#RPGaDay 2017 Day 13: Describe a Game Experience That Changed How You Play

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 13: Describe a Game Experience That Changed How You Play

It's from the Amber Diceless RPG. Character questionnaires have been around forever. "Why did your character leave home?" "What kind of relationship does your character have with his family?" That kind of thing. The ADRPG certainly didn't invent this sort of question. They did it better than I

had seen it before, with questions like: "What do you find boring that others enjoy?"When you were young, you used to arm wrestle with an old friend of your fathers - and you always lost. After an absence of ten years, the friend has returned, looking much older and weaker. He/she challenges you to a wrestle. You know that you can win. What do you do?" or "A friend proudly shows you a painting that he/she has inherited. You know that he/she is not going to sell the painting, but will keep it for his/her own pleasure. You also know that the painting is a fake. What do you do?"

The question that sticks with me, and which I include in all character quizzes in games I run is "Where does your character get the laundry done?" I love that because I had never thought to ask that question, but it grounds characters in such a unique fashion. You may be playing this angry, shouting demigod, but even he has to launder his loincloth once in a while. I like that it causes players to examine aspects of their character's lives that they would have never otherwise considered.