[RPG Theory] First or Third Person Narration

[stevekenson]

[Poll #1263977]

I wonder if there’s a corrolation between different RPG play styles and verbal identification with one’s character in-game. The first person “I do this” is more of adopting the role, taking on the character, while the third person “my character does this” is more an element of the game, treating the character as game-piece or separate from one’s self. How do you play it and what, if anything, is the impact on how your game play feels?

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

As to the question of role-playing versus game piece, I don't think that correlates with pronoun usage. I don't view my characters as game pieces when I play them in third person. Rather, I view what I'm doing as fiction rather than drama. Flaubert wrote Emma Bovary in the third person, but he also said —Emma Bovary, c'est moi.

A different distinction might be relevant. There's a famous story about a method actor going to incredible pains to get into the mindset of the character he was playing, and his co-star telling him, "Try acting, dear boy." I don't identify with the character I'm playing, in the method acting style; I view them as a role I'm playing, and I try to come up with good dialogue and suitable actions and to get camera time and applause, in something more like a classical acting approach. If identification with my character comes about, that's a pleasant bonus, but it's not the precondition of my playing or the essence of it. But the role is defined by the character's personality, motives, goals, and abilities, not just by game mechanics.

Bill Stoddard