[jadedeath]

Hey Folks...

One of the main complaints that I get as a ST is "I'm bored" "there's nothing to do" or something similar...

I've heard the complaints from fellow players as well, the solutions that I bring up are the following:

It's a game, you're likely to get bored it happens... what you should do is arrange a time to sit down and talk with the ST... most times the character just doesn't fit or you want to go in another direction from your intended goal... for example a combat oriented Daeva in a political game doesn't quite fit in and you might end up being bored more often than not...

You and your ST might be able to find a character concept that would fit in more with the game and give you more stuff to work with when interacting with your local game and fellow players...

Accept your limitations as a player... while it is ok to play outside of your range... play what's within your scope... this is probably the reason why I haven't seen many Malkavians roleplayed well... {1 or 2 if that} not that many people can play true dark twisted insanity well... IMHO...

Sometimes picking a character that has some interesting flaws works as well... something that you can play up when roleplaying like a physical restriction... or even an article of clothing could work... or many... a Nosferatu NPC that I played once had several {as in a dozen or more} articles of clothing... all piled ontop of me... it was quite an interesting character... and a pile of clothing...

Ask the ST to point you in the direction of your clan/covenant/guild/tribe elder... chances are good that this player will be able to help you along the way and it gives you a basis to start from... someone that you can roleplay with as opposed to just being bored...

Pick some goals for your character and try to accomplish them in the game... like you want your character to become the top dog in the Underworld and try to find out which other characters are in that area... either make a deal with them... {you get this I get that... and we can combine and take over the cities influence in that area} or try to barter with them in order to get ahold of what resources THEY have... if done well you may end up with another ally for your character... if done poorly you may end up with another enemy... it's all in the negotiation...

Stick with your character's nature... see what's happening around you and publicly agree or disagree with another character based upon that... in short... make allies... and in turn their allies will have a reason to roleplay with you... and their enemies as well...

What do the rest of you do/suggest?

Logan

[Dolston]

The number one thing is have things that are not goals that you can fall back on. Give your character a life outside of game night. I have spend two thirds of a session discussing gardening and the desire to get bio-luminescent for my character's koi pond so he can see the fish and enjoy what he created.

[jadedeath]

The number one thing is have things that are not goals that you can fall back on. Give your character a life outside of game night. I have spend two thirds of a session discussing gardening and the desire to get bio-luminescent for my character's koi pond so he can see the fish and enjoy what he created.

Good point... Ibby {great gamer for those who don't know him} had the 15th Gen Caitiff in the one game and brought along a golf club to illustrate the fact that he just got off the green before Elysium...

giving your character intangible goals definately leads to conversation which will eat up the night and before you know it the game is over... I just spent a portion of the night last night at game trying to convince an Ordo Dracul member that if they wanted to learn more about the Invictus that they should actually join the Invictus as the best way to learn is to experience it first hand... definately an interesting roleplaying moment... {almost had her convinced too...}

speaking of which... I should e-mail you with regards to a character concept that I'm working on... I need a bit of help fine tuning it...

Logan

[Niplan]

As a player what i do when i get bored? i get the st's attention... i blow something up, kill someone, start being twinky, or get my self into trouble.
i think the whole "im bored" thing is more of a personal player problem. if they arn't creative enough to think of something to do then thats their own fault.

[OffWhite Knight]

Good points all, I'd say. Though the intangible, out of game goals won't work for some of the weaker role-players who would find it impossible to spend more than a minute or two talking about gardening without falling out of character.

I'd say if you are bored, link up with someone else, either in your clan or covenant. Make friends with them, at least in game. Then follow them around. Join in whatever mischief they are instigating. In other words, instead of being a wallflower, join in the party. It's okay to be a tagalong for a while. I have two friends that aren't horrible role-players, but they tend to follow the lead of a third friend. My wife for the first few games was just a tagalong. It was awesome to see her come into her own in the New Orleans Requiem game that just began and NOT just be a tagalong.

I mean, few character or people are truely anti-social and genuine loners. If they were, why would they be at Elysium, or the Moot, or whatever?

Something else is to clearly define at least major parts of your PC. I think a lot of people get bored because they don't really know their PC. They haven't gone very far beyond "I'm a Ventrue Invictus that wants to be on the Inner Circle." Why do you want the Inner Circle? What made you join the Invictus? What was your pre-Embrace life? How did you adjust to being Damned? What is your stance on the other clans and covenants? What do you do when not scheming and conniving with other Invictus? What's your preferred feeding method? Etc, etc, etc. Hell, it might help to even know what the PC's favorite color is, for example.

It really helped my wife and I know that's really helped me with my new PC. That, and knowing my covenant, the Lancea Sanctum, inside and out to the point of being able to quote canon and preach at the drop of a hat (which I did, frequently. Man it was fun!).

So get to know your PC almost as well as you'd know any other friend and don't be afraid to be a tagalong would sum things up for me.

[Tuesday]

As a player what i do when i get bored? i get the st's attention... i blow something up, kill someone, start being twinky, or get my self into trouble.
i think the whole "im bored" thing is more of a personal player problem.

Indeed, I would call that a picture-perfect classic example of a player problem.

[jadedeath]

Indeed, I would call that a picture-perfect classic example of a player problem.

agreed... I usually would weed out a player like this more often than not...

Logan