Compare and contrast...

[annwfyn]

Today I am pondering role playing.

Specifically, I'm pondering the extent to which role playing is reflective of reality and to what extent it is purely reflective of a cinematic or epic reality. When we role play characters are we actually role playing real people or are we role playing creatures which can only exist within the context of a game?

I'm writing this having played in two games over the last couple of nights. Thursday night pierot and I played a Dathomir Witch and an alien cat in vilenspotens's Star Wars game - twas a catch up session prior to the main game. Friday night pierot ST'd and ksirafai and I played ourselves in jez's occasional 'play yourself' game.

On Thursday night T'Venn (my witch) and Bobask (the cat) found themselves stranded on Corellia as all hell broke loose around them. Bobask conned a major criminal syndicate out of several million credits, T'Venn terrified the lot of them with a combination of telekinesis and a pet rancor, and we wound up in epic light sabre combat with Luke Skywalker.

On Friday night Ginnie and Sally found themselves stranded on a strange alternate world. They managed to cash a cheque, possibly defrauding a bank somewhere, and found a youth hostel to sleep while they tried to find out where they were, work out what was going on and panicked quite a bit.

T'Venn and Bobask had a wide range of skills. Bobask has a pair of vibro axes, amazing willpower and is close to invulnerable when hit by other combatents. T'Venn can unleash lightning from her fingertips and make people fall over and die with the power of her mind.

Sally and Ginnie...erm...well...we had a cheque book. We managed to think on our feet and get a Lonely Planet equivelent to work out some basic facts about this world. If we got into a fight we'd fall over and die. I can drive a car. Ginnie can't. Let's not talk about any other form of transport.

In Lee's game our role playing characters got most of the way across the universe while battling enemies. In jez's 'play yourself game' Ginnie and I bimbled about a bit and got a bit lost.

Why is there such a major difference? Is it that in role playing games we chose to play the exceptional, the spectacular, the adventurous? Are there people in this world who would respond as quickly and as dramatically as rpg characters do? Is it that most role playing characters are, after all, interacting with their own world and if Ginnie and I had had hell unleash around us in our world we'd have reacted much more competently? Is it that we don't actually role playing realistic people in games? Would we want to?

Why is there such a dramatic difference between two girls in their twenties getting into an incredible situation in a game firmly based in reality (it was me and Ginnie playing ourselves) and the other people I've played and I've been getting into incredible situation in games?

Opinions?

Comments

[bringeroflight.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on the game. For example, 7th Sea basically says "Not much realism here, please buckle your swash and go heroic" while Call of Cthulu goes "this is relatively realistic, and you are fighting horrible odds. This means you'll probably die. Tough. That's what happens when normal people fight horrible odds..."

Roleplay can be either. It is quite often more into the less realistic because people enjoy the escapism.