Showing posts with label drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drama. Show all posts

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Example of the "36 Character Types" random table in use

I posted the "36 character types" table on Reddit, and r/thebalckveil asked for an example of the generator in use. I thought I would save the example here:

"For example, I would use it to create a court intrigue situation. Roll three times to get three NPCs or inspirational details. *roll roll roll*

65 The Weak, 61 Murderers & Assassins, 21 The Avaricious and Grasping

Interpretation:
NPC #1: Prince Bernardo, the king's eldest but sickly son, heir to the throne (The Weak)
NPC #2: Jacopo, the ambitious husband of the king's daughter (The Avaricious & Grasping)
Situation: Prince Bernardo fears that Jacopo, the newcomer to the family, will try to take advantage of his bad health and seize the throne for himself. Prince Bernardo hires assassins (Murderers & Assassins) to take care of the matter.

How to use this situation in your game? Well, there are a couple of ways, for example:
  • The party is approached by Jacopo, who fears for his life and hires bodyguards.
  • The party is approached by Prince Bernardo's agent, who wants to hire them as assassins.
  • The party hears rumors about the tension between Prince Bernardo and Jacopo, and might try to exploit the situation. Or they hear rumors about the Prince hiring assassins."


Saturday, February 26, 2022

36 character types (extracted from Georges Polti's "The Art of Inventing Characters")

Georges Polti (1867-1946) compiled long classifications of different types of literary devices. His most famous book is "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations", a description that was also taken as a prescription by future authors. He also did a similar work on character types, "The Art of Inventing Characters". In it, he outlines 36 types of literary characters.

36 you say?

THAT'S A D66 TABLE OF COURSE!

So I took the e-text of the 1922 English translation (available on archive.org!) and turned it into a random table. There are also freakin' subtables for each of the 36 entries, with a dozen or so types.

Warning: Mind, though: the source text is quite awful. It's essentialist, moralizing and misogynistic. It's naive in how the author thinks that a classification of things (including literary constructs) is the revelation of the true nature of the whole world, and a key to understanding human psychology.

Nevertheless, here's a random table!

Good for melodramatic RPGs?

 

 

 

CHARACTERS

1

1

VESTA

The Pious

2

The Wise

3

The Faithful

4

JUNO

The Jealous

5

The Vengeful and Just

6

The Strict and Severe

2

1

NEPTUNE

The Avaricious and Grasping

2

The Despotic

3

The Ambitious

4

MINERVA

The Daring and Romantic

5

Adventurers

6

The Eloquent and Boastful

3

1

VENUS

The Seductive and Seducing

2

Courtesans

3

The Vicious

4

APOLLO

The Impassioned

5

The Chimerical

6

The Intellectual

4

1

MERCURY

The Shrewd

2

The Traitorous

3

The Knavish

4

JUPITER

The Arrogant and Insolent

5

The Haughty and Dignified

6

The Majestic and Protecting

5

1

CERES

The Generous and Prodigal

2

The Gay and Sensual

3

The Vulgar and Practical

4

VULCAN

The Earnest and Serious

5

The Deluded and Discouraged

6

The Unselfish and Devoted

6

1

MARS

Murderers and Assassins

2

The Violent and Rebellious

3

The Bold and Fearless

4

DIANA

The Tender and Sentimental

5

The Weak

6

The Pure





Subtables for each type: