Response: Building a Hero vs. Becoming a Hero

This is my response to azirk83's video about "character creation" versus "character generation" in RPGs and how it influences design and playstyle in games. Please view his original video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw1qNKbqhhU

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[nutherefurlong]

@Webhead123 Heh, I would have loved that idea because... what was it called, the Expert? The one that lets you pick whatever skills you wanted without there being class restrictions sounds like a great idea to me. I'm of the school that believes heroes are defined by their actions, not any in-grown destiny. Even if you go point buy you can still sort of form that into the character, but with random generation you CAN, with the right game themes, have humble beginnings be all the more rewarding.

[GiantKukri]

@Webhead123

xD

I could see some people getting angry about that.

[Webhead123]

@GiantKukri Yes, I've read that! Interesting idea, actually. I once proposed a D&D campaign where the players were only allowed to take the NPC classes from the DMG. Yeah...they didn't like that so much...

[GiantKukri]

@Webhead123

There's a "dungeon crawl classics" book that is intended for you to play by starting your characters off as NPC classes. Just a thought...

[Webhead123]

@boltorange And, IMO, neither do the investigators in CoC. There is nothing glorious or theatrical about what they must do if they are to defend humanity. In all likelihood, their deeds will never even been known. They stand guard because someone must, lest the enemy breach the gate and lay waste to all that is worth defending.

[Webhead123]

@boltorange Humanity is indeed a complex state of being.

[boltorange]

@Webhead123 Hmm, I guess one's reaction to Rorschach's ultimate fate could be a sort of litmus test. Personally, I can enjoy the complexity of the character and still understand that he's insane. And, to me, the character shows that little germ of fascism calling to us amid the apparent nobility, the pomp, of superheroics. But that's a topic for another time!

[Webhead123]

@boltorange Indeed!

Yes, Lovecraft's vision of the Mythos is really just a showcase of humanities fragility, impotence and ultimate futility when compared to an ageless and endless Universe.

While I like to keep his general "tone" intact to communicate these concepts in the RPG (being *somewhat* of a Mythos purist), I think it's ultimate value as a role playing game is to use that backdrop to contrast the courage and selfless deeds of those rare few who fight back rather than admit defeat.

[Webhead123]

@boltorange Yes, as you allude to concerning Rorschach, anyone who resolves themselves to "go down fighting" in the face of such crushing oppression is not of typical stock. It takes a certain kind of person to gaze long into the abyss and resolve oneself to stand against it. "Even in the face of Armageddon, I shall not compromise in this!" As screwed up as Rorschach was, his unflinching pursuit of the defense of his beliefs, regardless of the cost to himself, was hauntingly noble.

[boltorange]

@Webhead123 Well, part of the horror, in Lovecraft's own tales at least, is that those accomplishments are actually illusions -- just what Nyarlathotep wanted you to do, at best, and utterly insignificant at worst -- i.e., most often.

Right, we've shown that we should be playing a game of CofC together at the very least!