When You Don’t Fit In
by Trampas Whiteman
Recently, I was reading a thread online from a person whose character just did not fit in with the group dynamic. I had thought back to times when I had a similar situation myself.
I once played in a Star Wars game a friend ran using a variant of White Wolf’s Storyteller system. Since it was Star Wars, I naturally wanted to play a Jedi (or at least a guy trying to become a Jedi). I had settled on a wookiee who was searching to become a Jedi. I had a nifty dynamic of wookiee rage vs. Jedi control.
There was some good storytelling, but some of the other players played mercenary-style characters. So my wookiee Jedi didn’t fit in. It ended with a battle between my Jedi and one of the player characters (a Twi’lek bounty hunter) who had it in for my character. Both characters lived, but my guy was effectively out of the game.
I tried a mechanic for a short bit, but didn’t care for him. So then I created another Jedi, but this one was very much a scoundrel as well. This guy fit in with the group and the game much better.
Later on, I ran a Star Wars game with the DM from that game and the player I mentioned in it. They played bounty hunter types while my friend played a Jedi. Again, there was conflict. My game came to a halt that night.
What I have learned from these experiences is that DMs and players must talk first about the type of game they are running, what the characters are going to be like (i.e. heroic, mercenary, etc.), and what some of the themes are. It isn’t that any one style of play is better than another. We just all game a little differently and sometimes character concepts just don’t work together.
What I also discovered is that if a character doesn’t work in one game, try another game. My wookiee Jedi thrived in a few other games another friend of mine ran. I’m playing him to this day via e-mail. While I hated the way the wookiee ended in the one game, he’s had tremendous growth in the other game. Recycling can apply to characters too.
Also, don’t settle on something just to fit in. Play what you want. Otherwise, you may resent the character. Nothing is worse than playing a character you don’t want to play. If the game isn’t accommodating to you as a player to play what you want (within reason), then maybe the game isn’t the best for you in general.
And don’t be afraid to recognize when the group isn’t working. I like my friends who play the mercenary types, but I don’t like gaming with them so much these days since my style is different from theirs. And that’s okay. We’re still friends; we just realize we have different styles of play. There is no shame in admitting when something isn’t working.
Likewise, if a character isn’t working, then talk to the GM and see if he can help you to create a new character you like that may work better in the group template. In the realm of fantasy, you may have several options.
Know your group dynamic as much as possible as you go in to play. Talk to your DM about the type of character you want to play and see if that will fit the group template. If you get stuck in a game like this, then see about other options. Above all, remember that the game should be fun.
Goofy as it might sound, I ran a campaing in Dragonlance (back when it didn’t bother me) where I had three players. I asked each of them to be a member of a different order of wizards: one white, one black and one red. They had a mutual problem as magic was at stake. It was one of the most compelling campaigns I’d run because of the natural conflict that never overshadowed the end game, which all of them had a part in.
I’d also played in a game may years ago where I was an elven thief, my standby back in the years when I was actually playing and not running games, and it took all of an hour before I was trying to kill one of the other characters. The DM simply didn’t give me a reason not to kill the smug little turd.
The point being, as a GM or DM or whatever, you can’t control everything, nor would you want to, but you can construct a game that gives all of the characters a stake in the goal. If you don’t, you’re going to run into these sorts of issues. I’m an English teacher in a high school, and it is essentially the same deal. You give them a goal, give them a mutual stake in the outcome, they will meet your expectiations. If you don’t think I have some wookies, you’re out of your’re mind. My classroom is a virtual cantina of the lunatics, but they have a mutual aim an a mutual gain.
I make my students work together because that’s life. If a GM can’t work a story that doesn’t alienate a character, that’s poor GMing, just like a teacher that leaves students behind. It isn’t that it is impossible; he just doesn’t care or isn’t creative enough to work it out. The difference between a classroom and a gameroom is that in the game, everyone actually wants to be there.
Oh, and I’m sober in the classroom.
P.S. My poor spelling/grammar/mechanics is a direct result of my final statement. And yes, I’m fairly certain I can generally spell “campaign”.