Steering and being steered by RP

Razzlo

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to RP on this scale. I have created a couple Achaea characters over the last few months because my friend turned me onto the game. However, before this I mostly just played DND and that was it, a small group of friends and one guy or gal playing a vast cast.

Obviously this is different.

Razzlo is young so I still see him being shaped by his experiences, but I also am beginning to see a plan of where I want him to go. My issue is when I should follow my vision or let him be steered elsewhere by his surroundings. I mean, there are always going to be hard and set limits in RP through rules and community pressure. I could not be a Mhaldorian Priest or an Apostate that was down with the Bloodsworn Gods and if I created a seven foot tall dwarf without a good reason than I would not be taken seriously by the community as a whole. These restrictions I get and wholeheartedly support because that is what gives the game that feel of authenticity.

I also get in a game where I play with multiple people I am not always going to 'win' or get what I want. If I fight someone I may lose...if I ran for office I could get fall out. Actions not always going as I would prefer.

I just want to know when it is best to let the world steer Razzlo, and when I should steer Razzlo. An example being choosing if it is okay to fall in line with an organizations softer viewpoints or going with your own actions. Such as hunting a race where you have a large amount of people telling you not to. Not getting full in line with a changing sentiments in a city or organization, or going to a different path such as a new organization or fighting hard to keep your view.

I guess what I would like are examples of RP dilemmas your character has faced and how you dealt with it? Or perhaps why you chose how you chose when you were faced with a choice that would take you away from how you wanted things to go for your character and why?

Perhaps some advice when it is time to stop going against the flow of the overall game?

Thanks in advance!

Tesha

Let the experiences steer your character if you're already having fun, steer your character towards fun if you're not enjoying the game.

Melodie

Feel free to have a loose plan about goals you'd like your character to achieve, but always be open to adjusting yourself, your character and those goals as you discover things that really liven up your gameplay.

Don't be afraid to step out of the box and be a different voice if that's what you believe (within the canon rules of course).

Find some people in game, learn their life stories, get inspired, and don't worry if you gnaash your teeth in frustration once in a while.

And much like Tesha's answer, feel free to just go with the flow and let things steer you until you feel a need to steer something yourself.

Aerek

Build yourself an idea of what you want the character to be, what you want him to accomplish, and give him a shove in that direction to get yourself started. Roleplay is what you make of it, so you should always be "steering" it toward more roleplay, (as opposed to waiting for roleplay to come find you) but let yourself become part of the world, and let the world steer you along. That doesn't mean "Jesus take the wheel", where you give up on having any say in your destiny, just just that you should be open to other characters and experiences shaping what you thought your character's personality and goals were.

The one important caveat is that you should always steer yourself toward roles and events you enjoy. It doesn't matter how good/consistent/organic your roleplay is if you stop having fun doing it, so if things start to drift in a direction that you no longer enjoy, take the impetus and initiative to steer your character back into a place where you're comfortable. It's good to push your boundaries and try new things, of course, but if a character stops being fun for an extended period, you'll stop playing the character, and that's always a shame.

Edit: I didn't read before posting. Tesha said what I did in fewer words.

Razzlo

I guess I have just been over thinking it, but I definitely appreciate your help. I mean, I guess the first step is to keep playing and having fun.

The rest will come as it comes.

Nim

Don't try to roleplay something too hard either. Direction is good, but let things work naturally. The less I have to think how my character might act, the more fun I have playing them. That doesn't mean "don't think," though. Nim is incredibly thoughtful and careful. The girl thinks being 100% sure of what she wants is "whimsical," but they're all HER thoughts, not mine.

Aodfionn

Tesha said:

Let the experiences steer your character if you're already having fun, steer your character towards fun if you're not enjoying the game.

 
this so hard

Vansittart

I don't think you're overthinking it at all @Razzlo, those are really good questions to be asking.  I think there's a distinction to be made between going against the popular view, and going against the rules of the world you're playing in.  What you want to try and avoid is "special snowflake" syndrome where something that's an Achaean fact somehow doesn't apply to you.  That you're a priest who doesn't derive his powers from Good, but is secretly Evil!  Or an Occultist who doesn't pay due homage to Chaos (as it's understood in Achaea).

But to take the unpopular path, to question things, to create a character who could only ever be @Razzlo, well that's a great thing.  There's lots of ways to do that - a disillusioned priest driven to drink and doubt; a guilt-wracked Occultist who seeks the end of all things but regrets the suffering caused along the way; a genteel servant of the Seven Truths who likes the finer things in life. 

I've always thought that the best RP in Achaea is a path that is yours, and yours only, but always, always pays due homage to the rules of the world you're playing in.  Your job, I think, is to tell a story within a world, not to create the world itself.  I think very few people get that balance right - they either tend to the homogenous too much, or they see themselves as co-creators of Achaea itself.

Best of luck finding the balance.