (TFT) Personality Facets
>
> I take it as a way to present roleplaying to new players, with a little bit of optional structure to support it. The random table is clearly (to me, anyway) just there as "training wheels" or a toy if players need or want it to get started with the idea that a character might have a personality that is different from whatever the player's imagination and will come up with.
>
> Consider the common case where a player plays a character one way most of the time, but then when a gamey situation occurs where it would be advantageous or safer to do something the player wants to do that the character wouldn't, without some reminders or structure in place, the player might choose to do what the player wants even though it isn't what the character would do.
>
> When starting to learn what roleplaying games are, many new players will not have any idea about playing in character, and ITL pg.7 is an intro to this.
>
> Not something veteran players need to use.
>
> In GURPS however there are character traits that are very detailed and have some of the strongest effects on defining who a character is and what they do, etc. q.v.
>
> PvK
>
> --- todda39@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> From: Todd Archer 
> To: 
> Subject: RE: (TFT) Personality Facets
> Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:35:28 -0400
>
> But those listed in on pg. 7 aren't alignments: they're personality traits, something very different from the idea of alignment as described in OD&D/AD&D.
>
> Personality traits are far more specific than alignments when it comes to PCs' actions, which might cause trouble if someone rolls a "negative" personality trait eg cowardly (or even a positive one eg if you're "Very Brave", you should be the one ready to hold your ground against the Big Monster, buying time while the rest of the party retreats). Aside from the oddness of rolling for a personality to begin with (why do this when a PC wants to play his PC a certain way?), it's too restrictive.
>
> Alignments in OD&D/AD&D are general enough that the PC has ample room inside them to play the alignment a certain way (and they can move about somewhat as well, which is quite realistic), so you can have a cowardly lawful good (prefers working in a group for a common weal but folds often when physically threatened) or a brave chaotic evil (prefers working by himself to get what he wants to do done without flinching).
>
> Todd
> ----------------------------------------
>> From: Maou_Tsaou@charter.net
>> To: tft@brainiac.com
>> Subject: (TFT) Personality Facets
>> Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:42:03 -0700
>>
>> I constantly forget pg. #7 of ITL... quite frankly I simply don't use it.
>> For 'Players' anyway...
>>
>> IMHO
>>
>> Concepts of "alignment" are better applied to "socieities" or "cultures"
>> rather than individuals.
>> Individual reactions are more infulenced by the alignment of their culture.
>>
>> Discuss...
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