Unexpected Inspiration

The characters we form are but a mask of our own design. Regardless the outlandish lie that may come from this the core of the character is based on our own personalities and experiences. Over time, however, this mask grows thin, revealing more of our true selves.

This is but a philosophy I live by, both a tool and a weapon. As we try out different characters we may find inspiration based on how that character reacts toward others. An action, a comment, something that causes us to plan that characters future beyond our original design and thus look at our own lives in a new light in some degree of deep thought.

Something I've realised is that I am a villain. Not a thug or a murderer, but one who wishes to bring out the best in others around him by giving chance for a hero to rise. To lie, to acknowledge the lies of others in an attempt to expedite the process of thinning the mask. That is who I am.

Whilest RPing have you been inspired to go beyond your singular plan? Has this impacted who you are beyond the screen? When your mask thins who is it others see below the veil?

 

Many years ago, back in my table-t0p days, I relished my time spent as a DM. Oft, I would take control of NPC's that varied greatly from my personality, and those that differed most greatly tended to be my favorite to RP. As for inspiration? That's a tough one to pin down since every sci-fi and fantasy book, movie, comic etc I've experienced has influenced me I'm sure, and I pull from that repertoire each and every time I delve into character. I still hope there's some original thought in there somewhere, hehehe. What are your thoughts on the theme for this game? That we're actually ourselves, transported to this world? (I don't RP that way in entirety, but there is something in my story which will allow for this in part, to be revealed eventually). If we're playing ourselves, is there less of an unveiling?

 

It is a unique pull to this game in that it offers you the chance to be yourself. While the game tells you this and acknowledges it through NPC dialog it ultimately has no effect on our character should we choose an alternate path. However, I like to believe this 'avatar' is not merely meant to be a subject of our reality. How did we get here? Are we the only ones effected? Is there a tether to this reality in which this story plays out or is this tether to other realities?

A while back I'd begun development for a story that used such a theme in that it was meant to offer the participants a choice. Something of a rift between realities that pulled from all sources, including the imaginary. One such participant had joined as his former character who had dealt with the 'villain' of the story in his own, so it was a continuation to him in a way. Another chose to be a character they were fond of and had a developed history with that had no prior involvement with the story at hand. A third had chosen to be their self. It was a unique combination, but from the characters I'd developed for the story the one who I enjoyed the most was a woman from a story book world.

Hero defeats villain and saves princess, that kinda played out story. She, however, was nobody important. She was a mere 'extra' who only existed in some small way to further the plot. When she arrived in this world she didn't even know her own name because it wasn't important enough to know. She knew the hero, the villain, the princess and a few other people she had never even met before, but her own life was a mere haze. As the story progressed she was given a chance to learn, to make a name for herself and broaden her horizon. However, she would undergo a moment known within the world as an evolution of sorts. Whilst the 'villain' spread a corruption that forced mutagenic change in others she would undergo this realities solution to the corruption known only as ascension. The properties weren't that different from the corruption, though less unstable. Those ascending underwent a test of sorts which ranged from the physical to the mental. She, for example, underwent a mental change as she cowered within a hole in which she'd fallen, awaiting several aggressors who were tracking her down.

At first she did not realize what was happening, merely wishing for the 'hero' to show. When she opened her eyes she saw a figure in the distance of what seemed like an eternal darkness bathed in a golden light. She could feel something within the darkness reaching out for her so she ran to the figure, a statue, which represented the 'hero' because it pushed the darkness away. Upon reaching the statue it vanished to be replaced by another in the distance bathed in a white light. The light of this figure was dimming, the darkness closing in around it. She was compelled to run to it, hoping to find the other light and possibly bring the statues together as it seemed of importance. She was running to save the 'princess' statue. Upon reaching it her world burned brightly as she had her final vision where the statues were standing beside a shadowed figure, a black statue, the 'villain'. She stood before the emptiness and saw how weak it was, how vulnerable to her judgement, but as she glanced to the statues beside her she realized their significance. In the world she was brought to the line between 'good and evil' was grey, unclear. If she was to survive this world she would have to accept the flaws in humanity, and thus she reached out for the 'villain'.

When she awoke she had ascended, changed into a beautiful, strong, dark figure. She was the hero, the princess, and the villain and her actions afterwords would be a role of leadership. To me, such an abstract idea is completely viable in a story such as this and one I hope to see from others. It is not merely 'we' who are the avatar, but any facet of our known reality. Will you be known to others as yourself, or will you be someone else?


If the limit to 'who you are' within the game is nothing short of your imagination who is it others will see once your mask thins? Are you the hero, the princess or the villain?