AT the absolute opposite end is the guys that can play anything. They adapt the traits of their character while playing. These guys enjoy RPG not for the dice rolling, but for the acting. The story participation. When I GM, I want at least one of these Role-Players there. They help to keep the creative juices flowing. The interaction they cause and keep going between other player characters and NPC's make any session enjoyable. As a player with one of these guys there the GM has taken on the role of mediator between us the his gaming world.
I see three levels of gamers that participate in RPG.
1. The dice roller. Let me role the dice and kill something.
2. The powergammer. Let me role the dice and be the strongest character
around.
3. The role player. Let me be an actor and play this character.
Robert H. Wolfe
>Not me. With one or two (okay, exactly two) Elves suck as PCs in my
>experience. Some of the new speculation in the Digest may help, but
>they tend to have the same problem as RQ2 trolls. Eventually, they all
>end up looking exactly the same. (Wood Lord, Arrow Trance, Elf Bow
>mastery. Yawn)
I started playing RQII in 1982 with an Elf. This character never became a powerful warrior/elf in a party of warrior humans. He was a traveling entertainer. I keep the skills of war secondary to the pleasure of song, music, and dance. When other characters finally made Rune level my character mastered Dance. The goal of this character was not to be a Elven powerhouse of bow and arrow.
The best non-human character I have had the pleasure Gaming has been Blake "I'm not a Black Fang Assassin" Duck. The player went from urban scout (read thief) to trickster. When ever Blackie was around events were unpredictable. The uniqueness brought into the sessions by an intelligent Duck was great. They player realized that the Ducks were a comedy relief, and provided just that. Blackie was the longest running character I have ever GM'd. He outlasted almost every kind of character, not through combat skills, but through role-playing value.
As for Robert's comment that all Elves eventually look the same, I could make the same comment about Wind Lords. (Several Thunderbolts, Master of Bastard Sword 1H and Shield, and several summon and command Sylph).
I don't mean to offend anyone. However, telling me that I am wrong to ROLE-PLAY a non-human is crazy. I am into RPG for the fun of it. If my players and I have fun playing an Elf, Troll, Dwarf, or Duck, then we will do so. What we need to play these characters is a source of information about their culture and mindset. We need the background to turn a piece of paper into a three dimensional character. All we want to do is have fun.
Jim
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #322
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