How do you guys go about wearing your experience?

[Zelmanov]

My character is entering his 2nd year of RP, and he's been busy. Started initially as a middle of the road character who could just as easily oscillate between antagonist and protagonist, the people he came into contact shaped him to being more moderate and accepting, instead of an Ishgardian Zealot is he's a reformist ready to lay his life on the line for a new Ishgard as opposed to just death to all dragons and heretics.

 

And that's just character development, events wise he commanded one of the many platoons at the Steps of Faith, was part of the expeditionary force to The Churning Mists. Helped overturn a heretic plot in Ul'dah (player event). Played guard escort through Dravania into the hinterlands to raid the great gubal library and I even wagered my character's life in perma-death possible events.

 

And yet, I'm not sure how to properly convey these experiences to fresh faces without becoming an expositron 5000 with every new encounter (which is something I desperately avoid). So I guess I want to ask you guys, how exactly do you give off an air of experience? Of being around the block? 

 

It goes a bit into that dodgy area of desired character perception vs others' actual perception of your character,  but perhaps there are some tips for it?

 

To be clear, its not that I desire "fame" in as much that people should cower in fear or swoon at the mention of his name.

[Gegenji]

I don't know if it helps much but... I find that referencing stuff you have done in passing in comments or emotes helps build up a feel of experience. Or at least helps add some extra level of context. Obviously don't just spiel everything all at once, but dropping some knowledge here and there can't hurt.

 

For example, Chachan was taught some by Sei on how to fight someone with a spear. Then, in the Grindstones afterward, I would drop mention here and there of him doing something based off what he had been taught. For example: "sidling alongside the shaft of the spear, drawing in close as he was taught."

 

If it's fitting for your character, you can even make mention of things you've done if they're related to the conversation at hand. "I haven't been in Gridania since Byregot's Pilgrimage down in the South Shroud" or even "Watch your step around here, my unit had to fend off a group of Dravanians here; they might have come back 'round to reclaim the territory."

 

... So, basically at points where it feels appropriate to make reference to the experience is the best time to wear it. Or something. Works for me, at least. :blush:

[Nebbs]

Well I would first go back to those events and work out what his experience was make them tough, pull out the regrets and the losses, make them anything but heroic.

 

Then you can talk about them as gritty and real, get across that you are an ordinary person pushed into extraordinary circumstances.

 

You can always down shift the experiences too.

 

Your perma-death play is kind of irrellavent IC, so maybe make that near death misses?

 

Also, heroes & villains are in the eye of the beholder not the hero them self. So don't even think hero, think bloody lucky messed up person and let other players decide for them self.

 

So in short, play a person and let others decide. Play it convincingly and they will even buy your claims. And take time, to layer it.

 

I hope that helped.

[S'imba]

The first thing to remember is you can't force someone's character to perceive your character how you want them to. I've seen it a lot...such as someone getting upset because people don't bow down to their character because they are of noble blood. So you can't really force people to accept your character as experienced. 

That being said there are things you can do to give your character credibility. A lot of it parallels real life. You've got to show you're experienced, otherwise people are just going to treat it as talk. 

 

While S'imba is by no means experienced or some awesome bad ass, he tries to help people. Some of these people he has assisted in the past however tend to speak very highly of him...a couple tending to over exaggerate events. One such individual that thought so highly of him that she would tell every man she met how they fell short of how awesome S'imba was. Though with this standard set whenever they actually met him they tended to quickly see the truth that he was just an idiot of a kid who lived in a fantasy of being a hero. 

 

I feel that is the best way to get a sense of reputation is find people who can help spread it. Though admittedly that is far easier said than done. When you meet new people you're left with the option of your character being boastful of themselves or having an event occur that can actually show your character's experience.

[Sigil.9054]

I try to present it as naturally as possible through conversation. IE, Seldi will answer a question or explain things as they come up, but doesn't volunteer her life story otherwise (outside of amusing events that a particular situation might remind her of).

 

Yes, this means that finding out the details of Seldi's history will require long-term RP. I tend to prefer the chance of that not happening to an exposition dump, though.

[Branson Thorne]

As other have said it's the same as real life.

 

For instance, on the internet EVERYONE seems to be an expert in Martial Arts.

But unless someone actually speaks from experience you can usually tell when it's made up.

 

For Instance: Here we have 2 types of people both claiming to be in Martial Arts in some form or other.

 

Guy #1. First they start off by saying they are a blackbelt, and then that leads into how many fights they've been in, how many people's asses they've kicked and so on so forth. If it sounds like empty boasting, that's all it is.

 

Ask them to explain where their form came from, or to give you the Japanese/Chinese names of their techniques and you will most likely lose them instantly.

 

Guy #2. He can tell you that Aikido is a Japanese form of martial arts developed by Morihei Ueshiba (although I'm not exactly sure when.) which originally was deeply spiritual, translating to things like Unifying life energy.

 

Aikido is a lot of reflecting an opponents energy either away against him, or away from you. When asked about his form, he can then explain to you the roles of "uke" & "tori" and then explain to you that "kata-dori" is where you grab the shoulder. From there it can develop further into "kata-dori men-uchi" which basically means you grab the shoulder and strike to the face.

 

So when it's all said and done, which are you going to believe? Mister I can beat everyone up, or would you believe the guy that could go much deeper then I hit people?

 

So now lets apply that into RP purposes, which can be a lot more difficult.

In my opinion, the way to build up credibility is when these topics came up, put forth valuable pieces of info that show you was there for it. You led a platoon on Steps of Faith, don't expect people to think OMG he's so experienced, but rather let them taste the experience you saw. Mention details about the battle so on and so forth. I find that it builds a persona around your character a little better, and people will perceive you as such.

 

Sorry, this got really wordy.

 

TLDR: Portray your character is being there and having done those things, speak from experience about what happened and not just "Oh yeah I was there for that"

[Diskwrite]

This is something I prefer to let show organically. Age and the weight of combat experience shapes a person and how they comport themselves. So my two Duskwight siblings- Ojene, a 52-year-old war veteran; and Jophoix, her 21-year-old brother who has barely stood witness to any real combat in his life- approach people with a very different air.

 

When Ojene has occasion to talk about her experiences (and when she decides to share them, which isn't always...), she will. But she doesn't go into long explanations of her life very often.

 

Nonetheless, since I've got so much of it plotted out, it shapes how she interacts with people, and how she responds to things. It comes out, in subtle ways. I don't need to have her go on and on about all she's been through to give people the notion that she's been around the block a few times.

 

This isn't really the specific answer I think you were looking for, but I think portraying this sort of experience without beating your audience over the head of it is a subtle thing. If your character carries it around with them and it affects what they do, people can tell there's something more going on there... even if they don't know exactly what it is.

[Verad]

This depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to show that your character has changed in some way from what they once were, this can be shown by using incidental dialogue and actions to describe how they are no longer what they once were. Maybe they reflect on the changes and marvel at it. Maybe there are documents that show what they used to be, documents you can show players. There's options.

 

If your goal is to show that your character is in some way more powerful or dangerous than any other given character because of in-game RP and they should be respected for it . . . well, you can't. It might as well all be pre-written backstory from the perspective of a new player who's never met you before. and, indeed, one of the most obnoxious things I remember from freeform RP sites like Ayenee and Rhydin was the tendency of players to insist because the character had been played for X years and had all these cool abilities that they "earned" through RP, that I should respond to that accordingly. I am pretty willing to react as a player wants if they want to be seen as cool or witty or whatever, but doing so based on the argument of character longevity alone was one that never quite sat right with me.

[Hammersmith]

Have opinions.  Not about yourself, not about other people.  Have opinions about places and things in the setting.  Bring them out when that Opinion is relevant.

 

Have a stance to speak from, don't Just Be In the Moment.  Have a background that has specific things that can be dragged out when they're relevant.

 

Research what you're talking about before your open your mouth on it.  Experience is deferred to if you even -sound- like you know what you're talking about.  You don't even need a clip-board.  You can often get away with just wikipedia and the ability to reasonably apply what you're learning to what your char has gone through.

 

Have ties with other people.  Have ties to events in other people's lives.  Have events in your experiences that have a direct correlation with other people and their own opinions.

 

You don't need to be grim, you don't need to be dark.  

 

But no one will know there's a reason unless you let the reasons out, even in small doses.  No one's going to care about the carried weight unless you let them in to do it.

 

Use your experience to let people into the story.

[Mia Moui]

When my father was asked about his experiences in the Vietnam War, he summed it all up with, "I've seen some s---, man." 

 

And that was it.  I do know what some of that stuff was, his three best friends from HS all dying within weeks of arrival, his mental breakdown, going AWOL, serving time, becoming an alcoholic, losing his kids (me), and so forth.

 

"I've seen some s---, man," might not sum everything up in a neat bow but it's been my experience that the people who can't stop talking about it - never did it.  And the people who did it, don't want to talk about it.  If anyone asks Mia what it was like in the Coeurlclaw, she's not likely to talk about it.

 

But that's just my perspective on it.

[Aaron]

I only give it away if you ask or the situation requires it.

[111]

If your goal is to show that your character is in some way more powerful or dangerous than any other given character because of in-game RP and they should be respected for it . . . well, you can't. It might as well all be pre-written backstory from the perspective of a new player who's never met you before. and, indeed, one of the most obnoxious things I remember from freeform RP sites like Ayenee and Rhydin was the tendency of players to insist because the character had been played for X years and had all these cool abilities that they "earned" through RP, that I should respond to that accordingly. I am pretty willing to react as a player wants if they want to be seen as cool or witty or whatever, but doing so based on the argument of character longevity alone was one that never quite sat right with me.

 

I agree with this, but it does actually into play with FATE. Obviously people have to opt into the system, but new players are at a significant disadvantage compared to those with one or more campaigns under their belt. 

 

It's a bit of an issue with adding stats to RP, people like and want to feel progression, but it can also leave new people feeling cheated. I'm not sure of what the answer is.

[C'kayah Polaali]

If your goal is to show that your character is in some way more powerful or dangerous than any other given character because of in-game RP and they should be respected for it . . . well, you can't. It might as well all be pre-written backstory from the perspective of a new player who's never met you before. and, indeed, one of the most obnoxious things I remember from freeform RP sites like Ayenee and Rhydin was the tendency of players to insist because the character had been played for X years and had all these cool abilities that they "earned" through RP, that I should respond to that accordingly. I am pretty willing to react as a player wants if they want to be seen as cool or witty or whatever, but doing so based on the argument of character longevity alone was one that never quite sat right with me.

 

I agree with this, but it does actually into play with FATE. Obviously people have to opt into the system, but new players are at a significant disadvantage compared to those with one or more campaigns under their belt. 

 

It's a bit of an issue with adding stats to RP, people like and want to feel progression, but it can also leave new people feeling cheated. I'm not sure of what the answer is.

 

This should probably be split off into it's own thread. I'll say something about the OP's question after this.

 

This has always been a problem with progression pen and paper systems. It's typically handled by the DM specifying the power level of the game (i.e.: "This is a campaign for 5th level characters") or simply by the DM working with the same group all the time, so that they progress together.

 

For FATE, it's a little trickier since we've basically got a bunch of DMs with different events, running the same characters through it. I'm personally kind of tempted to say FATE characters shouldn't "progress", in the standard PnP level-up way. They can change, but they won't progress.

 

And this is where it starts heading back into the OP's question. I'll use my old character, C'kayah Polaali, as an example. He started out a scrappy smuggler with ties to a bunch of families in the Shroud, and gradually grew to become something of a capo, with a Syndicate charter to boot. This allowed him to really grow in power, and especially in wealth. This wasn't reflected in RP through me wandering around talking about how wealthy he was (well, it sort of was, in the sense that he was a big spender and would flaunt his wealth). It was reflected in the fact that a bunch of people knew who he was, and knew that he was someone they could go to if they needed something. In other words, it's not how he was presenting himself, it's how other people perceived him.

 

Back into the FATE thing: The standard progression strategy for dealing with this would say that his FATE sheet should add a high resources skill, which would power him up over where he was originally. What I'd suggest (and what I ended up doing on his FATE sheet) is to keep the point allocation the same, and reduce other things to make up for this. You could think of it like this: He used to be a really skilled archer, with a high archery skill. As his resources grew, his archery skill dropped, because he simply didn't have the time to keep it up.

 

I know doing something like that is a bummer to people who like to see their characters progress, but it does allow new people with established characters to join into the FATE RP scene without feeling like they're coming in at a disadvantage.

[Zelmanov]

While I am part of the FATE system, this question had come up prior and is independent from that.

 

in fact, with the FATE system I feel I have an /easier/ time showing experience because of the confidence that my character can approach a situation with, not only that, as far as I know, on Balmung, Fate is headed by Verad and those he deputizes so among that group, people involved in those campaigns tend to know eachother, even in passing. So the claims that can be made there are instantly substantiated as opposed to just being chucked up to mary/gary sue character creation.

 

That is a luxury not afforded in say, freeform rp done with strangers. It is a lot harder, I feel to make it sound like your character is a braggart rather than someone who is OOC'ly going "look how awesome my grognar the demonkiller is".

 

My character is far from a braggart however so I feel striking the balance is EVEN MORE important.

[Branson Thorne]

Ummm, what is this FATE thing y'all keep talking about?

[Coatleque]

I treat this as I would in real-life. When I meet someone new, I'm not going to give them a resume or list of all her past accomplishments. Coatleque is going to act as she acts at this point in time based on her experience and mood, and if the person likes her perhaps they'll find out more about her as time progresses.

[Aya]

Ummm, what is this FATE thing y'all keep talking about?

The Fate 14 system is a version of a system (I believe it is called Roll-20?) that Verad introduced to Balmung for the running of organized events

 

I am with C ("Setoh"), the topic deserves its own thread, and I agree with the idea that the Fate-14 characters should not gain power over time.

[Zelmanov]

yes please. let's rerail this thread, I care more about how each player goes about showing off their experience/resume in RP.

[Aya]

yes please. let's rerail this thread, I care more about how each player goes about showing off their experience/resume in RP.

I don't "show" it in any particular way.  It informs the characters psychology and dialogue, and that is really it.  I don't place much weight on capability (it should be plausible and fit the needs of the story).

 

(I suppose it does effect plausibility quite a bit! But I try not to think of things comparably because without a settled intermediating system that sort of fleshes it out, there's really little grounding for it beyond what I mentioned above.)

[Warren Castille]

I'm not sure there's a way to "show it off" really. There's demonstration, which will always have the risk of looking like making shit up, and there's showing off which will always look like waving your dick around.

 

Roleplay events affect people differently; Some characters might gradually open up as they become more confident, while others might slowly close themselves off in the face of the constant trials and tribulations that comes from being an adventurer. I suppose that's my answer then: You show off experience when you look at someone's growth arc over a period of time and see how they changed with the events that took place.

 

This is impossible with randoms.

[Aya]

I'm not sure there's a way to "show it off" really. There's demonstration, which will always have the risk of looking like making shit up, and there's showing off which will always look like waving your dick around.

 

Roleplay events affect people differently; Some characters might gradually open up as they become more confident, while others might slowly close themselves off in the face of the constant trials and tribulations that comes from being an adventurer. I suppose that's my answer then: You show off experience when you look at someone's growth arc over a period of time and see how they changed with the events that took place.

 

This is impossible with randoms.

Well said Warren.  Showing the effects of experience is very easy with people you interact with frequently, since the effect can be directly observed.

 

There is also story-telling, I suppose, but that can fall into either of the above categories

[111]

I base the capabilities of my characters on a sliding scale based on what the scene is about.

 

I tend to bow out to disputes, if someone claims to be a master Alchemist, I don't try to imply Evangeline is better, I just try to have her learn something.

 

I am cool with characters being more powerful than mine, trying to gain knowledge is always a good plot hook. On the other hand I'm just as on board with being knowledgeable on a subject.

 

One characters master is another's apprentice. 

 

That was all a bit rambling, but I would argue that everything is relative and try to see what seems appropriate for a scene.

[Caspar]

It's a tricky question for me, because Virara has lots of theoretical knowledge, being trained to an absurd degree, yet very little practical experience.

 

So if it's something she's trained to deal with, I play her as being calm, relaxed, and doing things almost as if they were unconscious. The same rote movements and training can just come out of her as if they were engraved within her from birth, whether it's fighting or menial labor like field work and lifting heavy objects. It's unusual for me to play a character who is so pointedly *not* mental about how she does things, but Virara is also one of the more extremely specialized characters I've played. I play her as subtly curious and almost childlike when dealing with things she doesn't understand, and very professional and mature when her training and experience should show through. So far it's done a decent job of demonstrating my character's strong areas and weak areas to other players; nobody is every really confused about what Virara's good at, and she tends to get respect from others easily due to my extra research and a few in-character achievements. But most importantly, it's the result of playing with people willing to work with my character concept and who felt they could have fun playing up Virara as competent and effective at what she does, not so much at things she doesn't regularly do.

 

As an example, one event that helped me build her reputation as being knowledgeable about at the very least the theory behind fighting was a time when Virara explained the Japanese martial arts concept of sen (Initiative, sort of) to some other characters. I used the difference in tone and her vocabulary, her body language and demeanor to show that she was in her comfort zone, and the details of the actual researched discussion material to help lend weight to her experience.

[Oli!]

Just be insightful. If people are stuck, offer advice that they don't have. If someone is having a problem, help talk them through it.

 

I don't even play up Ada as being experienced, and people believe her to be more experienced or older than she is ICly, because of her insight and demeanor.

[Masaki Moui]

That one line from writing stands out here for me: Show don't tell. So how do you show experience without showing off?

 

To demonstrate a level of mastery, you could turn to a principle found in developmental psychology which studied how older people do things with economy of energy or movement compared to younger or greener individuals. You know that funny slogan that runs like, 'Youth and energy are no match for age and treachery?' That's a cheeky version of what I'm talking about. A veteran at something will accomplish a task with more economy of motion or energy than the inexperienced person alongside him. The older or more experienced person has, well, experience in a discipline and that experience translates into knowing how to cut the right corners for efficiency, or save on expenditures, or get to point A faster and by using less resources etc etc.

 

Simple real world example here: The way I grocery shop (in real life) now is so much more efficient than I did when I was twenty. I really know now, after 20 years of experience with the amount of foodstuffs, with cooking, or prices, how much I can afford to put into a single shopping trip and make a buck really last.

 

Or if you've been in the construction trade for 20 years, one glance at a wall and you'd know 1) how it was put together and 2) how well it was put together and 3) how you'd probably have done it differently but maybe not necessarily better.

 

So that's my secret I guess and it's what I try to apply to a character in game, but in relation to their own progress bar, not in response to anyone else's. My character may look back 2 years into the game and realize he can sew a talisman with less thread or other materials far easier than he once could. He may compare old work to new work, perhaps things take less time, but his consideration of these factors turns inward, not outward, unless ...

 

The character's with a group that has come alongside them in common adventures. How I portray Masaki to random strangers and how I portray him to the other characters in my weekly game group are quite different because of this. So it's different though with different crowds of people.

 

If it's my gaming group, when I feel Masaki's "leveled-up" I spend time in OOC dialog talking about it with the group and coming to a shared consensus. Otherwise you've got a reality bubble clash between what they expect and what you expect. I realize that this doesn't quite fall into the subject header of "how do you wear your experience" but it is vital to being allowed to wear it freely and comfortably so I kinda want to add it here. It helps to talk to your people if you have them and get on the same page. And sometimes you don't even need to do this but it never hurts to engage in that process anyway.

 

With walk-ups, I don't know actually. It's so rare that I engage in walk-up roleplay and I treat walk-up roleplay these days really differently than I once did, precisely because it is freeform roleplay and I can't do much about another person's preconceptions or projections and so on. So what I do in these situations is what I mentioned above - I keep the display of progress always internally measured so that it doesn't feel as if I'm showing off. Masaki, for example, may notice that his talismans are using less thread compared to ones he made at 18 and honestly if anyone takes that as bragging, that's a real stretch. I purposefully make it a minor (or highly relative) observation so that it can't become a pissing contest even if I'm only using my own internal gauge.

 

So yeah, for me it's 'how does the character realize that they've finally embraced that cheeky 'age and treachery' which has bested their previous 'youth and energy'?'