09-08-2016, 12:56 PM
Good topic!
As a storyteller and long date roleplayer, I think a lot about this too. The way I see it is that yes, the tragedy isn't important, but it's not even necessary to know there's a tragedy either.
Think about it. In the real world two people meet for the first time, and the only thing they can get from each other is their personality as it appears on the surface. They don't know about each others' past or ideas. So, from an ideal point of view, while you should always start RPing with a background as much detailed as you can, you could keep it for yourself. Act coherently, never miss a cue, act as you would really act in real life: your background will slowly emerge for everyone to see.
Another problem is abusing the trope. True, everyone suffers at a point in their lives, whether for losing a loved one or for a broken leg. But you must be REALLY careful at crafting if you want to follow the tragedy route. Too many times tragedies bring a Mary Sue: a great, exaggerated suffering that brings to a huge trauma and then to an epic evolution. That’s because many players unfortunately think background is all it takes to make good RP, and make it soo much epic. False. It’s all in how you play your character. Nobody actually cares if you brawled with a god or such.
That's bad play even when playing D&D. Most people, especially in our kind of setting, are normal people, who lived normal lives and expect to do so for long. "Tragedies" could mold a character's personality, give it some quirks or some peculiar ideas, but it should stop there. An example could be: “my wife died long ago, and I refuse to marry again”. Will it impact on the RP? Maybe. Most of the times not, but it may influence the way the character acts towards female characters, for example.
There could be, actually, no tragedy at all. Why there should be one? Why can’t your character be a bouncy, ever-happy optimist? Maybe your expectations will be crushed and THEN there will be good RP.
As a storyteller and long date roleplayer, I think a lot about this too. The way I see it is that yes, the tragedy isn't important, but it's not even necessary to know there's a tragedy either.
Think about it. In the real world two people meet for the first time, and the only thing they can get from each other is their personality as it appears on the surface. They don't know about each others' past or ideas. So, from an ideal point of view, while you should always start RPing with a background as much detailed as you can, you could keep it for yourself. Act coherently, never miss a cue, act as you would really act in real life: your background will slowly emerge for everyone to see.
Another problem is abusing the trope. True, everyone suffers at a point in their lives, whether for losing a loved one or for a broken leg. But you must be REALLY careful at crafting if you want to follow the tragedy route. Too many times tragedies bring a Mary Sue: a great, exaggerated suffering that brings to a huge trauma and then to an epic evolution. That’s because many players unfortunately think background is all it takes to make good RP, and make it soo much epic. False. It’s all in how you play your character. Nobody actually cares if you brawled with a god or such.
That's bad play even when playing D&D. Most people, especially in our kind of setting, are normal people, who lived normal lives and expect to do so for long. "Tragedies" could mold a character's personality, give it some quirks or some peculiar ideas, but it should stop there. An example could be: “my wife died long ago, and I refuse to marry again”. Will it impact on the RP? Maybe. Most of the times not, but it may influence the way the character acts towards female characters, for example.
There could be, actually, no tragedy at all. Why there should be one? Why can’t your character be a bouncy, ever-happy optimist? Maybe your expectations will be crushed and THEN there will be good RP.