In our group we call that the "Bad Girls" syndrome. The movie with Drew Berrymore, Mary Stewart Masterson, etc... For those who haven't seen it (lucky you it's really not good) all the characters were "Soiled Doves" driven to prostitution by some HORRIBLE event in there lives. One's husband died on the trail so she couldn't provide for herself, yadda yadda. About 20 minutes into the movie you're asking yourself "Does everyone in this show have a tortured past?".
Dramatic character development and good storytelling are helped a lot by normal characters having their status quo life shattered and having to try and strive back to some kind of "normalcy". i.e.#1: You're living day to day on the moisture farm then one day you buy some droids and BAM, you're aunt and uncle are disintegrated by stormtroopers. i.e.#2 You're working in your cubicle one day and BAM dark suits start chasing you around and you take the red pill.
I also agree with the Captain. There's nothing funnier than the blank looks I get from my posse of a Huckster, a Harrowed, 2 Mad Scientists, and Warrior/Shaman when you ask for a search roll. "We put all our points into Deth-Dealin'!!!!" Doesn't help much when you can't find the monster.
"Cactus" Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: Marguerite Frey [mailto:natasha_corey@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 9:56 AM
To: deadlands@gamerz.net
Subject: Re: [DL] Looking for random help
--- Matthew Hanson <deviantsevant@msn.com> wrote:
> You know, what is it with players wanting to be all
> fubar'd? It seems to me not having anything funky
> and damning in her past or present makes her the
> MOST unique character of the bunch and the most
> likely to survive! See, when I started playing, the
> game was ordinary people against extraordinary odds.
> Now it seems to have degraded into monsters fighting
> monsters.
I'll second that - I LOVE to play "normals" almost
exclusively. To me, anyway, they get to develop so
much more personality in game because they're not
always worrying about what's coming out of their past
at them. Not to mention those bounty that don't go to
spells make for a more rounded character who can spend
on Survival, Ridicule, Climbing, and other day to day
essentials that can help save the party in between all
the monster fighting.
Damn, I miss Maggie...
Marguerite of EMGB, otherwise known as Captain Sydney Mallory
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