Thursday, June 8, 2017

When the line of my Characters and me blur

So I'm a min maxer, also known as a munchkin, and the goal of looking for the optimal character combination went a bit too far or it can be said that it was not far enough.

Hey my character does something cool, why can't I do that? 

At first we say its fantasy, but then we research on line for precedents and other examples and then it doesnt seem so far and fantasy anymore. By accident, I started doing the first part of Problem Solving: I started gathering information and asking questions.

I can Change me.

Have a munchkin/min-maxer and you have someone who's mastered the ability to twist and justify any rational for an advantage. Someone who can start believing the mix of half truths and distorted perspectives they used to justify their character. After all its Role-playing and this is just another thing to pretend. 

But my Character kicks ass, his world view and skills are engaging. I like playing and pretending in doing the things I believe he does to maintain his ability as no ability exists in a vacuum. So I study, work out a little, track how I use time, calculate and evaluate my options. 

I am how I spend my time. 

If who I am is by my actions then what do I do? 

Hour/Week Character Points. Get a Guestimation of how much time do I spend doing stuff per week. If am how I spend my time then I know what I am by how I spend my time. You don't need to even go into great detail, you just need to be honest and it can be a honest secret of secrets.

Wow my character sucks balls. But wait, I've played mundanes before. What kind of gamer would I be if I couldn't manage this character?

Engagement and Empathy

My character is human. He has limitations, biases, and motivations. A challenge to overpowered would not just bankrupt him, but can demoralize him, and permanently alter the cost of improvement and his life. He has to be able to engage with the Challenges he faces. He has to be able to really believe he can change his mind, that he is not some hapless NPC that will stubbornly be in denial of actual conditions that conflicts with what they assume or believe. Maybe I can throw some of that Empathy to others and myself. 

30 hours a week working, 3 hours a week on health, 10 hours a week studying, 10 hours a week distracted, 50 hours a week sleeping, 2 hours a week on grooming, the rest on family and household (50+ hours). No time much for friends or socializing.

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