User:RubyDragon/Mentor Notes

Mentor Notes for Players

I've often found that a mentor is needed not for the characters, but rather for the players. As such, I've begun to store the letters I show the path of what I believe to be a good BM player.

Differences Between OOC and IC

I'm not sure if you've worked out the differences between Out-of-Character (OOC) and In-Character (IC), so I thought I might give you a general overview. If you're already aware of the differences, you might find that it helps flesh out your understanding.

Unlike most other games, BM expects you to role-play a character. Rather than this character being an extension of your personality, it is rather a completely distinct person -- with a different personality, physique, and thought process. Of course, all that is up to you, the player. If you want, you could have your character be an exact copy of yourself.

However, there is also the distinction of good roleplay and bad roleplay. People have different definitions of what it means to be "good" or "bad". For me, good roleplay means to have your character act in context. As such, I would have my character act and speak with the culture and prejudices of the environment he grew up in.

Going back to the idea of having your character be an exact copy of you -- good roleplay would dictate several things.

Assumption: Your character has had a different upbringing than you. Conclusions: 1) Your character does not have your memories 2) Your character does not necessarily share your cultural traits 3) Your character may have a similar personality as you -- but then again, maybe not. 4) Your character may well think in another manner.

Assumption: Your character is played by you. Conclusion: Chances are, your character will think exactly like you. Not "think" as in share the same memories or have the same likes/dislikes, but "think" as in solving problems. You will likely both go through exactly the same steps to solve exactly the same problem.

The mark of a good roleplayer, in my view, is one who can either truly think as their character, or give the illusion to others that the character does not think in the same way as the player.

Now, this might seem a bit overwhelming, especially for somebody who just created a character with no idea that this system was in the works. This nice thing is that BM is a lightweight game.

Super-developed characters, with strongly-defined personalities and in-depth histories are usually used only for those people who write a lot of narrative roleplays. For others, first-person roleplay usually suffices with a little bit of history and some idea of the character's personality.

Narrative roleplay is about writing IC actions, as a narrative.

Sheathing his sword, Sir Galahad looked over the battlefield. Walking to the healers' tent, he poked his head in. "How fares my friend, Sir Lancelot?" he asked.

First-person roleplay is what every character should be doing all the time. Writing letters and acting according to their personality. In a way, it's a lot easier to do than narrative roleplay, and yet much more difficult. It involves not only writing letters and addressing others as your character should, it also involves having your character act as they should: obey their lord if they're loyal, (or not, if they're not ;) ), horde gold if they're greedy, set their retreat rate up high if they're a coward, try to rise in power if they're ambitious, etc.

If you don't have a good idea of your character's personality yet, I've found it to be a lot easier to rely on first-person roleplay. You can simply have your character act as loyal knight and send sparse messages until you get a better idea of their personality and history, and then explain away that period of simplicity with something -- maybe they were trying to gain the lord's trust (to betray, or get higher standing), they were training a new scribe who couldn't handle sending many messages, etc.

Hmmm...I think I've written a lot more than I originally intended. I hope I haven't overloaded you with information. Next time, I think I'll discuss the generic behaviour expected from BM nobles, what kind of deviations would still be "noble" and which wouldn't.