by Scott Roberts
June 18, 2001

"I have stood here before inside the pourin’ rain,
With the world turning circles runnin’ round my brain
I guess I’m always hopin’ that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the King of Pain.
…I will always be, King of Pain."
— The Police, "King of Pain"

There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today

Welcome to the first installment in a series of columns that will be dealing with the different types of plots and roleplay themes that players can create for themselves. I’m going to begin with the most common form of roleplaying theme that characters indulge in to get noticed and get involved: angst and depression.

It’s the Same Old Thing as Yesterday

Of all the player types I have encountered in my several years of playing and staffing in the online prose game universe, the most common type of player is the one who wants to Be The Hero. A close second, though, is the one who wants to Be The Victim. For some reason I haven’t been able to fathom, online prose games tend to draw people who seem to revel in the role of victim. They go out of their way to ruin their character’s lives; they take the worst perspective possible on events surrounding them; and they tend to make overblown drama-filled Events out of every tiny thing that happens in their lives. Picture a cross between Morrissey or Trent Reznor and William Shatner and you’ll have a good picture of what I’m talking about. I call these types of players Drama Queens or Kings of Pain, depending on their sex, and they can be difficult to deal with for everyone around them when their melodramas are taken to extremes.

The phenomenon has gotten so bad that I’ve seen a few places where they explicitly warn players who start out on their games not to make their character’s Grand Entrance into the world by walking into a bar or other public gathering place crying out in pain because they have a wound, or weeping because their boyfriend just left them, because the odds are, the people around them will ignore them. This isn’t to say that sad or depressive roleplaying is necessarily a bad thing. There’s a good place for it in every game; without the pitfalls and downturns in a character’s life, the good moments would have less meaning. Pacing and storyline in movies, plays, books, and online prose games tends to be a series of such hills and valleys of emotion; tension and the release thereof are at the core of most of the best of human stories. When angst proliferates to the degree that it seems like every character you meet is like someone out of a bad existentialist play, however, there’s a definite issue that needs to be addressed.

There’s a Black Cat Caught in a High Treetop

There are several cliches in the area of angst-plots that should be avoided where at all possible. First and foremost amongst them is the lack of any family for one’s character. The number of players on many games who are orphans due to the horrible murder of their parents and siblings is incredible. The primary motivation for events is a cross between laziness – the player simply doesn’t want to have to come up with details about their family – and motivation. Many folks in many genres seem to have trouble coming up with a motivation for why their character Does The Right Thing if it doesn’t involve the death of their parents or siblings at the hands of The Nefarious Evil Menace. Most often, this also turns their character into the Cold-Hearted Avenger who can do all sorts of horrible things without ever experiencing a flicker of regret or emotion, but eventually, a Beautiful/Handsome Stranger will enter their lives and thaw out that hard exterior to bring their Humanity back (but only in private). Variations on this theme are common throughout pop culture, from Batman to any number of contemporary action films. They’re also common as dirt in the online prose world.

Another common plot type which is overdone is the Somebody Done Me Wrong plot. In this type of angst plot, the character, rather than the parent or sibling thereof, has been wronged by the Nefarious Evil Menace. It’s rarely to the point of any true or long-lasting detriment to the character’s abilities to combat same Menace, but it’s had long-lasting effects on the character’s psyche, such as extended torture, slavery, or imprisonment; blackmail and extortion can also be aspects of this type of plot.

Some characters also visit themes which are less common than the above but still somewhat hackneyed and overdone. An intense rivalry with another character who beats the protagonist in a contest of some sort or is simply better skilled or more attractive than the protagonist. A number of variations on the I-am-an-addict theme ranging from drunkards to drug users. A driven yet oddly unemotional character on a single-minded quest for something very important for any number of reasons (most often because this will provide the clue to the identities of the mysterious parent-killers mentioned above) who doesn’t respond well to others in social situations. The abovementioned took-a-knife-in-the-back or got-mugged-outside character that walks into an in-game character hangout in severe distress in the hopes that someone will pay attention to them.

Romantic rivalries, betrayals by loved ones, and angsty love-triangles can be hackneyed and overdone as well. I’ve seen enough you-looked-at-my-girlfriend-wrong-you-must-die plots to last me a lifetime. One game on which I staffed had many problems occur with female characters falsely accusing male characters of raping them in order to get the male character killed, complete with histrionics. Despite the nature of the game (a non-consensual game set in the violent world of Shadowrun), we had to ban rape roleplay entirely – even the consensual sort – so that the staff wouldn’t have to deal with another one of these emotionally-charged player-killings due to overly angsty characters. I don’t regret the ban – I never really understood why people had a taste for that sort of roleplay in the first place – but the reason for it wasn’t based so much on the emotional content of the subject matter as it was on the use of this type of angst plot as a weapon in the game.

A King on the Throne with His Eyes Torn Out

Though it might seem that I am disdainful of angsty or depressive plots from the above, that’s not the case. Some of the plots above can be pulled off, even though they are often cliched. In order for them to really work and be interesting to the people around you, they need to be done with more complexity. Strive to make your take on these old chestnuts unique and refreshing. Instead of having your character’s parents and siblings killed off as a primary motivator for your character, if you’re trying to do an angst-based theme, have your best friend get killed, or your pet. I once saw an intense series of changes happen to an originally happy-go-lucky flamboyant character when Jeb, his beloved pet dog, was killed. Here was a character with a large family, a wonderfully irreverent and flamboyant viewpoint on the world, who was reduced to abject silence and broodiness at the death of a pet. He brought the corpse of his dog to the local bar for one last drink as a sort of wake; a scene that was as touching as it was darkly humorous.

If you’re going to try for the Somebody-Done-Me-Wrong plot, do it for real. Don’t suddenly and miraculously escape from the Den of Evil; don’t come away with a million dollars of your enemy’s equipment and a burning rage for their demise; don’t casually stroll around the local bars where your enemy could easily spot you. Be paranoid. Be frightened but resolved, but keep your fear inside, just letting enough of it show through to add an edge to your play. If you want to portray emotionlessness or drained depression, don’t just do it without any reason. Have your character be tightly locked up inside because they really /don’t / trust anyone. Act that way throughout any relationship you have; keep secrets even from your most beloved romantic interest and have them be revealed months and years later… damaging secrets. Ask a gamemaster to note some secret information which your enemies have on you; or even go so far as to prearrange with a potential love interest (if they’re willing) that they will be killed in the future by your enemies, without any chance of rescue. If you can play multiple characters on a game, play your OWN ill-fated love interest. Do the plot right or don’t do it at all.

Ultimately, the final word on the matter is a simple one. If you want to play an angst-ridden or depressive character or run a plot with these elements, make certain your character or plot has more dimensions than just the downside. Don’t skimp, either – being manic at times and depressive at others is common, too. Develop the nuances of your character’s reactions to a host of different experiences. Strive to make your character and the plots they’re in complex and detailed beyond the simplicity of a Bad Thing and its aftereffects.

That’s My Soul Up There

The opening quote for this column is to a song which can be modified to provide a unique plot in and of itself for a character; one in which the protagonist’s pain is due primarily to the fragmentation of his or her soul. Other successful and unique plots one could run are variations on the betrayal theme, which is often done in the setting of a romance but can be satisfying when it’s a friend, a trusted manservant, or especially when the character is unwittingly betraying him or herself. One last bit of advice: try madness on for size. Research a common or uncommon mental illness, and have your character slowly display symptoms of it. Properly played insanity, and the eventual struggle to master it by the character, can be one of the most interesting and rewarding themes in roleplay – just ask any Call of Cthulhu player.

My favorite type of angsty, depressive character is also the subject of next week’s column: the villain. Playing the "bad guy" is a surefire way to win both the attention and praise of your peers but also an excellent way to get plots run around you, and for any other characters you might have, because villains are so rare. Watch for it next week. For now, take care, and as usual, I appreciate any feedback you might have!