Character Weaving

1. Character Weaving

   #1

   When you read a story or see a movie, how often are the characters just there, with no attachment or place in the world or the other characters in the setting?
   
   The answer you are looking for is basically "NEVER".
   
   Writers know that audiences won't believe characters that are just "plopped" into the world. Things and people need to come from some where and have a reason to do the things they do. (Even amnesiacs soon find a place int he world, being the exceptions to the general rule).
   
   Most players are reasonably good about creating a character conception and history, no matter how lame. It is easier to play a character when you have a strong background behind it and most players like making play and roleplay easier, so they make characters with a strong conception and history. Yet often these stories do not have any attachment to the world around them.
   
   It is always best to make a character part of the game world, weaving them into the tapestry of the background story. Players should talk with the GM about elements in the game world that the character could have a connection to: recent history, NPCs, organizations, other characters, or even just random things. Form a connection to these things and the character is connected to the world. This helps better define the character and gives the player/ character more options in play.
   
   
   Now, when you read a story or see a movie, how often do a group of four to six total strangers, with little to no knowledge of each other, get thrusted together to do something and work together well if they had all been part of a well oiled machine?
   
   The answer you are looking for is basically "NEVER".
   
   So why do we accept this in games? They are supposed to be inspired by literature and action/adventure movies. Even video games have a back story explaining why the various characters are working together. No matter how flimsy, there is always a back story to make sense of things.
   
   Not so with game characters. In most cases, they are thrusted by fates into a group of complete strangers to face life and death risks. You would hate this in a movie, why accept it in a game?
   
   So where is your group's backstory?
   
   Some players will say, "Well, they are PCs", so they will interact with characters that normally they would of ignored or run away from. The PC halo is a hackneyed game concept that says, if it is PC you are supposed to embrace other PCs, no matter how weird, lame, or dangerous, the character is. (The concept of halo came from the little bright ring that surrounded characters you were specifically using in early computer RPGs, much like the green polyhedron in a sims game or the gold circle at the feet of a character in most modern games).
   
   Players really want stories, though they will often settle for less. However, if they want a story that includes their characters, they should work with the GM to make it happen.
   
   First and foremost, they need to have a "Group". To make a group, there needs to be some kind of relationship between the members. The Character must be weaved together, not only weaved into the tapestry of the world, but into the tapestry of the group.
   
   Now for players: to help the campaign story along, work with the other players when you create your characters. Find a connection, something in the characters' mutual past that links the characters together. When did they first meet? Did they work together? Did they grow or attend school/ training academy together? Do they have a mutual friend? Was one character the best friend of another's older sibling? Did they meet once at a party? The more connections and history a character has with the other characters, the easier it will be to play with those characters. Your character will have a reason to work with the other character, rather than the lame.. "well he is a PC".
   
   The GM should always be involved in character creation. Not only will they supply information about the world, but they are a source of ideas about characters as well. They can make sure each character has a protected nitch and that ever character will have something to do in the campaign.
   
   One other thing they can do is run mini-weaving scenes: Players play out or narrate scenes between their characters at sometimes in their histories. This gives them a chance to practice their characters and develop a mutual history.
   
   The various weaving process gives the troop reasons to be together, some depth to their relationships, and the chance for the group to work out who does what, in addition to adding depth to the character's history and the GM's world. The GM should work with the players to see how the characters are woven together.

2. Character Weaving

   #2

   Let me first put forward that for many parts I do agree with moonhunter that very often players just tag along with each other because they happen to be PC's.
   
   On the other hand, I have to say that seeing the processes going on in the game I happen to DM, there is more to this.
   
   Two of my players know each other of old, they are friends from way back. One is a barbarian, the other a "borrowing person". When they wanted to set out to go goblin hunting, a cleric joined them. The barbarian went down quickly and was healed by the cleric. No wonder that the Barbarian did like the Cleric after that.
   The cleric had little reason to trust the barbarian, until the barbarian bashed down some goblins that nearly killed the cleric.
   
   Oke, the thief and cleric have little reason to trust each other, but they still have the linking pin of the barbarian. At any rate, the barbarian and thief like each other very much, so the thief will without a doubt trust the cleric, after saving her friend the barbarian.
   
   In short: often eppic things happen when player characters meet. These things would in real life often be the reason for life long friendship and trust beyond the grave.
   
   The only point is: often there is little reason to team up in the first place, but once the first hurldes have been taken, there often is little reason not to trust the rest, at least during battle.

3. In the best of possible worlds...

   #3

   In the best possible world, players will work together to make the group cohesive.
   
   Unfortunately, we do not live in the best possible world.
   
   Your players understand. They need to have that motivative connection between the characters. They have made the decisions and responses to create that connection in play.
   
   Most players don't. This causes friction in the game and struggles that take away the game.
   
   Players should plan the connection between the characters (even if that connection is an advisarial ones (like Spock and Bones in Star Trek or Dr.Who and Tristan (early on)) or will occur after the campaign starts. It is easier to set up pre-game connections for most players, so that is why I usually recommend that troupes set those up.
   
   Of course relationships change over time and in dramatic and stressful situations. These connections are not 'LOCKED IN STONE", but serve as the foundation for the relationship between the characters.

4. Character Weaving

   #4

   Some of my more memorable games are ones where each of us had to come up with a feasible back story and combine it with the others. We were mostly beginners at that time so we didn't do anything elaborate, we all grew up together of course and have known each other for a long time. A couple went off on little adventures but by the time our game started all the historys had us back at town. (Dragonlance type idea, we weren't horrible original but it was fun)
   
   Through these stories people had pet mice, stories of horribly embarassing encounters and such. The funniest part was that we actually had our PCs parents involved in it and one player's mom even bailed us out of jail when we just started out and were low on funds. So then we owed her for the bail and from then on we always put aside some of our treasure for a 'parent fund' that would go back to them.
   
   Point is, the backstory is fun especially if intertwined. Because we all had something invested in our history it became a central point of the entire game and led to many comical and character building points.
   
   "What would your mom say if she knew you were stealing?"
   "I'm telling your pa and he is going to whip you." etc.

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