Free Will in Roleplaying
Copyright 2000 by Heather Grove. Currently printed on the Errant Dreams roleplaying resources page.
Free will may seem like an odd issue to bring up in relation to
roleplaying, but it's an important one. Some GMs like to run very
scripted games. They plan everything out and push characters into
following the script. Some groups enjoy this, and I can't argue
with that. But I don't enjoy it - not at all.
What's the Point?
For me, one of the great joys of roleplaying is the exploration
of a character. I love the moment when I say "jeez, why
did my character do
that?" and realize something about her
that I didn't know before.
But even if you aren't as character-happy as I am, there are plenty
of other reasons to dislike scripted games. What's
the point of playing a game at all if everything's just going to happen
the way the GM planned it no matter what the players would like
to do? If you're sitting there in your living room saying to yourself,
"well, gee, both my character and I would
really like to go explore this neat part of the game,
but the GM obviously wants me to say this and then go there, so I
guess I'd better before he gets mad," then what's the difference between
the game and a static story? The GM could read the game as a story
where the players have been told that they are characters in the story,
and it wouldn't be much different. Or they could just put on a play.
The GM might as well hand out sheets with people's lines on them.
Reasons for Scripting
The nervousness of improvisation
There are plenty of reasons why a game might be or feel scripted.
Inexperienced GMs often feel nervous about striking out on their own,
about having to improvise on the go. It certainly can be a frightening
prospect. And so, rather than find a way to deal with that, they script.
It wasn't all that long ago that I GM'ed for the first time. I did
several things to make improvisation easier on myself. One, I warned my
players that I was going to be winging things a bit, and asked them
to go easy on me. Two, I decided ahead of time that if I really needed
a few minutes to think about something, I'd take it. That may seem
obvious, but it often isn't to new GMs. They feel as though they have
to keep going no matter what. They worry that if they stop, people will
think they're bad GMs. This isn't the case. It's perfectly acceptable
to say "hey, I need to think for a minute; why don't you guys go get
some more pizza in the kitchen?" Or even, "why don't you guys keep
talking in-character? I'll be back in five." If there's another player
you trust, you can steal him to help you a little, if you're
really stumped. "Hey Jeffrey, I need to talk to you about your character
for a minute. Come to the kitchen with me."
Third, I made use of the resources right in front of me - my players.
When I got really stumped, I'd ask the players what they thought about
something. I'd take their opinions under consideration, and then do
what seemed best to me.
It's such a cool plot!
Another reason that GMs might script is that they have a plot that
really excites them, and that excitement blinds them to the fact that
the players may have other ideas.
GMs need to remember that most players want to be more than just
passive watchers of a beautiful play. Players want to make decisions about
where things are going - roleplaying is, after all, an
interactive activity.
Sometimes this means that they take the plot in unexpected directions. Two major things can be done about this. One,
let them! It may suck to not be able to watch your amazing plot play
out, but you might be surprised by what sort of plot
does emerge.
Besides, you might find a way to work your plot in again later, when
they are ready for it. Two, be flexible; if they miss the one window
of time during which they were supposed to perform the spell because they
were more interested in politics, let them perform it some other time.
You can accomplish this by trying to avoid hard and fast deadlines and
rules. If you don't tell them that they have to perform the spell by
3 am, then they'll never know that you adjusted the entire time table
by a week to accommodate their side-trip into politics.
Try not to think of the plot as
your plot - thus you
won't have such an emotional stake in seeing it play out the way
you want it to. After all, the point of roleplaying, when it comes
right down to it, is to have fun. And your players have as much
right to a share of the fun as you do.
The heroes have to win
A third reason for scripting is that the GM doesn't want to let
the party lose. This is as noble a reason as any, and just as misguided.
If the party picks up on the fact that the GM won't let them lose then
all sorts of bad things may happen. The players may take
stupid risks that they shouldn't take, because they know the GM won't
let their characters die.
The players may stop caring about the amazing spiffy
save-the-world goal, because they know they'll win no matter what.
Don't be afraid to let the party lose! Not every band of heroes
out to save the world has to be successful. While you probably want
to be at least a little flexible to account for things such as
players not catching the clue they were supposed to catch, you should
let them win or fail on their own merits. That way when they win,
they feel a real sense of accomplishment. They know they did something
amazing, and did it well.
Some of the best moments in the game I'm currently running have
come when I've stared wide-eyed at my players and said, "oh, my god,
I can't believe you did that."
I bought it in the store
Yet another reason for scripting is that the GM is using a professionally
written supplement. Unless a sold adventure is a short one, there's almost
no way to avoid a certain amount of scripting. This is because the
author cannot be at the gaming run to adapt things to player
creativity. In order for him to write the beginning of part 2 of the
adventure, he has to know where part 1 ends - and this means that the
party
must end up at a predictable place at the end of part 1.
A certain amount of squishiness is possible if the author has the word
count to write "if your players do
this" paragraphs, but not
all adventure authors are given enough word count, and such adventures
can become cumbersome to read.
You must decide ahead of time how important it is to stick to the
script in this case. You should read the entire adventure and decide
whether you care that the players get to the predictable end-point.
This is more of an issue for an adventure that's part of a series, where
there's another book to follow; you need to know how important it is
that you get to play that next adventure.
If you read ahead and get a
good handle on the adventure, then you may be able to figure out ways
to get the party to a "close enough" endpoint even if they veer off
wildly during the course of the adventure. Remember that when you run
a published adventure, you are allowed to change things! You might want
to make some notes while you're reading about the things you think
your players are likely to do that the authors didn't account
for.
Preparation
If the GM is particularly psyched about the game, he may have
prepared a lot of material for it ahead of time. The prospect of
pitching all of that work when someone leaves the beaten path
can be daunting, as well as frustrating, and can often lead GMs to
script.
A solution to this is to prepare a different sort of material.
Stick primarily to background information and characters.
That way you don't have to wipe anything out. If you have detailed
information on a character, that character can react to anything the
players may choose to do. If you have detailed background information
on a situation, you can adapt the future of that situation to whatever
the players do. However, if you concentrate on scenes and what's going
to happen
during the game, you risk obsolescence of material.
The Appearance of Free Will
What a lot of people don't realize is that it's more important
for the players to
believe that their characters have free
will than it is for them to
have free will. As long as
the guiding hand is invisible - as long as you trick your players
into making the choices you want them to make, seemingly
of their own free
will - they'll never know the difference.
You just have to be ready to throw that guiding hand out the
window if your players are bound and determined to do what you
don't want them to do. Better to let them lose the quest or end
up in an entirely different plot than to make them think that
their choices don't matter.
Subtle Scripting
Not all forms of scripting are blatant. Some are subtle and
insidious. The GM might use narration to slip in
hints about how the characters must feel. For example, "as you
near the corner you see a bloody footprint. It fills you with
fear." Such comments are subtle and you might not even realize
that you're making them. They're important to avoid when possible,
however. Telling a player how her character should think and feel
is one of the worst forms of control. (For a particularly bad
example of this form of scripting, see
our review of "Supernumerary.")
The example above isn't a terrible one. It's worse when a GM
tells the characters something that directly affects their actions.
To pull on the example in that review, you really shouldn't tell
a character: "While your suspicion of the android is evident even to him,
you cannot deny the necessity of his proposal." In this example the GM
blatantly scripts actions as well as feelings: he has decreed that
the characters should find the android's proposal necessary, which will
have a huge impact on their actions.
Mind you, some such comments may be appropriate - maybe a
wizard cast a spell to make anyone who saw the afore-mentioned bloody
prints feel fear.
Or maybe the character has a premonition that takes the feeling
of a shiver of fear. "It fills you with fear" does not automatically
mean that the GM is scripting. And admittedly, it can be hard to
notice when you're saying these things unintentionally.
But when possible, you're always
better off tailoring your description to evoke the response you
want, rather than simply stating the response.
In the example of the bloody footprint, you might instead
say the following:
"You near the corner of the street. The lamp has burned out and everything
is a blur of shadow. You can barely make out the shape of a footprint
on the ground, but as you get closer, you note rivulets of a dark red
fluid trickling out of the footprint. The shadows seem to press
closer, and you hear a rustling sound off to your left in the bushes..."
You get the point. Use concrete, physical description to convey the
feeling you want the character to feel.
Communication
One way to avoid the apparent need for scripting is to communicate
with your players before the game to make certain that you're all on
the same wavelength. If some of your players hate politics-plots and
that's what your whole story arc is based on, you're going to have a
problem, and you may end up feeling as though you have to push people
into following your plot. If you talk to people ahead of time you
can make sure that everyone's interested in the same kind of game,
and muck with the plot if they aren't.
In addition, pay attention to what the characters say when they
talk amongst themselves during the game.
If they talk about their feelings and suspicions
regarding events, they may provide you with plenty of information to
allow you to tailor the events to them.
When it comes down to it, running a game that isn't scripted can be
challenging - that's why a lot of people avoid it. But it isn't as
challenging as people think. It avoids a lot of potential friction
between GM and players, and it can result in a game that's more
fun for all. Besides, nothing quite compares to seeing the wonderful,
unexpected plots that your players can make out of your game.
