Nature

[phoenix]

I've noticed that even when I have a crystal-clear idea of a character's personality and goals, I have a lot of trouble picking out a Nature for them. I 've come to the conclusion that this is a flaw in the system, and not in me (hey, I'm a critic, what can I say? ::wink ). In my opinion, only a highly two-dimensional person/character could be buttonholed into a single Nature. Most of the Natures given in the books and Player's Guides are just personality traits that start with capital letters. For example, I'm a fairly talented leader when I put my mind to it, but I also have trouble resisting challenges of any kind, opportunities to make jokes or show off, the opportunity to help someone who deserves it, or the opportunity to learn something new. Already that puts me in Leader, Bravo, Jester, Gallant, Caregiver, and Explorer. If I had a book in front of me, I could probably think of more. Besides, don't you ever wake up and just feel like building something that'll last forever, or like taking risks?

[madcat82]

The problem i have is how to get willpower otherwise?

I suppose that you could have a system where when one deals with his or her problems they regain willpower, when they rest or when they have a particularaly good time...

Any suggestions?

[phoenix]

Well, how about this: when you first create a character, you get WP every time you do something that establishes your character's personality and nature. After a while, your character's personality is established, and you get WP whenever you do something that either seems "in character" for him or represents his nature evolving or maturing in some way.

Does that make sense, or should I try to give an example or something? ::unsure

It's definitely an intuitive sort of system to use (at best) but I think it works better.

[madcat82]

I have a small problem with this, since it is not a characters personality that "generates" wp, but what reinforces her selfestime (this is at least the way I have understood it, witch might be faulty since its 02:42 here and I have been coding Java for 8 hours straigth).

Good ide thought, might work as an exchange for nature XP...

[Heritage]

Personally, I liked the way they used to do it in WoD, with both a Nature (your inner self) and a Demeanor (the face you presented to the world) - still not perfect, but better than the old D&D alignment system for helping you get a handle on your character's personality. But as a way to reclaim lost WP? That's a bit more problematic for me.

Well, how about this: when you first create a character, you get WP every time you do something that establishes your character's personality and nature. After a while, your character's personality is established, and you get WP whenever you do something that either seems "in character" for him or represents his nature evolving or maturing in some way.

This might work, I suppose - so basically the ST rewards good, consistant roleplaying with WP, refilling the pool but not exceeding it's limit? I think I'd like that, though I might keep using Nature and Demeanors as helpful guidelines.

The biggest problem I've seen with roleplaying is that character creation basically goes in three phases:

1. First comes the idea, in its raw form - "I want to play a wizard who is so insecure about being short, he always uses illusions to make himself appear taller".

2. Second comes adapting the concept to fit within the guidelines of the rules; if weaknesses or flaws are available in the system, how do the wizard's foibles manifest in numbers?

3. And finally, the character as it is played - over a few sessions, the height issues seem to disappear, but the wizard's skill with illusions becomes a major focus for the character.

What I find is you don't really find the character until you start playing it - in a sense, the character sheet is like a script or screenplay, and you find out who the character truly is through performance, i.e. playing. After the first few sessions, you find the characters 'voice', which is similar to but almost always slightly different from both the original concept and the concept as interpreted through the rules.

I think that a good ST should give their players a little 'grace period' to find the voice of the character, instead of keeping everything carved in stone from the get go; this includes slight shifts in alignment/nature/personality, and the ability to push around a few skill/background points if necessary to fit the adjusted character concept.

Just my two cents. ::smile

[phoenix]

I think that a good ST should give their players a little 'grace period' to find the voice of the character, instead of keeping everything carved in stone from the get go; this includes slight shifts in alignment/nature/personality, and the ability to push around a few skill/background points if necessary to fit the adjusted character concept.

Very true, and that's actually what I've ended up doing so far whether the ST invited me to or not. ::blush

Another idea is that you regain WP anytime you do anything that fulfills a requirement of any Nature - you could balance this by culling the herd a little, and by being stricter on what constitutes a WP-regaining act. That way, not only do you not restrict yourself, but you end up rewarding good roleplaying more frequently.

[Bahamut810]

I would prefer to use consept as your nature. One sentence that discribes your characters personality.

And you dont even have to use that...I believe you get all your WP back aftera good nights sleep.

[ezekiel]

I especially like the "Virtue" and "Vice" concept from Adventure! It lets you detail your character a bit more. I prefer this than demeanor since demeanor is just what you show others. If you're a bon vivant but players think you're a bullying bravo than your demeanor is Bravo whether you like it or not. You can consciously choose a demeanor but I think its best to not worry about it...

[Heritage]

I especially like the "Virtue" and "Vice" concept from Adventure! It lets you detail your character a bit more. I prefer this than demeanor since demeanor is just what you show others. If you're a bon vivant but players think you're a bullying bravo than your demeanor is Bravo whether you like it or not. You can consciously choose a demeanor but I think its best to not worry about it...

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I always forget about A!'s system, probably because I didn't fully understand it for years (it helps if you read the whole book, ya see ::wink) - it's certainly the best one of all the Aeonverse games.

[Sphere]

To be honest I think the Willpower regeneration rules need to be upgraded. None of my Players use their Natures to recover Willpower, relying on the "get one back at the start of the next session" rule. (Of course that could reflect more on my Player's ;-)

Personally I don't like the linkage of Nature and Willpower. I mean, if you're a Bon Vivant style character are you really going to be mentally stronger after a night of snorting coke and dancing til the sun comes up? Of course not you're going to be knackered.

The easiest suggestion would be for Characters to regain Willpower at a rate of one per each day the character spends at a reasonable level of relaxation, and even mood.