Faults and RPG Sacrilege

[StripelessTiger]

Huge text wall inbound!

I encountered a situation much like this recently, where players feel like they have to be in total control of their character, but it can be handled well. Here is how.

Players tend to forget that the PC they are playing is not them and doesn't automatically adopt their way of thinking. Remind them that their actions should be logical when they have high reason, or emotional with high empathy. Get them to role-play the characters. If they aren't, then the Game Leader should try to describe the way your character is feeling to prompt the player to follow his character's personality.

Faults are a kind of mental weakness, and thusly if you are prone to Influence, then being privy to a scene of great sadness, the player can be stoic, but his character cannot. If, for example, they were going to not cry and walk away from the scene without showing empathy (maybe trying to keep their feelings contained so as to not show weakness to an NPC during a crucial scene) they should have to make a Test to see if they are overwhelmed by it and break down crying anyway.

If the player says his character is distraught and sheds a tear, no test is needed. But the GL shouldn't be afraid to tell a player how his character feels if they are not participating or trying to cheat the system.

Faults are not so much a puppeteer on the player's character, nor should they feel like it, but more of a guide to how to roleplay the character. The judge of the depth of need for a test or the infraction if failed needs to fit the narrative and personality of the character, not just be an outright "you can't do that". It is leading information to tell you how to act.

Here is my reasoning. The Sanity system is just as controlling. Scarring and Crises can make you unable to do certain actions. The player can act this out themselves, but they can't say that their character is not going to run away in fear (that's against the rules) but no one thinks twice about that. Faults are no different. Mechanic-wise it should be slightly softer than Sanity rules. The book states "they should remain rare and the leader can do without asking for such a roll if the players correctly portray their characters by themselves".

Seeing as this is a roleplaying game closer to its purest form than most are used to, players that are not used to it might find this vexing, however it is the same argument as a character being able to solve something outside the game, but having to play as if their character is ignorant to this information in-game. If you don't know any Science, even if you have a PHD in Engineering IRL, you have to act as if your character won't know basic Science facts.

I personally tried to get a feel for each player's personality, making them make minor fault tests on many of their different Faults to get a feel for them and get them to get into the mindset of their character. Not every GL is going to do this. But, if the GL enforced the Fault rule, I don't find it sacrilege. The trick is, you have to convince the player of that. Some people can't accept that. If that's the case, eliminate the rule and play how you want. If you don't have a choice, then maybe craft a character that would do those things.

[Clovis]

Yours is a very adequate outlook on the game system, atmosphere, and player management. Faults are indeed something that PCs are meant to follow, and though they can create tensions if the players chomp at the bit, everyone should be reminded that such is the nature of their character, and that it is as much part of the PCs as their Domains or Health.

I would add that the first step to making sure Faults (or any other part of the character) won't create problems is, from creation, to be as transparent with the player as possible. Remind them what high and low Ways mean, and what their Disadvantages will entail. And of course, remind them that the purpose of a role-playing game is to depict one's character and to have them go through interesting, gripping, dramatic events, not to "win the game" by having the strongest, meanest, baddest PC!

[StripelessTiger]

At the very least, I try to be accommodating.

Min-maxers, trying to cheat the system, meta-gaming....these elements kind of ruin the experience for me. At the very least, if you can't resolve the issue with the player(s) - punish them by not allotting much XP for the roleplaying segment of the session.

I kid, I kid.