What do you think about the idea of writing a “player profile” you can share with people you play with so they know what to expect, how to entertain and engage you and how to help with things you struggle with?
This is just a short example, but you get the idea:
I know that I struggle when I don’t have a strong motivation or good reasons for my character to engage with the story. I also dislike puzzles that I have to solve as a player, but I love open ended problemsolving and using the environment in creative ways. I am chaotic good and I like long walks on the beach.
I would pin a big flashy disclaimer on these because it is so easy to misunderstand or make assumptions from reading a simple statement, and some people don’t even know themselves that well. When I say “I dislike puzzles” I don’t mean “I hate mysteries, secrets and problemsolving of any kind”, I mean “I’ve had issues with puzzles, let’s talk about puzzles so we’re on the same page before they come up”.
– Do you know your own player profile or personality well?
– Do you often give people a heads up about how you play and what you like or dislike before playing?
– Do you think it is a good idea for people to start writing and sharing their profiles with people they play with?
– Are there any things in particular you would like to learn about people before playing with or running a game for them?
Idk if I have a comment on actually doing this in practice, but I’m willing to go through the exercise of self analysis.
I am interested in doing new and interesting ideas. Tropes are my gate, but the nuance of the character is my path. I am interested in telling story with structure, i.e. A clear story structure including an ending. I don’t prepare, I improv. I apologize if lack of prep makes you uncomfortable, but I generally won’t prep. The discovery of the emergent story is part of the joy for me, and I hope I can help build the trust I have with many players with you. That trust is in my ability to deliver on a story even with low to no prep.
Idk if I have a comment on actually doing this in practice, but I’m willing to go through the exercise of self analysis.
I am interested in doing new and interesting ideas. Tropes are my gate, but the nuance of the character is my path. I am interested in telling story with structure, i.e. A clear story structure including an ending. I don’t prepare, I improv. I apologize if lack of prep makes you uncomfortable, but I generally won’t prep. The discovery of the emergent story is part of the joy for me, and I hope I can help build the trust I have with many players with you. That trust is in my ability to deliver on a story even with low to no prep.
Hm, I think in most games I’ve played it comes up naturally or we talk about what tone we want and what we want to get out of our characters and the story. I think it couldn’t hurt to have something like that prepared so that it’s a reminder to go over these things so that everyone is having fun.
I tend to need some characterization with a personal arch for me to get the most enjoyment out of a game, so that it’s “about” something for me.
I almost never give a heads about it, which is my bad. I usually am pretty breezy and have fun regardless if I am getting everything I want out of it. I generally par take in scenes and give suggestions in a way that subtlety says like “I’m into this” I think. What do you think Jason Cordova, you’ve played with me a bit and I’d be interested to see what you thought about that. Is it difficult to see what I’m interested in when you’re running games for me?
As for learning befooore they play, I’m not sure. That kind of sounds like qualifying who you’re playing with beforehand which could be good in some circumstances but I’d probably prefer it be addressed at the table, otherwise that might feel weird for me.
Hm, I think in most games I’ve played it comes up naturally or we talk about what tone we want and what we want to get out of our characters and the story. I think it couldn’t hurt to have something like that prepared so that it’s a reminder to go over these things so that everyone is having fun.
I tend to need some characterization with a personal arch for me to get the most enjoyment out of a game, so that it’s “about” something for me.
I almost never give a heads about it, which is my bad. I usually am pretty breezy and have fun regardless if I am getting everything I want out of it. I generally par take in scenes and give suggestions in a way that subtlety says like “I’m into this” I think. What do you think Jason Cordova, you’ve played with me a bit and I’d be interested to see what you thought about that. Is it difficult to see what I’m interested in when you’re running games for me?
As for learning befooore they play, I’m not sure. That kind of sounds like qualifying who you’re playing with beforehand which could be good in some circumstances but I’d probably prefer it be addressed at the table, otherwise that might feel weird for me.
Fraser Simons That’s one of the reasons I think it’s so important to have that disclaimer. A short description like this will never be enough for anyone to know what a player is like and how to interact with them, but the idea is that it could help start the conversation at the table or help the GM prepare for which questions to ask or even bring things up before the game day.
Also, I didn’t even think about people being sorted or judged by their shared profile.
Fraser Simons That’s one of the reasons I think it’s so important to have that disclaimer. A short description like this will never be enough for anyone to know what a player is like and how to interact with them, but the idea is that it could help start the conversation at the table or help the GM prepare for which questions to ask or even bring things up before the game day.
Also, I didn’t even think about people being sorted or judged by their shared profile.
Zak Sabbath proposed this a while ago, it’s a really neat idea. If we go far enough, maybe someone can create a Gamr (like Tindr) and we can “swipe left and right” to build game groups!
Zak Sabbath proposed this a while ago, it’s a really neat idea. If we go far enough, maybe someone can create a Gamr (like Tindr) and we can “swipe left and right” to build game groups!
Not being an expert at self-reflection, I’d be interested in a “guided” process to come up with a profile.
As a GM, if someone presented me with this, I’d appreciate it, but might not be able to hit all the player’s needs in the first session, or even in many sessions… But I guess I’d be willing to try.
Not being an expert at self-reflection, I’d be interested in a “guided” process to come up with a profile.
As a GM, if someone presented me with this, I’d appreciate it, but might not be able to hit all the player’s needs in the first session, or even in many sessions… But I guess I’d be willing to try.
Unless someone comes up with a very practical way to categorise and measure player traits, I believe the greatest benefit will come from the actual process of writing your profile and maybe maintaining it over time. It’s a good way to become more self aware and ready to start a conversation around expectations, likes and dislikes.
They say that the easier it is to quantify something, the less it’s worth. I have no idea how you would create a profile template or a guided process that feeds out information a GM can actually use at the table.
Self reporting is unreliable and I already mentioned the risk of misunderstandings. I can also imagine a lot of noise in the form of redundant and distracting information. Statements that are true for most players, but I bring it up because I’ve fixated on it, maybe because of recent experiences.
One thing that could be useful is to make some kind of palette like the one from microscope. The GM can skim through a list of likes and dislikes and if something pops out, they can start a conversation, tweak the content or try to include things. The rest can be forgotten.
I know someone who is not comfortable with underground dungeons. If they signed up for a game that didn’t advertise that it was set in a dungeon, the GM could look at the profile, notice the problem before the game started and talk to the player about how to deal with it.
(This could be used for more serious triggers too, but there are many problems with revealing triggers before they are relevant. It might be worth saving that discussion for another time.)
On the plus side, the player could give GMs and other players green light for certain things you would normally have to ask for consent before doing. Like establishing fiction about another PC or sexual interactions. Of course it’s implied that people would still check in with each other or speak up when they’re uncomfortable.
Unless someone comes up with a very practical way to categorise and measure player traits, I believe the greatest benefit will come from the actual process of writing your profile and maybe maintaining it over time. It’s a good way to become more self aware and ready to start a conversation around expectations, likes and dislikes.
They say that the easier it is to quantify something, the less it’s worth. I have no idea how you would create a profile template or a guided process that feeds out information a GM can actually use at the table.
Self reporting is unreliable and I already mentioned the risk of misunderstandings. I can also imagine a lot of noise in the form of redundant and distracting information. Statements that are true for most players, but I bring it up because I’ve fixated on it, maybe because of recent experiences.
One thing that could be useful is to make some kind of palette like the one from microscope. The GM can skim through a list of likes and dislikes and if something pops out, they can start a conversation, tweak the content or try to include things. The rest can be forgotten.
I know someone who is not comfortable with underground dungeons. If they signed up for a game that didn’t advertise that it was set in a dungeon, the GM could look at the profile, notice the problem before the game started and talk to the player about how to deal with it.
(This could be used for more serious triggers too, but there are many problems with revealing triggers before they are relevant. It might be worth saving that discussion for another time.)
On the plus side, the player could give GMs and other players green light for certain things you would normally have to ask for consent before doing. Like establishing fiction about another PC or sexual interactions. Of course it’s implied that people would still check in with each other or speak up when they’re uncomfortable.
My Charisma is 12!
My Charisma is 12!