my conference paper, suggestions welcome
Oct. 17th, 2005 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drydemMany studies of performance have detailed the importance of differing roles in performance. Milton Singer, in his When a Great Tradition Modernizes, places this relationship as one of the key criteria for evaluating a cultural performance. However, while many studies examine the relationship between the performer and the audience, fewer studies examine the relation between these roles and the performed text. In most forms of oral narrative, the performer-text and audience text relationships are not only clearly defined but clearly distinguished.
The former relationship, between the performer and the performed text could be described as an active relationship. In his book Singer of Tales, Albert Lord describes how even in what seems to be a deeply structured text, the Yugoslavian epic, performers exercise a great deal of agency in the presentation of the text, choosing not only poetic features of the text, but also including or omitting episodes of action, thus choosing the structural features of the text. [expand with references]
In contrast, the relationship between the audience and the text could be described as passive. By passive, I mean to indicate mediated causation, specifically, causation by influence of performer. So, while it is hard to deny that the audience does influence the performance of a text, the usual method for this is to influence the performer. For instance, in the performance of a folktale, an audience may react loudly and emotionally when the villain is mentioned. A performer may then take this reaction and decide to speak more about the villain to elicit audience reaction. However, this audience influence is passive, for the audience to change the text, the performer must choose to respond to that influence.
However, there are forms of oral narrative that do not follow this dichotomous text relationship, specifically, the Role-Playing Game (RPG). In the RPG, the performer/audience dichotomy is broken down into a dialectic process of text creation. Understanding the ways in which this process relates to functional elements in the text sheds light on both the ways in which RPG texts are performed and the ways in which texts in general are constructed.
Functionalism
To understand the ways in which the text is constructed within the RPG, I have decided to use the method of textual analysis known as formalism, as it deals extensively with the ways in which texts are constructed. Understanding the functions of the RPG text allows us to understand texts from the perspective of structure. Before I perform a formalist analysis of an RPG text, I will outline some developments in formalism and explain the structures that appear in the RPG.
Formalism as a method of study originates with Vladimir Propp. In his book Morphology of the Folktale, Propp studied the Russian fairy tale, specifically tales from the Aarne index numbered from 300 to 750, collected in Russia, in order to create a morphology, “A description of the tale according to its component parts and the relationship of these components to each other and to the whole(Propp 19).” To do this, Propp attempted to divide tales into what he called ‘functions’, ways of defining the actions of the dramatic personae of a tale according to the role they play in the overall plot structure of the tale. According to Propp, “Function is understood as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action (Propp 21).” Thus, when Propp defines function, he is defining the ways in which the action of a tale moves forward in certain ways, regardless of specific details.
In his study, Propp found that the Russian fairy tale showed certain persistent functions that provided an overall morphology for the Russian fairy tale. These functions recurred within tales in a regular fashion with details based on the specific tale. Propp gives the following examples: A Princess gives Ivan a ring which carries him to another kingdom, a sorcerer gives Ivan a boat, which carries him to another kingdom. In terms of function, the sorcerer and the princess are the same (donor figures) and the ring and the boat are the same (magical helpers).
According to Propp, the Russian fairy tale consisted of 31 possible functions, beginning with the absentation of a family member and ending with a wedding. While not all functions necessarily happened in every tale, Propp argued that these functions defined the Russian fairy tale and when they did occur, they would do so in a predictable order.
The difficulty with Propp’s formulation of function is that it is limited by both cultural and generic specificity. Because it was limited to the Russian fairy tale, Propp’s functions were very specific and not strictly applicable to other genres of narrative So, for instance, while function 31, ‘The Hero is Married and Ascends to the Throne’, frequently recurs in the Russian fairy tale, it is not a function that defines tales in other cultures and genres.
This limitation is addressed in Alan Dundes’ Morphology of the North American Indian Folktale. In this book, Dundes adapted Propp’s model to examine the morphology of the North American Indian folktale. Dundes adapted Propp’s concept of morphology to examine what Dundes termed ‘motifemes’. According to Dundes, many of Propp’s functions are best expressed as motifemic pairs, directly linked within the morphology of a tale, even when separated by other functions. The prime example he gives are Propp’s functions 8/8a(villainy/lack) and 19(misfortune or lack liquidated). These functions, while linked to each other, are separated by the bulk of the tale. However, Dundes stresses the importance of their link, as one cannot have liquidation without lack and one cannot introduce lack without later liquidation in the story.
With this in mind, Dundes examines 4 motifeme patterns that recur in North American Indian folktales. He examines the two motifeme pattern lack/lack liquidated, the four motifeme sequences interdiction/violation/consequence/attempted escape and lack/deceit/deception/lack liquidated and the six motifeme sequence lack/lack liquidated/interdiction/violation/consequence/attempted escape. These four patterns, which are not all inclusive, but which recur frequently, define a large number of North American Indian folktales in terms of morphological elements.
While Dundes’ analysis also verges into the culturally and generically specific, his work on the motifeme provides a general framework for morphology. Instead of Propp’s static series of functions, Dundes formulated morphology as a series of motifemic episodes which may or may not occur in a given tale. Thus, instead of looking at functions 8/8a and 19 as separate, they become one unit for analysis.
The Morphology of the RPG
In formulating how to look at the morphology of the RPG, it was necessary to understand how functions/motifemes occur in an RPG context and the scale at which to examine function. It is possible, in light of previous scholarship on morphology to examine morphology with either a great level of specificity, examining the morphological characteristics of specific genres and cultures in the style of Propp, or with a great deal of generality, taking the revisions of Dundes and extending them to understand episodes as fundamentally interchangeable parts. It is this later formulation that I intend to use, because its generality allows the examination of the RPG’s dialectic process of morphology.
To this end, the fundamental motifemic pairing in the RPG is that of problem /resolution. This is a generalized pair of overarching motifemes that incorporate several motifemic pairings as one general motifemic phenomenon. Thus, in a simple way, the motifemes of lack, interdiction and deceit can be categorized as problem motifemes, while liquidation, violation and deception can be categorized as resolution motifemes. In a complex way, the problem/resolution motifemic pair can be seen as the basic element of plot movement in a story.
To define this formulation more specifically, in the context of a narrative, a Problem is effectively a call to action. From an initial situation of stasis, the hero is confronted with a change in situation that requires or invites action. Thus, a lack, a villainy, or even an opportunity can serve as a narrative Problem, as each are changes in situation that require or invite action on the part of the hero. The important aspect of the Problem is that it requires action, if it does not inspire action, it is not truly a Problem.
Related to this, Resolution is the action on the part of the hero that changes the situation so that the Problem no longer requires or invites action. While this may be a successful solution, such as the defeat of a villain or the liquidation of a lack, it may also be an unsuccessful Resolution, such as the Fox deciding that the grapes are sour, and thus no longer inviting action. The important aspect of the Resolution is that the initial Problem no longer requires or invites action.
The Problem/Resolution motifemic pairing can recur multiple times within a given narrative often with individual pairings occurring in between an overarching pairing. For instance, in the story Cinderella(AT 510A), there is an overarching Problem/Resolution pairing Cinderella needs to leave home/Cinderella gets married to the Prince. However, within this there are Problem/Resolution pairings of ‘tests by stepmother/success at tests’ and ‘need to identify self to Prince/identify self to Prince.
This structure is common in the RPG, partially because it is a form based on the actions of protagonists. However, it is through the analysis of the techniques of creating the morphology of a given tale that many of the interesting aspects of RPG structure emerge. By examining the ways that Role-Playing games use a dialectic process to fulfill these motifemes, it is possible to understand the dynamics of textual relationships more fully.
Dialectic Morphology and the RPG
While the RPG can be seen to follow a simple Problem/Resolution structure, this is not atypical. Many types of narrative can be seen to follow a Problem/Resolution structure when structure is examined broadly. What is distinctive about RPG structure is the dialectic process of narration.
When I use the term dialectic, I want to draw upon the earliest notions of the dialectic, those of Plato. In Plato’s formulation of the dialectic, the process involves three phases, thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The thesis is an idea put forward by one participant in the process. Another participant then responds with an antithesis, which is an alternate proposal to the initial thesis. Through the dialectic process, thesis and antithesis are combined to form synthesis, which, in Plato’s formulation, is closer to truth than either thesis or antithesis.
Within the context of the RPG, the dialectic process is a fundamental part of the story structure. As defined in the introduction to this panel, the RPG is a form of dialectic storytelling with variable participant roles. These variable participant roles are an important part of the dialectic process. Within the RPG, there are two main categories of role, Player and Game Master(GM). Within the context of RPG narration, the GM is the individual with a greater degree of textual authority. The GM is responsible for all portions of the narrative that are not the direct portrayal of the protagonists. The Players, as there is generally more than one, have textual authority over the protagonists of the story on a one-to-one basis. These roles interact in terms of what topics each individual is authorized to propose antitheses about.
The structure in general works as follows. The GM describes a narrative situation as part of the plot, which generally includes a Problem(Thesis). The players declare ways in which their characters attempt to work towards the Resolution of the Problem(Antithesis). Through consensual processes of adjudication, which generally involve systems of randomization and/or resource expenditure, the thesis and antithesis are synthesized, and a single path of narration is determined. Thus, through the dialectic process the details of the structure of the narrative emerge.
The Process in Action
To illustrate this, I will summarize part of a Role-Playing game session and outline the ways in which this process works in action. In this portion of a session, the characters are faced with a situation in which several Problems occur. I have designated Problems with capital letters, and suggested resolutions with lowercase letters and sequential numbers. As the process progresses, I will cross out Resolutions which do not occur, showing how the suggestions become part of the process of narrative.
Ryan, the GM, describes that the characters come upon a scene where a bag is being stolen by a satyr(A) and some county knights are being attacked by zombies(B). The five characters are faced with two problems. Shawn, David, Tony and Ben declare that their characters are joining the battle(b1). Kate declares that her character is attempting to get the bag from the satyr(a1). Kate’s situation resolves with failure and the incapacitation of her character, so not only does a1 get eliminated, but a new problem emerges, the satyr’s imminent escape(C). Tony and David declare that their characters are now attacking the satyr(a2/c1), Shawn declares that his character is using magic to stop the satyr(c2), Ben declares that his character is using another type of magic to stop the satyr(c3). Because these Players had their characters abandon the battle with the zombies, b1 fails to Resolve. Then, both Shawn and Ben fail to Resolve, thus eliminating c2 and c3. Ben declares that his character is using magic to bring the bag to him(a3). This succeeds, so solution a2 is eliminated as superfluous and problem A is resolved. Shawn declares that his character is returning to the battle with the knights(b2). This does not Resolve the battle, and is eliminated. Ryan declares that the satyr uses magic to try to escape(c4). This succeeds, thus eliminating solution c1 as superfluous and Resolving C. Ben, Tony and David declare that their characters return to the battle against the zombies(b3). They succeed, thus Resolving B.
What we end up with here is two structures, one of the process and one of the narrative. The structure of the process is as follows, A/B/b1 /a1 /C/a2 /c1 /c2 /c3 /a3/b2 /c4/b3. This includes eliminated Resolutions as well as successful ones. The structure of the narrative after the process is A/B/C/a3/c4/b3. All of these Resolutions arose as part of the dialectic process of narration, involving input from both the GM and the Players. Thus, within the form of the game, both the GM and the Players exerted an active relationship with the structure of the text.
Conclusion
In the end, what does this mean to the study of performed narrative? Well, there are several points of interest that may arise from the examination of the dialectic morphology of the RPG. First, understanding the ways in which certain Resolutions are favored in certain situations can aid an understanding of genre. While Propp observed that there is a degree of potential interchangeability in the structure of individual tales, understanding the ways in which various genres of RPG narratives favor certain sorts of Resolutions can provide a good sense of how interchangeable functions truly are.
Second, one of the key concepts in the study of performance is the delineation of the roles of performer and audience. The RPG’s dialectic morphology, providing for multiple active relationships with the text, problematizes that general relationship. If in this form of oral narrative there is a different notion of performer and audience as defined in terms of relationship to the text, then perhaps the concept of performer and audience requires re-examination, specifically as to how these roles are defined.
Finally, this outlining of the structure of the RPG can provide a basis for further study. My hope is that this has outlined well how RPG narratives are constructed, thus laying groundwork for future examinations of which RPG narratives are constructed.
The former relationship, between the performer and the performed text could be described as an active relationship. In his book Singer of Tales, Albert Lord describes how even in what seems to be a deeply structured text, the Yugoslavian epic, performers exercise a great deal of agency in the presentation of the text, choosing not only poetic features of the text, but also including or omitting episodes of action, thus choosing the structural features of the text. [expand with references]
In contrast, the relationship between the audience and the text could be described as passive. By passive, I mean to indicate mediated causation, specifically, causation by influence of performer. So, while it is hard to deny that the audience does influence the performance of a text, the usual method for this is to influence the performer. For instance, in the performance of a folktale, an audience may react loudly and emotionally when the villain is mentioned. A performer may then take this reaction and decide to speak more about the villain to elicit audience reaction. However, this audience influence is passive, for the audience to change the text, the performer must choose to respond to that influence.
However, there are forms of oral narrative that do not follow this dichotomous text relationship, specifically, the Role-Playing Game (RPG). In the RPG, the performer/audience dichotomy is broken down into a dialectic process of text creation. Understanding the ways in which this process relates to functional elements in the text sheds light on both the ways in which RPG texts are performed and the ways in which texts in general are constructed.
Functionalism
To understand the ways in which the text is constructed within the RPG, I have decided to use the method of textual analysis known as formalism, as it deals extensively with the ways in which texts are constructed. Understanding the functions of the RPG text allows us to understand texts from the perspective of structure. Before I perform a formalist analysis of an RPG text, I will outline some developments in formalism and explain the structures that appear in the RPG.
Formalism as a method of study originates with Vladimir Propp. In his book Morphology of the Folktale, Propp studied the Russian fairy tale, specifically tales from the Aarne index numbered from 300 to 750, collected in Russia, in order to create a morphology, “A description of the tale according to its component parts and the relationship of these components to each other and to the whole(Propp 19).” To do this, Propp attempted to divide tales into what he called ‘functions’, ways of defining the actions of the dramatic personae of a tale according to the role they play in the overall plot structure of the tale. According to Propp, “Function is understood as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action (Propp 21).” Thus, when Propp defines function, he is defining the ways in which the action of a tale moves forward in certain ways, regardless of specific details.
In his study, Propp found that the Russian fairy tale showed certain persistent functions that provided an overall morphology for the Russian fairy tale. These functions recurred within tales in a regular fashion with details based on the specific tale. Propp gives the following examples: A Princess gives Ivan a ring which carries him to another kingdom, a sorcerer gives Ivan a boat, which carries him to another kingdom. In terms of function, the sorcerer and the princess are the same (donor figures) and the ring and the boat are the same (magical helpers).
According to Propp, the Russian fairy tale consisted of 31 possible functions, beginning with the absentation of a family member and ending with a wedding. While not all functions necessarily happened in every tale, Propp argued that these functions defined the Russian fairy tale and when they did occur, they would do so in a predictable order.
The difficulty with Propp’s formulation of function is that it is limited by both cultural and generic specificity. Because it was limited to the Russian fairy tale, Propp’s functions were very specific and not strictly applicable to other genres of narrative So, for instance, while function 31, ‘The Hero is Married and Ascends to the Throne’, frequently recurs in the Russian fairy tale, it is not a function that defines tales in other cultures and genres.
This limitation is addressed in Alan Dundes’ Morphology of the North American Indian Folktale. In this book, Dundes adapted Propp’s model to examine the morphology of the North American Indian folktale. Dundes adapted Propp’s concept of morphology to examine what Dundes termed ‘motifemes’. According to Dundes, many of Propp’s functions are best expressed as motifemic pairs, directly linked within the morphology of a tale, even when separated by other functions. The prime example he gives are Propp’s functions 8/8a(villainy/lack) and 19(misfortune or lack liquidated). These functions, while linked to each other, are separated by the bulk of the tale. However, Dundes stresses the importance of their link, as one cannot have liquidation without lack and one cannot introduce lack without later liquidation in the story.
With this in mind, Dundes examines 4 motifeme patterns that recur in North American Indian folktales. He examines the two motifeme pattern lack/lack liquidated, the four motifeme sequences interdiction/violation/consequence/attempted escape and lack/deceit/deception/lack liquidated and the six motifeme sequence lack/lack liquidated/interdiction/violation/consequence/attempted escape. These four patterns, which are not all inclusive, but which recur frequently, define a large number of North American Indian folktales in terms of morphological elements.
While Dundes’ analysis also verges into the culturally and generically specific, his work on the motifeme provides a general framework for morphology. Instead of Propp’s static series of functions, Dundes formulated morphology as a series of motifemic episodes which may or may not occur in a given tale. Thus, instead of looking at functions 8/8a and 19 as separate, they become one unit for analysis.
The Morphology of the RPG
In formulating how to look at the morphology of the RPG, it was necessary to understand how functions/motifemes occur in an RPG context and the scale at which to examine function. It is possible, in light of previous scholarship on morphology to examine morphology with either a great level of specificity, examining the morphological characteristics of specific genres and cultures in the style of Propp, or with a great deal of generality, taking the revisions of Dundes and extending them to understand episodes as fundamentally interchangeable parts. It is this later formulation that I intend to use, because its generality allows the examination of the RPG’s dialectic process of morphology.
To this end, the fundamental motifemic pairing in the RPG is that of problem /resolution. This is a generalized pair of overarching motifemes that incorporate several motifemic pairings as one general motifemic phenomenon. Thus, in a simple way, the motifemes of lack, interdiction and deceit can be categorized as problem motifemes, while liquidation, violation and deception can be categorized as resolution motifemes. In a complex way, the problem/resolution motifemic pair can be seen as the basic element of plot movement in a story.
To define this formulation more specifically, in the context of a narrative, a Problem is effectively a call to action. From an initial situation of stasis, the hero is confronted with a change in situation that requires or invites action. Thus, a lack, a villainy, or even an opportunity can serve as a narrative Problem, as each are changes in situation that require or invite action on the part of the hero. The important aspect of the Problem is that it requires action, if it does not inspire action, it is not truly a Problem.
Related to this, Resolution is the action on the part of the hero that changes the situation so that the Problem no longer requires or invites action. While this may be a successful solution, such as the defeat of a villain or the liquidation of a lack, it may also be an unsuccessful Resolution, such as the Fox deciding that the grapes are sour, and thus no longer inviting action. The important aspect of the Resolution is that the initial Problem no longer requires or invites action.
The Problem/Resolution motifemic pairing can recur multiple times within a given narrative often with individual pairings occurring in between an overarching pairing. For instance, in the story Cinderella(AT 510A), there is an overarching Problem/Resolution pairing Cinderella needs to leave home/Cinderella gets married to the Prince. However, within this there are Problem/Resolution pairings of ‘tests by stepmother/success at tests’ and ‘need to identify self to Prince/identify self to Prince.
This structure is common in the RPG, partially because it is a form based on the actions of protagonists. However, it is through the analysis of the techniques of creating the morphology of a given tale that many of the interesting aspects of RPG structure emerge. By examining the ways that Role-Playing games use a dialectic process to fulfill these motifemes, it is possible to understand the dynamics of textual relationships more fully.
Dialectic Morphology and the RPG
While the RPG can be seen to follow a simple Problem/Resolution structure, this is not atypical. Many types of narrative can be seen to follow a Problem/Resolution structure when structure is examined broadly. What is distinctive about RPG structure is the dialectic process of narration.
When I use the term dialectic, I want to draw upon the earliest notions of the dialectic, those of Plato. In Plato’s formulation of the dialectic, the process involves three phases, thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The thesis is an idea put forward by one participant in the process. Another participant then responds with an antithesis, which is an alternate proposal to the initial thesis. Through the dialectic process, thesis and antithesis are combined to form synthesis, which, in Plato’s formulation, is closer to truth than either thesis or antithesis.
Within the context of the RPG, the dialectic process is a fundamental part of the story structure. As defined in the introduction to this panel, the RPG is a form of dialectic storytelling with variable participant roles. These variable participant roles are an important part of the dialectic process. Within the RPG, there are two main categories of role, Player and Game Master(GM). Within the context of RPG narration, the GM is the individual with a greater degree of textual authority. The GM is responsible for all portions of the narrative that are not the direct portrayal of the protagonists. The Players, as there is generally more than one, have textual authority over the protagonists of the story on a one-to-one basis. These roles interact in terms of what topics each individual is authorized to propose antitheses about.
The structure in general works as follows. The GM describes a narrative situation as part of the plot, which generally includes a Problem(Thesis). The players declare ways in which their characters attempt to work towards the Resolution of the Problem(Antithesis). Through consensual processes of adjudication, which generally involve systems of randomization and/or resource expenditure, the thesis and antithesis are synthesized, and a single path of narration is determined. Thus, through the dialectic process the details of the structure of the narrative emerge.
The Process in Action
To illustrate this, I will summarize part of a Role-Playing game session and outline the ways in which this process works in action. In this portion of a session, the characters are faced with a situation in which several Problems occur. I have designated Problems with capital letters, and suggested resolutions with lowercase letters and sequential numbers. As the process progresses, I will cross out Resolutions which do not occur, showing how the suggestions become part of the process of narrative.
Ryan, the GM, describes that the characters come upon a scene where a bag is being stolen by a satyr(A) and some county knights are being attacked by zombies(B). The five characters are faced with two problems. Shawn, David, Tony and Ben declare that their characters are joining the battle(b1). Kate declares that her character is attempting to get the bag from the satyr(a1). Kate’s situation resolves with failure and the incapacitation of her character, so not only does a1 get eliminated, but a new problem emerges, the satyr’s imminent escape(C). Tony and David declare that their characters are now attacking the satyr(a2/c1), Shawn declares that his character is using magic to stop the satyr(c2), Ben declares that his character is using another type of magic to stop the satyr(c3). Because these Players had their characters abandon the battle with the zombies, b1 fails to Resolve. Then, both Shawn and Ben fail to Resolve, thus eliminating c2 and c3. Ben declares that his character is using magic to bring the bag to him(a3). This succeeds, so solution a2 is eliminated as superfluous and problem A is resolved. Shawn declares that his character is returning to the battle with the knights(b2). This does not Resolve the battle, and is eliminated. Ryan declares that the satyr uses magic to try to escape(c4). This succeeds, thus eliminating solution c1 as superfluous and Resolving C. Ben, Tony and David declare that their characters return to the battle against the zombies(b3). They succeed, thus Resolving B.
What we end up with here is two structures, one of the process and one of the narrative. The structure of the process is as follows, A/B/
Conclusion
In the end, what does this mean to the study of performed narrative? Well, there are several points of interest that may arise from the examination of the dialectic morphology of the RPG. First, understanding the ways in which certain Resolutions are favored in certain situations can aid an understanding of genre. While Propp observed that there is a degree of potential interchangeability in the structure of individual tales, understanding the ways in which various genres of RPG narratives favor certain sorts of Resolutions can provide a good sense of how interchangeable functions truly are.
Second, one of the key concepts in the study of performance is the delineation of the roles of performer and audience. The RPG’s dialectic morphology, providing for multiple active relationships with the text, problematizes that general relationship. If in this form of oral narrative there is a different notion of performer and audience as defined in terms of relationship to the text, then perhaps the concept of performer and audience requires re-examination, specifically as to how these roles are defined.
Finally, this outlining of the structure of the RPG can provide a basis for further study. My hope is that this has outlined well how RPG narratives are constructed, thus laying groundwork for future examinations of which RPG narratives are constructed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Fascinating
Date: 2005-10-18 05:11 am (UTC)I think the particular depth with which RPG narratives are constructed are not well represented by just one kind of dialectic. What makes RPG storytelling so fascinating is how the thesis/antithesis relationship can shift between players and GM, when the GM prompts, or the players act along new lines.
For example, when Cray decided to make a pact with evil spirits, kill good spirits, torture his best friend and kidnap a child, that was certainly a problem, a thesis to which other had to respond, both GM and. That's players just going crazy and plotting new multifemic routes for the story.
GMs can also prompt solutions, such as when a band of adventurers frees a keep from tyrrany, but is surrounded by an enemy encampment. The players are forced to plot the next multifemic route. Do they battle? Decieve? Flee? Make peace? The players must choose the next multifemic route, then the GM will pose new problems to be resolved.
I think there are two different processes at work here, in other words. One is a GM/Player dialectic Problem/Resolution process, but the larger process is multifemic, and alternates dialectic roles.
What else could be said of the participation of players in charting out the multifemic 'path' that the story follows? I remember asking Midnight players what kind of story they want their charcters to have, making sure that the multifemic process suited them. I know, though, that players in certain scenarios, less 'driven' ones, are forced to chart the process by the relative inactivity of the GM.
This is really fascinating.