(05-25-2015, 01:03 AM)Hammersmith Wrote: Anything more means you're either being a jerkwad or you're running a story for other people.
One is alright.
The other means you should probably stop RPing
It's true, running a story is exhausting work and I don't recommend it to anybody, so please stop if you're doing so.
Jerkwadism is fine, though, and I've found that my antagonistic characters work best when they are jerkwads. To take it a step further, though, they work best when they are not interesting or stylish jerkwads.Â
This is the great contradiction I see with players trying to make antagonistic characters: They want to make their characters be antagonistic, but then do things that undermine their ability to do so. One of these is taking the oft-given and oft-misguided advice that a villain's motives should be understandable in some way, in order to allow the audience to relate to them. I understand the intent - making your character something to whom your audience can relate would seem, in theory, to put the protagonists in a moral quandary somehow. In practice, it results in a great deal of Draco in Leather Pants* and the character's slow degrading from antagonist to just another person.
The other problem I see is what happens when players try to make their antagonists interesting by making them cool. They get witty one-liners and nice-looking outfits and suitably impressive backstories. All of this only accelerates the problem above. In order to run an effective antagonist for any length of time, you will need to make players want to RP with you with the goal of "I want to see that sonovabitch dead" rather than "This guy is so compelling! Give me more!" And that means as few cool bits as possible.Â
*I hate referencing TVTropes in any circumstance, but for once the term applies.
Verad Bellveil's Profile | The Case of the Ransacked Rug | Verad's Fate Sheet
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
