"We do not see others as they are. We see others as we are."
Author Unknown
"I'd like to see Corwin in Amber, and I'd like to see Eric's head on a pole. I'm willing to take a few chances to see these things, so I'm not turning back to the Shadows. You can if you want. You all think I'm a weakling and a bluff. Now you're going to find out. I'm going to see this through."
Random in Nine Princes in Amber
Given half a chance, other characters in the game (PC or NPC) will fail to really see your character. Caine will think you scheming, Benedict will judge you only by your skill at a sword, and so on. One of the hardest things in any roleplaying game is to make your character so much themselves that they can break through the preconceptions of others.
Imagine you wanted to play an idealistic philosopher. What would it take to convince Caine that it wasn't a ploy? To convince Benedict that you weren't just covering for your weakness? At the very least, you would have to stick with your principles when it would be easier and more effective to do something else. That's what I mean when I talk about retaining focus. It's easy to roleplay your character when it is to their advantage. The trick is to keep roleplaying the character even when you know that it's going to cause them trouble. Especially when it's going to cause them trouble.
A friend of mine describes this as playing a character with "more attitude than sense". Me, I just think of it as letting the character's head serve their heart, rather than their heart serving their head. Either way, I believe it is what you have to do if you want to have each player playing a different character, rather than everybody playing the same slightly apathetic, self-interested person, with only surface differences. How people behave when the chips are down is, in my opinion, the true test of their character.
This is not to say that you need to always pick the most inconvenient possible way to express your character's personality. Doing that is just another way of making a Gag character, which I certainly don't approve. You don't want to retreat from your characters personality... and if being outright stupid is the only way you can think of to avoid that then that's what you should do. But if you can think of something clever that expresses their personality and gets you some benefit then that's even better still.
| Ben: I'm sorry, Ada... Father has finally had his fill of your arrogance. He's sent me to take you to a finishing school, until you learn your place. | ||
| Bad | Good | Better |
| Ada: Oh no! My arrogance has finally been my undoing. I must go to father at once and apologize. | Ada: Learn my place! Father hasn't even begun to see what arrogance can be. You go tell him that he can stick his boarding school where the sun doesn't shine. | Ada: Don't worry about it Ben. The school hasn't been made that can keep me in check. In a week I'll be running the place. |