Character Defining Goals

[Kunren]

Something every player eventually begins to take a look at, usually around the time surviving becomes a matter of course and not a constant struggle, is that of character defining goals.

These are dreams, aspirations, things you'll spend hundreds of hours of roleplay plotting and maneuvering towards.

But I think the average person can save themselves a lot of heartache and headache by taking some time to consider what these goals might mean within the meta-context of a persistent mud world.

Let's take a look at a few common ideas:

1. Faction Leadership: "I want to be the head of C city/guild/army/association! I'll be the boss, and begin to make major changes in accordance with my own personal spin on things!"

The issue that comes with this one is that we don't actually really want players to be the one in that position. You don't have the time to be doing the paperwork or managing of that position while adventuring around or crafting things, and you don't have a line of communication with all the NPCs you'd theoretically be in charge of.

In the end, change should be a slow process driven by player actions, but as a consequence of them, not directly in the hands of those players.

This isn't to say you can't make this your characters dream regardless, just that it probably won't happen while they're a PC!


2. Philosophical Change: "The church of light is actually a static structure holding back progress in society! Nethrim are misunderstood and necromancy is perfect for civil engineering! Canim are the next step in evolution and the infested are a hive mind of sentient life that just needs to be properly communicated with!"

These things are all fine for a character to have as a personal opinion. Perhaps even fine for them to convince their friends and loved ones of, both player characters and npc. But having these ideas spread as a real belief among the average populace as a character goal is going to be an excercise in frustration because if any of these sorts of ideas were to actually come to pass the overall theme of the game would change in a way that would be impossible to fix, and it wouldn't be CLOK anymore.

3. Invention of Note: "I'll be the first to invent a way to cobble together magic and clockwork! I'll invent a new form of martial arts that mixes sorcery and barehanded combat into a deadly swirl! I'll carve out rifling on the barrel of all the guns in Shadgard to maximize their aim and move us into a new stage of industry!"

This sort of thing runs into similar issues as the previous-a new invention of note has a chance of breaking the status quo, which we ideally want to maintain as much as possible while telling our stories within the bounds of the world provided.

In addition to that, this runs into a secondary problem-everyone wants to be a unique inventor of some amazing new thing, but while they can roleplay out hundreds of hours of effort the real effort is sitting square on the GM's shoulders to both balance and code your new creations, which may never actually happen.




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So! What should you do, if you aren't aiming to be a leader of a massive organization, a philosophical revolutionary, an inventor who will reshape the face of technology, magic, and history?


It's a complex question, and depends on your goals. Try to aim for something that allows you to explore the same concepts as stated above in ways that don't send out ripples throughout the game world's status quo, but instead through that of the playerbase!

Want to be a leader of an organization? Make one! Become the new founder of the Undying Tea Party Coalition, and recruit new player characters to join your ranks! You'll be small in scope, but fully able to make decisions and do things, and drive roleplay and engagement as well!


Want to explore interesting philosophical twists on the common beliefs of the lost lands? Why not set up debates! Slap down notes on bulletin boards calling out those who oppose your views, and go into structured arguments against your opposers. No sweeping changes throughout the lost lands, but you can thoroughly test your skills in changing the minds of your fellow players!

Want to invent something brand new? Perhaps look into more artistic means! A book of ideas made and written by yourself and shared to every public and personal library, or a series of songs and poetry written and produced by you that might catch on with other players, or a new form of tests of might and skill that you can use to track who's truly the most grand among your friends!


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I don't make this post because I don't want people to avoid 'serious' character concepts and goals, but I do want people to consider less change oriented perspectives on the wide scale. If people disagree, please feel free to explain your perspectives below!

[artus]

It was all of this combined that was a problem in pretty much every rp mud, the boundless boundary unspoken, untold, unenforced and unwarned by anyone. I can simply be thankful that you have spoken about it at last, as a reminder, as a whatever people might need to realize sooner or later, hopefully before they go too far in their ambition.

[Ninetales16]

this is a very interesting and thought provocking subject, and it has made me put some actual thought in what my character goals are, long term. thank you for adressing things such as these! hopefully, they should give people a more reliable way to engage with others in player driven roleplay.

[Sneaky]

I believe characters should be free to have high aspirations. Players should manage their own expectations though. For example, I have a character who's goal it is to create some way for her to fly. Once the crafting system picks up, it'll be why she's pulled towards certain professions. Will a flying machine schematic just pop into their recipe list one day? Most likely not, and I don't expect one to. Still, it's what drives her long term. It's not the only thing though, which is also important. I think if you just limit your character to what's available in game and can be expected, it's not going to be a very fulfilling experience. That's just my opinion.

[Rias]

This is some good general advice, thanks for sharing it and getting some discussion going. Your character can have the loftiest goals imaginable (immortality/ascension is a fun one), but as a player it's good to have a goal for your character that you OOCly know can be believably achieved in the game, even if only potentially and without guarantee.

Forming groups and causes is a really good one. Don't forget that we have Companies (see the COMPANY command) that players can form and recruit other players to on their own! Seeing some of these get going enough that they can start seeing some more recognition by towns and NPCs and whatnot is a really fun concept both from the player side and from the GM side. If it meshes well enough with a town, a Company might even be offered their own little facility or something someday, though this shouldn't be considered a guarantee or a requirement when forming a Company. If you want a Company to get really big, try to pick something that is likely to be supported by other players as well! Remember that PCs can be in as many Companies as they want, there's no limit there.

I think a lot of people feel like they want to leave some kind of lasting, observable mark on the game, and that's certainly potentially achievable. But it's also good to keep some practical limits in mind. Town improvements is one thing that comes up often, and even that is often tricky. As some examples of changes that have been brought about by player character actions, we've got the Shadgard orphanage, the Shadgard bathhouse, sinks in the infirmaries, Corvus's new gardener and courtyard flora, and the refurbished Party Pavilion dance floor. How it can be tricky however, is that we want to keep a specific setting and aesthetic going in these survivor enclaves out here in the scary Lost Lands.

- If there's a run-down ramshackle church, most likely it's not that way as an opportunity to be fixed, but rather to convey something through its state and appearance. Perhaps the church is so run-down to show that it doesn't get a lot of support in the local community, or maybe they've got more pressing concerns than making sure their meetinghouse is fancy. Whatever the case, there's a reason it's not presented as a grand cathedral, and renovating it into one would completely change the feeling of it and the world around it.

- The seedy tavern sells some questionable refreshment not because they're just waiting for someone to give them fancier recipes or better cooking facilities, but because it's a seedy tavern and being a seedy tavern is its whole thing! "Fixing" it and trying to get it renovated into a fancy five-star restaurant would completely alter its feeling and its impact on the location's deliberate presentation as a not-so-great part of the game world.

- The Shadgard Party Pavilion is just a janky pavilion with some crates stuck together to form a stage and some wood dancing tiles because that's the sort of feel you should be getting from this post-apocalyptic quarantine zone survivor town, and it would be a very different (and unintended) feel if they instead had some big grand fancy ballroom with chandeliers and pianos.

- The Corvus Outpost is a spooky crumbling outpost full of nethrim because that's its whole intended vibe! It's meant to pique curiosity over what the place once was before it fell into disrepair and how it got filled with nethrim, and it's supposed to feel like a scary place to be a part of. Gentrifying it would drastically alter its feeling, and the local nethrim likely won't stand for anyone attempting that again, anyway.

As a conclusion to the above rambling: Even when it comes to things that feel more practical and achievable such as town improvements, it's good to remember that the game has a deliberate setting feel and vibe and we don't want that to be changed or "fixed" on a significant scale. The current game setting and feel is what it is on purpose!

[artus]

I'd really love it if this topic could be pinned somewhere as a reminder for newbies and experienced players alike who would like reminders or guidelines of sort when making and rolling with chars. Ambitians can get out of hand quick if nothing is done about it on a player conscious level. The whole point is that you do what you as players know should be in the scope of the game, keep it that way while leaving your mark or enjoying yourself or making mischief or doing whatever and that's pretty much all it takes for the chars to get going.

[Jaster]

Personally, I'm looking forward to rebuilding my firestone collection.