>> That is, that when you take a campaign premise and design a >> character for it, what that character will be doing for most >> of their time in the near future is something you're interested >> in playing.
Jeff Richard
> Jane, I'm not entirely sure that's fair. The idea is that what the
> character will be doing for most of the "on-screen" time is
> something you're interested in playing. Look at the Icelandic
> sagas - lots of great stuff is going on. But also, a lot of time
> passes. Do we focus on most of Njal's year - spent farming and
> herding and dealing with family stuff? No - most of that goes
> on "off-story". The narrator makes us aware that is going on and
> occasionally even works it into the plot.
Actually the Icelandic sagas take the opposite turn: "This summer he went raiding in Ireland. The following winter..."
Personally, I'm used to short times on-stage and longer periods off-stage. If you play a character interested in horse-breeding (as a wealthy steadholder) it might be fun to have him sit through the pregnancy and birth of his prize mare - once - but when it comes to crossbreeding two exotic races with local stock, playing by the day makes this occupation a waste of hero points.
I'm much in favour of adding to the backstory with a couple of simple or extended contests to introduce new contacts, allies and villains during a period of normal life. While the late 1980ies "Central Casting" booklets went way over the top with their backstory rolling, it makes the start of the scenario a lot easier when the person with the dubious mission has been around under normal conditions for a while.
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