In the Rolleplay Blades game I saw a classic player ego issue dealt with in an amazing way by Zeke.
At 19:11 a very cool thing happens, and I think it’s totally worth shining a spotlight on as an example of great play.
We have this very common situation. The players all have characters who are consummate bad asses but for one reason or another (in this case it was social status) an NPC is looking down on them and treating them as lesser. John didn’t lay it on too thick, but Iramina clearly thought of herself as better than the scoundrels.
And so many times I’ve seen this particular interaction trigger a result where the players need their PC to prove the NPC is wrong, a jerk, less, etc. It’s a status game and the player is determined to walk away with high status, thus starting some kind of conflict.
But in this case, what Aldo did was brilliant, because he didn’t try to insult or awe Iramina, instead he tried to find a common ground to connect with her. Yes, he did want to show her that he had educated tastes, but it wasn’t to insult her. He praised her and gave her an opening to praise him. And yes, she was awkward about it too, because he caught her off guard, but she had no reason to walk away thinking Aldo was a jerk, or someone who was trying to jump up to her status, just someone who appreciated some of the same things she did.
I think this is a fantastic example of a player finding a way to connect with an NPC rather than a way to humiliate, manipulate, or otherwise control them. Three cheers to @Ezekiel_III
That was an amazing moment. Irimina’s heartfelt reaction was essentially my own reaction in the scene.
That was such an amazing scene, such a cool way to fix that problem. X3
Damn, I need to watch the VOD for this. Makes me even more excited to get more Blades in my life 😀
More people should act this way in real life, too.
That scene was brilliant. Nearly every scene with Aldo has been fantastic. Zeke’s been killing it.