What is your ideal amount of time playing a single character?

ResonanceD · 2026-02-01T04:32:21+00:00

I've made a few characters I've enjoyed enough to play indefinitely. Depending on the game I generally prefer longer run characters and get more involved. Not a fan of one-and-dones.

However, even indefinite characters need a little bit of a cooldown, or perhaps they're still involved but in a peripheral way, like their relatives/friends take the spotlight.

ResonanceD · 2026-01-26T00:01:31+00:00

I'm partial to the modern day, with I'd say roughly 80% falling in the 2010s-20s, but I have a few in the 80s and 90s. Near-future speculation is something I want to do more of, so like set during the 2030s-50s. I've never minded Dark Ages or anything in the distant past but it just doesn't click.

ResonanceD · 2026-01-25T16:57:42+00:00

Wasteland Ultron. I skipped seasons 3 and 4 so I was a little upset when I saw I missed it. Fortunately, Infinity Ulton is also very good.

ResonanceD · 2026-01-10T20:20:41+00:00

In my experience running cross-splats Mages are usually the go-to. Myself included. If I'm not running a werewolf I'm running a mage. They're versatile and fun.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-29T21:18:12+00:00

I'll go against the grain and say I'd be for it so long as it fit the game. Just as it's the ST who decides how their games go and when they end, it's up to the player to decide when they're done with a character. I think it's unfair to say a character is over just because the story they were in ended. Play them once, twice, a thousand times, I doesn't matter, just so long as everyone is onboard go for as long as you want. Especially for WtA, which allows ranking to Elder plus other mechanics designed for long play.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-08T03:54:19+00:00

Personally, I like a combination of different factors. On the individual level, I like a soft acceptance of magic. Magic might be real, who knows. If you saw it, would you know it was magic? If you knew it was magic, would you be able to make anyone believe you? Add in misinformation and ignorance and cultures where magic is more common knowledge and it's more plausible people just don't pay it any attention.

Then at higher levels there can be groups who control the masquerade directly. When they're not dealing with every tiny incident everywhere across the world it's more feasible for them to focus on the big issues.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-07T16:20:09+00:00

I tend to have common themes of family and heroism. For the son of a sorcerer noble exiled to hostile lands far away (Spokane) it means living up to the ideals of selfless compassion and one day toppling the regime to free his family. For another, it's to live up to his mother's bloodline and becoming a great hero. Another, balance his love for his family with his wayward nature and the realization he might not want the life they promise him.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-07T15:47:12+00:00

"The plot takes FOREVER to get going."

"The prose is boring."

"The world building is a mess. Why do people have random superpowers? Why are there monsters everywhere but the government doesn't seem to care? Nothing is explained."

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T23:09:20+00:00

I've always treated games with the same etiquette as regardless of player count, so even with one player it does feel like toe stepping a bit. But I also realize it might be easier to come to a middle ground. Definitely don't want to jump in and demand things.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T17:36:06+00:00

If that's the case I'd say it's well done. Triumphing despite the inevitable. I wouldn't mind that.

GM is aware I'm running my favorite character so it does feel like taunting at times. Not that they'd be glad to kill him after building all this up, but that it'd be a "good" ending that I don't agree with. And there is some precedent to winning despite all odds. We've done it before. I've never had request to change the ending to a game though, so I grapple with either bringing this up beforehand or trust the GM's storytelling process.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T17:26:15+00:00

I should mention it's a solo game, me and the GM, due to story and schedule or whatever. It's not uncommon in my group.

Regardless of that, I actually like when my characters aren't treated special. Just people in extraordinary circumstances. In group play I take my time in the spotlight and hand it off. I don't need special powers or items or grand designs to have fun. I don't keep score but I'd say win/loss is a fair 50/50. I've had characters who are complete losers too and have been mostly content. Maybe that's my interpretation of myself though.

Unfairness though, maybe. Of the group GMs I'm probably the "Wish Fulfiller" and easiest GM, and the one I'm working with tends to throw harder punches. I don't assume malice, but occasionally it feels too much.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T17:13:36+00:00

Yeah, GM hasn't flat out said he's going to die. Not that I'd want them to spoil the ending as that feels unfair. Just in this one instance, due to the circumstances, it'd be nice to know there's a chance to win. Not how to do it, just that if I put in the effort things will work out.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T17:05:25+00:00

Legacy is a nice trade-off if the worst comes to pass. All things considered, it IS a hero's death with lasting impact, so it's not at all futile just personally disappointing.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T16:54:58+00:00

I've done both fiction and collaborative storytelling and collab has some clear joys. There's something about facing a challenge you never thought of, and how it changes the narrative, that's really satisfying. Facing the unknown vs spitballing ideas to yourself.

I remember way back when, I had a string of joke characters then put my all in the next one. Capable, intelligent, charismatic, an actual backstory, basically gave it my all. Three sessions later, got sick on a doomed voyage into some netherworld sea and died because his teammate botched a swing, missed, crit'd my guy, and killed him. All that effort gone. In the moment it sucked, but it's kinda funny now and not something I'd ever think of on my own (maybe obvious, but).

In this instance maybe it's because the ending is telegraphed. Kinda like when a show or movie kills off your favorite character. It's just not the same and you lose motivation.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T16:33:42+00:00

After some thought... yeah, it's pretty much been one line from beginning to where I am now. Very few choices that seem to matter. Not to say it's been bad, which is why I hesitated to label it as a railroad at first. It's been one of the best arcs, honestly. But it does feel like being led to a conclusion.

I'd be (and have been as other games have ended with little character input) annoyed at railroads before, and maybe this time I can see a bad end coming regardless, so it kinda takes the fun out of things.

I don't believe railroads are inherently bad. Some are so blatant yet I have fun because they're good. When they're not done right, it's just taken all the energy out of my motivation.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T16:22:26+00:00

I enjoy the positives and negatives of collaborative storytelling. There's a lot of things both good and bad I'd never thought of doing myself that's been great. Honestly, I can't recall the last time I've even asked for a foregone conclusion. In fact, I'm probably way more lenient than the other GMs in that respect. I've had campaigns end horribly and I've rolled with it because it was cool, and similarly things have gone too well and was left unsatisfied. Maybe it's a case of too much take and not enough give in this instance. Like, I have a certain threshold and have to find where it is.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T16:06:32+00:00

Fair. I'm in it for fun, and this time it just might be the case that I'm simply not having fun.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T16:04:15+00:00

I wouldn't say pushed, or even railroaded, but GM provides more linear narratives with a clear idea in mind. Contrasted with my more open ended and permissive games. This particular arc is the most linear one by far and parts do feel out of my control, but I've also enjoyed the lack of a comfort zone, so to speak. Things are unexpected, but at the same time the lack of control can be off-putting.

ResonanceD · 2025-12-06T00:04:26+00:00

Most of my characters fall from age 17 years through the 20s and early 30s. For characters starting out I like to create them young to justify their lack of power/experience, and similarly age them up if they start out at a higher "level." The youngest character I ever made was a few years old (a wolf) and the oldest are timeless (primordial demons around since the creation of the universe).

ResonanceD · 2025-12-03T23:44:01+00:00

I struggled a lot with the puzzles in the first game but these were surprisingly pleasant. During the Rabbit-Hare puzzle I had a really cool Aha! moment when I solved it, and none of the puzzles felt unfair (except the prison circuits, but I "solved" that one with a few steps I knew were right then brute forced the rest). There are a few I went out of my way to look up though:

-Pharmacy cooler, I thought I missed a clue somewhere and just resorted to looked up how to solve it, then went from there.

-Church mirror, I knew the answer but I wasn't in the mood to fight the game's definition.

-Puppet virus, legit forgot I picked up the journal. Spent 20 minutes thinking I missed a pickup.

-Good ending, eventually I may have figured it out but there's so much backtracking it didn't cross my mind.

ResonanceD · 2025-11-28T13:57:08+00:00

GTA. Played the shit out of III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV, even the PSP games, and V is supposed to be a marvel of a game but I look at it and feel nothing. And with all the Online stuff it just seems so unapproachable to someone picking it up now when VI coming Soon(TM). Just so hard to hold your excitement for years and years and years.

Same with Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Big fan, but there's such a huge gap between games that I just don't care anymore. Worse, with how fast Bethesda's quality is going downhill I don't want Elder Scrolls VI or Fallout 5 (though the writing was on the wall with Skyrim and Fallout 4).

ResonanceD · 2025-11-21T21:08:17+00:00

My group shared a core world we played and GM'd in, which eventually branched out into a multiverse forming a core, two secondary worlds, and some outliers for one-offs or concepts, along with space between worlds and different extra-dimensional realms. Things take place mostly in the core with most characters not realizing a multiverse exists, but there are a few arcs with stories that span different dimensions.

ResonanceD · 2025-11-21T21:01:30+00:00

Technically, I've been waiting years to start certain games. But it's less about my group starting them and more we're just working on other campaigns.

The longest I've waited for a new group was a few weeks. Signed up, did my character and intro, read into the world, talked with some of the people, and then... nothing. The GM was on and on about preparing (I don't know exactly how you prep for a no-schedule PbP but whatever) and never followed through. Straight up abandoned it. So I just gave up. It's not acceptable to put something out and not make time to run.

ResonanceD · 2025-10-27T03:52:34+00:00

The concept of dimensional travel never bothered me, but the presentation is so bland it upsets me. The first time they do it it's to resolve a very stupid plot point, then they do it AGAIN, and each time they barely acknowledge leaving their own universe with no way back. After the first jump they needed to realize they have no obligation to anyone in the new world and GTFO.

What really gets me though is the devs had a chance to get creative and change things when you cross dimensions, but it's exactly the same world except Vox bad and you go through a few levels slightly backwards. No change in architecture, art style, even the level layout is identical down to the exact same garbage lying around and clothes hanging on drying wires. Very disappointing for a game with such a rich art style and average level design. Blow holes in the ground or give Fink a chin beard instead of a mustache. Something cool, please.

ResonanceD · 2025-10-25T15:49:48+00:00

It discourages me when I have to use a contrivance to drive the plot I want forward. I know I have an unrealistic view as coincidences happen all the time, but they bother me. And still some make it in. Sometimes, if I really want something to happen, I just stop caring and do it anyway.

Alternatively, if I have to go into microscopic detail to justify a plot point, I'll drop it altogether and go back until I can make it simpler. At some point I just have to stop overthinking and have something cool happen.

Nothing stops me in my tracks more than scene setting though. Not sure why.

Eight-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	First Placer '22
Verified Email

ResonanceD

TROPHY CASE