What is Dramatization?

Just like the other parts of character creation, by itself Dramatization is pretty simple. It is just how character is played. It is what the player does to bring the character to life at the gaming session. These actions are broken down into two sections – effect and content.

Dramatic effects include gestures, using an accent, the style of language used, stuttering, avoiding eye content, costuming and whatever else the player can dream up to create the feel of his character. Many of these are considered “immersion” tactics that help people understand the character and feel like they are actually conversing with a medieval monk or star-faring vampire.

Dramatic content involves bringing the character to life based on what the player actually says. This involves making the character feel real by saying things that the character would say and by doing things the character would do. Having the character always say a religious prayer before eating will go a long way to making that character believable. Part of this is making sure your character has goals that make sense for the character and they don't seem random in action, but rather directed by an actual mind.

Someone out there is currently thinking "but this is about playing a character, not creating a character" and they would be absolutely right. Players need to create a baseline for the character's actual play during character creation by giving them personality and motivations from the very beginning. This baseline, along with the fact that characters are always changing, makes dramatization an important concept in character creation.

Character Creation based on Dramatization

Most systems that approach free-form are basically just Dramatization centric. They mostly focus on what the character is going to do and how they are going to do it (with maybe a little inspiration and concept thrown in for spice.) A true dramatization only character creation would involve starting your character cold turkey – walking into a room and having the GM say "go!"

Another way to look at dramatization is as the "end goal" of the character creation process. Since dramatization defines how you play the character, each step of the character creation process should have an affect on the dramatization or it probably isn't needed. If you roll up a lisp during the mechanics section, that affects how you should dramatize your character. Background events should create motivations for the characters dramatic content. Part of the inspiration might be that you want to play a character that can use that chain mail bikini costume.

Changing Dramatization in Play

Dramatic content changes constantly as the story progresses. Content is, after all, nothing more then the character's role in the story. As goals are completed, motivations change. As magical items are found, new goals can be made. In standard role-playing, where there is a group of players doing something like a campaign, the interactions with other players is a major source of dramatic content shift – the character develops relationships with the other characters that change its actions and desires from the baseline that was built during initial character creation.

Dramatic effects are a lot less likely to change. It will take a lot of game play to see a stutter disappear and for that to appear believable to the other players. Effects are tools that the player is using to help the other players understand their character within the context, and changing them rapidly has the opposite effect of confusing the players and making it hard for them to focus on the pieces that truly define the character.

What if Dramatization is Missing?

Some people don't actually role-play when they play role-playing games. It is perfectly viable to play D&D as a miniature combat game without actually getting into the realm of dramatic effects and content. One might even go so far as to say that it is somewhat common. Players often come up with elaborate concepts for their character, but when it comes time for game play it is about killing the monsters and looting the treasure, or taking whatever actions are needed to statistically advance the character. Systems that attach game effects to their role-playing flaws (i.e. the stutter gives you a -5 reaction penalty) are accommodating these sorts of players by allowing their character to have the flaw without requiring it to be dramatized.

While this concept may seem silly or boring to many of us role-players, one has to remember that mechanics evolved long before inspiration, conceptualization and dramatization. The hobby of role-playing draws its roots from historical war simulations. Why would it be so strange for players to want to play such a game without drama? Some people feel silly speaking with a strange accent, or even making in character statements. There is still a place for them among role-playing games.

Conclusion

As dramatization is the end result of character creation it is easy to say that it is the most important of all of the parts of character creations. But I am always reminded of Amber Diceless role-playing, where my first GM would start every one of the attribute auctions with "X is the most important attribute." I have the same advice to say to you – Dramatization/Inspiration/Mechanization/Conceptualization is the most important part of character creation. You just get to decide which one is going to be the most important for your character and your campaign.

(And really, Strength is not the most important attribute. I am still undecided on the others.)

And with that, I am finally through all parts of character creation. The original plan had me writing a wrap-up column next month where I make statements about the inter-relations between each of the parts and give my readers a big picture look at how it works in different orders. But after five months of beating these topics to death I am going to have to instead move on to something lighter and more entertaining with which to wrap up the parts of character creation and allow me to move on to more fun topics. You will have to wait and see what it is that is swirling around in my brain right now and will not exist in permanent binary space until next month, but it should be fun. All in all, I hope that this discussion of the parts of character creation has been useful to you as a role-player and reader of my column.