GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Hoyo everyone!
Have you ever been in a roleplay where the GM designed the world a certain way and yet there's always that one character just feels out of place? Like, they used the names of some places the GM gave in the lore and at least kind of tried to stick within whatever cultural information is available about them. But something's still off about them, even if you can't quite pinpoint it?
I know I have.
Why does this happen?
Let's dive in!
Wait, what?
"Who" is the world?
Yes. "Who?"
The world of the RP is a character in and of itself. All of those worldbuilding and lore details the GM provides aren't just there for you to use as character design fuel. Well, they are. But it's not their only purpose. Those details are the lifeblood of the world your character is about to inhabit. They're the traits, the quirks, the personality, and the backstory of the world.
When it's properly designed, the world feels as alive and as much a part of the story as any character directly being controlled by a player in the RP.
When it's done poorly, the world barely feels like it's an afterthought and all focus is purely on the characters.
At the risk of sounding snarky and maybe even a tad accusatory... Does that second point sound familiar?
If it does sound familiar it's because you've been in an RP where the character of the world was mismatched with a character(s) of the RP. It may or may not have even been your own character. And a good way of testing whether it was yours or someone else's would be to continue reading
- - - - - - - - - -
Have you ever been in an RP where you never once thought about the world around your character and instead spent every waking moment focused purely on character interactions? Yeah, that's the sign of a poorly designed and fleshed out world which never quite made it to being a character. When the world itself becomes a character through proper design it comes alive in a myriad of different ways on the page. Often unconsciously.
For example, let's say the GM designed a semi-futuristic RP where every character is part of a rebel army (similar to Star Wars) and they all come from different planets and backgrounds. The scene is currently set so that your characters are on a particular character's home world and in a forest fighting for their lives against a detachment of evil soldiers from the main big bad's army. The one whose home world this is notes in their narration about the fight that their character grew up in these woods and knew how to maneuver around the trees in such a way as to avoid the quirky way in which their roots formed small arches on the ground which then tripped up many of the attackers chasing them and gave them a chance to strike.
That little detail about the roots forming arches and tripping the enemy is a point of worldbuilding. And the participant remarking that their character grew up in these woodlands and knew how to navigate them is a point of consistency with that worldbuilding.
This kind of detail, simple though it may be for this example, is what every post of yours should feel like in an ideal RP experience.
More importantly though, did you catch that point I made about consistency? About how the character who grew up in the woodlands knew the way the roots came up and therefore knew how to navigate the area to their benefit? That right there is a natural and dynamic advantage born of proper character design in harmony with the worldbuilding. Consistency.
But on the flipside, let's say another of the characters is a soldier from another world who's here for the very first time. But despite this, their creator notes in their narration that they just happened to be trained to know how to move exactly like the character who was born here and also used the terrain to their advantage in much the same way. If you read that, it wouldn't feel quite right would it? And the reason why is obvious. Because that's not the kind of knowledge or experience that a soldier who hails from another world and has never been here before should know or have. Soldiers, regardless of home world, train for endurance, firearms proficiency, close-quarters-combat proficiency, knife combat proficiency, focus, determination, bravery, and survival in heavy combat situations. Note that none of those details translate to instantly adapting to a new environment and knowing it as well as the locals do in order to use it to your advantage the same way said locals can/do.
Someone writing a character with a soldier from another world background who just somehow happens to have a forced reason like "they were trained for this" is a form of Meta Gaming wherein which their creator has given them knowledge they should not otherwise possess. What does this usually mean? Well... It's a subtle form of God-Modding. They're giving their character a reason not to have any moments of weakness in an environment for which they have no realistic knowledge or experience, and then giving them an unfair advantage against the enemy who, by all rights, should share the same weakness that they do. What should be an even playing field is now lopsided because the creator of this character didn't want their character to be inferior to the one who naturally grew up in the woodlands and knew what to do.
This is where that feeling I mentioned earlier comes into play. You knew the instant I said soldier from another world who is here for the first time but used the terrain just as well as a local could that something wasn't quite right. Whether consciously or unconsciously you could sense that this character was not consistent with the world. The reasons given for them taking advantage of the terrain isn't realistic or properly set up meaning it has no harmony with the worldbuilding and instead feels "off." Because it is. This character breaks the immersion of the world by doing as the locals do instead of how they should/would actually do based on their background.
If you ever see this, call the role player on it immediately. Because they will do this again if nobody points out to them that this shouldn't work or be how they treat their character's side of the conflict.
Far better than forcing (aka Meta Gaming) a character who should be a fish out of water to suddenly be swimming like the fastest fish in the ocean is to let them play to their real strengths. Instead of forcing your soldier to magically have the same kind of nimble and fleet-footed approach to using the forest to their advantage, let them stumble. Let them not notice that root behind them (ya know, where they don't have eyes to see it?) and trip and fall backwards. But, because they're a soldier trained to focus the fall only stuns them for an instant. Immediately they are looking up and using their weapon to shield against an incoming attack, push the enemy's weapon aside while also dropping their own firearm beside their hip, and then have them pull a knife from their boot for close-quarters grappling combat to slash the enemy's neck before rolling over their firearm to pick it up and get back into a ready stance to fire.
THAT is one example of how this soldier could be made to feel like a much more consistent character in harmony with the worldbuilding. Rather than fight the worldbuilding and the limitations your character's archetype/profession provide, use them to your advantage. Let them have those weaknesses in some areas so we know they're vulnerable and not invincible, and then show how they overcome those limitations using what skills and strengths they do have. But always, always, always make sure that when you do this you're paying attention to the worldbuilding of the RP.
Doing so will ensure that your character remains in harmony with the character that is the world around them. And it will make every decision they make and action they take more compelling and interesting and fun to read about.
For instance, a character who's a street rat and deftly avoiding pursuit of local guardsmen by using the alleys and random objects and trash littered about will always feel more natural and fun to read than a rogue soldier fleeing his former comrades in the same way. Where, when, how, and why did this soldier suddenly become as deft and adept as a street urchin at avoiding pursuit? When did they get that kind of training? Did they ever get that kind of training? Was it part of their life before becoming a guard? Was it talked about or shown at any point, or did it just start happening without a reason?
What about prisons? I know most RP's don't visit prisons or take place in them. But for worlds with magic how do prisons react to and manage the magical abilities of their prisoners? Do they have any sort of magic stripping/suppressing trinkets or spells they can use to disarm the magical ability of the inmates? If your character is magical in nature and gets locked in a prison with no magical forces to stop your escape, why not escape? You will escape, won't you? But does that feel quite right? In this case it's the world that's not harmonizing with your character(s) which is indicative that the GM didn't consider this kind of possibility for a desync between you. And this can be just as detrimental as the previous examples of characters not syncing with the world.
The world is a character. Respect it as such and play with it instead of against it, and you'll never have this kind of problem.
Ultimately, each of us has probably encountered this issue at some point that another character in an RP we're in just feels "off."
Most commonly it's because of Meta Gaming. Characters being given knowledge and experience they shouldn't possess for the sake of avoiding showing any weakness or vulnerability whether it's personal or physical.
If you take a look at such a character's backstory again (providing they created a character sheet which you can look at, of course), check to see if there's anything there which doesn't align with how their character has been behaving or the actions they've been taking. If you can go back through their posts and see that they know things they probably shouldn't, or they're able to do things they probably shouldn't, take it up with the GM first and ask them to review what's been happening. Often times the GM can reach out privately to whomever is causing the issue and ask them to adjust their approach, and things usually work out okay.
If the GM decides not to do anything and says to just ignore it or something like that, you might want to find another RP. An unhelpful GM is one who's set themselves, and their RP, up for failure.
Cheers!
~ GojiBean
Have you ever been in a roleplay where the GM designed the world a certain way and yet there's always that one character just feels out of place? Like, they used the names of some places the GM gave in the lore and at least kind of tried to stick within whatever cultural information is available about them. But something's still off about them, even if you can't quite pinpoint it?
I know I have.
Why does this happen?
Let's dive in!
Who is the world?
Wait, what?
"Who" is the world?
Yes. "Who?"
The world of the RP is a character in and of itself. All of those worldbuilding and lore details the GM provides aren't just there for you to use as character design fuel. Well, they are. But it's not their only purpose. Those details are the lifeblood of the world your character is about to inhabit. They're the traits, the quirks, the personality, and the backstory of the world.
When it's properly designed, the world feels as alive and as much a part of the story as any character directly being controlled by a player in the RP.
When it's done poorly, the world barely feels like it's an afterthought and all focus is purely on the characters.
At the risk of sounding snarky and maybe even a tad accusatory... Does that second point sound familiar?
If it does sound familiar it's because you've been in an RP where the character of the world was mismatched with a character(s) of the RP. It may or may not have even been your own character. And a good way of testing whether it was yours or someone else's would be to continue reading
- - - - - - - - - -
Have you ever been in an RP where you never once thought about the world around your character and instead spent every waking moment focused purely on character interactions? Yeah, that's the sign of a poorly designed and fleshed out world which never quite made it to being a character. When the world itself becomes a character through proper design it comes alive in a myriad of different ways on the page. Often unconsciously.
For example, let's say the GM designed a semi-futuristic RP where every character is part of a rebel army (similar to Star Wars) and they all come from different planets and backgrounds. The scene is currently set so that your characters are on a particular character's home world and in a forest fighting for their lives against a detachment of evil soldiers from the main big bad's army. The one whose home world this is notes in their narration about the fight that their character grew up in these woods and knew how to maneuver around the trees in such a way as to avoid the quirky way in which their roots formed small arches on the ground which then tripped up many of the attackers chasing them and gave them a chance to strike.
That little detail about the roots forming arches and tripping the enemy is a point of worldbuilding. And the participant remarking that their character grew up in these woodlands and knew how to navigate them is a point of consistency with that worldbuilding.
This kind of detail, simple though it may be for this example, is what every post of yours should feel like in an ideal RP experience.
More importantly though, did you catch that point I made about consistency? About how the character who grew up in the woodlands knew the way the roots came up and therefore knew how to navigate the area to their benefit? That right there is a natural and dynamic advantage born of proper character design in harmony with the worldbuilding. Consistency.
But on the flipside, let's say another of the characters is a soldier from another world who's here for the very first time. But despite this, their creator notes in their narration that they just happened to be trained to know how to move exactly like the character who was born here and also used the terrain to their advantage in much the same way. If you read that, it wouldn't feel quite right would it? And the reason why is obvious. Because that's not the kind of knowledge or experience that a soldier who hails from another world and has never been here before should know or have. Soldiers, regardless of home world, train for endurance, firearms proficiency, close-quarters-combat proficiency, knife combat proficiency, focus, determination, bravery, and survival in heavy combat situations. Note that none of those details translate to instantly adapting to a new environment and knowing it as well as the locals do in order to use it to your advantage the same way said locals can/do.
Someone writing a character with a soldier from another world background who just somehow happens to have a forced reason like "they were trained for this" is a form of Meta Gaming wherein which their creator has given them knowledge they should not otherwise possess. What does this usually mean? Well... It's a subtle form of God-Modding. They're giving their character a reason not to have any moments of weakness in an environment for which they have no realistic knowledge or experience, and then giving them an unfair advantage against the enemy who, by all rights, should share the same weakness that they do. What should be an even playing field is now lopsided because the creator of this character didn't want their character to be inferior to the one who naturally grew up in the woodlands and knew what to do.
This is where that feeling I mentioned earlier comes into play. You knew the instant I said soldier from another world who is here for the first time but used the terrain just as well as a local could that something wasn't quite right. Whether consciously or unconsciously you could sense that this character was not consistent with the world. The reasons given for them taking advantage of the terrain isn't realistic or properly set up meaning it has no harmony with the worldbuilding and instead feels "off." Because it is. This character breaks the immersion of the world by doing as the locals do instead of how they should/would actually do based on their background.
If you ever see this, call the role player on it immediately. Because they will do this again if nobody points out to them that this shouldn't work or be how they treat their character's side of the conflict.
Far better than forcing (aka Meta Gaming) a character who should be a fish out of water to suddenly be swimming like the fastest fish in the ocean is to let them play to their real strengths. Instead of forcing your soldier to magically have the same kind of nimble and fleet-footed approach to using the forest to their advantage, let them stumble. Let them not notice that root behind them (ya know, where they don't have eyes to see it?) and trip and fall backwards. But, because they're a soldier trained to focus the fall only stuns them for an instant. Immediately they are looking up and using their weapon to shield against an incoming attack, push the enemy's weapon aside while also dropping their own firearm beside their hip, and then have them pull a knife from their boot for close-quarters grappling combat to slash the enemy's neck before rolling over their firearm to pick it up and get back into a ready stance to fire.
THAT is one example of how this soldier could be made to feel like a much more consistent character in harmony with the worldbuilding. Rather than fight the worldbuilding and the limitations your character's archetype/profession provide, use them to your advantage. Let them have those weaknesses in some areas so we know they're vulnerable and not invincible, and then show how they overcome those limitations using what skills and strengths they do have. But always, always, always make sure that when you do this you're paying attention to the worldbuilding of the RP.
Doing so will ensure that your character remains in harmony with the character that is the world around them. And it will make every decision they make and action they take more compelling and interesting and fun to read about.
For instance, a character who's a street rat and deftly avoiding pursuit of local guardsmen by using the alleys and random objects and trash littered about will always feel more natural and fun to read than a rogue soldier fleeing his former comrades in the same way. Where, when, how, and why did this soldier suddenly become as deft and adept as a street urchin at avoiding pursuit? When did they get that kind of training? Did they ever get that kind of training? Was it part of their life before becoming a guard? Was it talked about or shown at any point, or did it just start happening without a reason?
What about prisons? I know most RP's don't visit prisons or take place in them. But for worlds with magic how do prisons react to and manage the magical abilities of their prisoners? Do they have any sort of magic stripping/suppressing trinkets or spells they can use to disarm the magical ability of the inmates? If your character is magical in nature and gets locked in a prison with no magical forces to stop your escape, why not escape? You will escape, won't you? But does that feel quite right? In this case it's the world that's not harmonizing with your character(s) which is indicative that the GM didn't consider this kind of possibility for a desync between you. And this can be just as detrimental as the previous examples of characters not syncing with the world.
The world is a character. Respect it as such and play with it instead of against it, and you'll never have this kind of problem.
In Summary
Ultimately, each of us has probably encountered this issue at some point that another character in an RP we're in just feels "off."
Most commonly it's because of Meta Gaming. Characters being given knowledge and experience they shouldn't possess for the sake of avoiding showing any weakness or vulnerability whether it's personal or physical.
If you take a look at such a character's backstory again (providing they created a character sheet which you can look at, of course), check to see if there's anything there which doesn't align with how their character has been behaving or the actions they've been taking. If you can go back through their posts and see that they know things they probably shouldn't, or they're able to do things they probably shouldn't, take it up with the GM first and ask them to review what's been happening. Often times the GM can reach out privately to whomever is causing the issue and ask them to adjust their approach, and things usually work out okay.
If the GM decides not to do anything and says to just ignore it or something like that, you might want to find another RP. An unhelpful GM is one who's set themselves, and their RP, up for failure.
Cheers!
~ GojiBean
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