Familiarity

Familiarity is a great thing. As you get more familiar with the people you work & play with, you know what you can depend on them for. You learn about their strengths, their weaknesses, and you move forward depending on that knowledge.

We see that a lot in "The Tribe." You know a character, and you depend on what you know.

Examples? Easy.

You know Amber has a good head on her shoulders; she'll make decisions for the good of the tribe & not just her own good. Salene has a mother-complex; young or old, she'll be more than glad to take care of you. Dal is a wanna-be farmer & a hard worker; he doesn't do things for the credit but because he genuinely wants to help.

Once you know people this way, you depend on them not to change...and you tend to take advantage of what you know. Heaven help you if they ever break type, because you honestly won't know how to react.

Amber gets tired of always thinking of others first; she tosses it all for Sasha. Reaction? She's selfish, of course--how dare she! Salene tries so hard to take care of everybody that she winds up snared in the Guardian's trap, losing herself. Reaction? The girl's a traitor--never trust her again! Dal is so much a team-player that he winds up getting himself killed, sacrificing himself to help his friends. Reaction? Poor Dal, we'll really miss him. Who's next?

The same thing is happening with characters in our game, where examples are also easy. Arianna is our mother-figure. Hawk defends the innocent. Prince stays clear of long-term connections. Brena always lands on her feet. Sid shows up where you least expect him. Marionette is so unpredictable he's ultimately predictable. Krystal always thinks of others first. And so on...and so on...

Sometimes we depend on these characteristics because we know the characters so well & have seen the traits proven time & again. Sometimes, it's because we're familiar with each other as players so we're depending on the human behind the scenes to act to type. And sometimes, because of this familiarity, we push the envelope & take advantage of the characters/players because we KNOW them. How could they do any differently, based on previous actions? And good god, why should they resent being taken for granted? It's who they are, right?

As players, we're generally good about playing characters to type. But heaven help us when a player breaks type...and quite frankly? That's when it gets interesting.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"