Purpose

I've been examining why certain characters are fun for me to play, and others have been difficult or less enjoyable. A common factor in the "fun" characters is a sense of purpose or "vision" for them.

I discovered that it's a lot easier to come up with a purpose before actually playing, and then setting about acting on that vision in the adventures and encounters you face.

One of my good friends plays a character whose vision is so all encompassing, so intense, and so deep that it almost obliterates opportunities for exploration. Sometimes that's fun, especially as a spectator; and other times it's infuriating. That can be particularly true as someone involved in a scene or adventure with that character, trying to obtain something other than the purpose being persued by the character.

Purpose can be personal, global, scenario specific, or a combination of all of those. It's really interesting to see how purpose affects all kinds of things. Players that actively push their purpose can be hilarious, serious, mercenary or any other adjective that might describe the purpose their character follows.

Eile has something she is working towards (or rather, something she is working against), which makes her carefully chose her actions - and try to align her actions with the purpose of getting her to her goal.

I'm really enjoying that aspect. I like balancing action against consequence and reward against effort.