Playing to Disadvantages

February 15, 2010 2 comments

My friend Chris was in a car accident a few years ago and sustained a head injury. It wasn’t terribly serious, but it left him with memory holes. He remembers things clearly, but with odd details missing. For example, he and our friend Dave lived in the same apartment complex for a few years. He remembers that. He remembers what Dave’s place looks like, he remembers things that happened there. But he couldn’t remember which apartment was Dave’s until someone told him. He could stand outside this place he’s been hundreds of times, and not be able to tell you which door to knock on.

It was Chris who decided to put this quirk into The Damage Patrol, and into his Primetime Adventures character. It’s his eponymous character’s issue for the first season. I love him for this, because he’s willing to use his own handicap for comedy. As the PTA Producer, it’s easy conflict; Chris needs to do something, but does he remember some person, place, or thing needed to do it? Let’s draw cards and spend some Fan Mail to find out!

It’s also a great hook because beyond the laughter it makes Chris a sympathetic character. He’s self-deprecating about it, but it’s painful sometimes to watch him struggle. It hurts him when he doesn’t remember people, because he’s afraid he’ll hurt their feelings. I know it pains him when he doesn’t remember shared experiences, good times and bad times that people have gone through with him. It makes the lug that much more lovable, in real life, on screen, and in the game.

Chris’s example also also illustrates how real life can be mined for character hooks and roleplaying bits. While this example is pretty specific, it does demonstrate how disadvantages in any game system can be bent to serve story needs and develop character. Think of some quirk, frailty, or annoyance in your own life. Consider things that friends, relatives, and co-workers talk about and struggle with. They’re not just a source of extra points, they’re not just combat disadvantages, they’re roleplaying hooks. Giving characters some sort of flaw makes them more real, my sympathetic, easier to relate to and easier to cheer for. In systems that don’t have disadvantage systems, you can create a back story for a low stat, or provide descriptions for abstract concepts like losing a lot of hit points, and use those as character bits.

Illegitimi non carborundum,
Berin