Plot, Characters, and Factions in RPGs
Barthes writes that “in Aristotelian poetics, the notion of characters is secondary, entirely subordinated to the notion of plot. There can be fables without characters, according to Aristotle, but there cannot be characters without fables... Later, the character, which until then had been nothing but a name, the agent of an action, took on psychological consistency, became an individual, a “person,” a fully constituted “being,” even though he might remain idle, and of course, even before he acted.” It strikes me that most RPG advice I have read concurs with modern conceptions of character. There are many blog posts and RPG books which advise the referee to furnish characters and factions in the world with personalities or conditions that explain their motives and which will ultimately contribute to gameable content. This helpful faction guide advises referees to find an obstacle and motivation for each faction. Kevin Crawford provides similar advice in Worlds Without Number. There is an implicit realist lens which I contend can be constraining.
I am no expert in Aristotle, but classical epics and romances place a far greater importance on action over any believable psychology. The emphasis on psychology or the particulars of personality is distinctly modern and tied inextricably to the rise of the novel. Where psychology is introduced it is always performed through action. When Lancelot is caught by Guinevere sleeping with the beautiful woman Elaine he is so distraught he throws himself out the window, lands screaming in a thorny bush, and then runs away for two years. The next action concerns finding Lancelot.
For the purpouse of the adventure game it seems obvious to me that the Odyssey, Orlando Furioso, Le Morte d'Arthur, or any other number of action or plot driven texts serve as a strong source of inspiration alongside the pulp science-fantasy that inspired Fantasy gaming in the first place (And which typically places no priority on psychology). Sense and Sensibility, though perhaps a good read, does not stoke the fires of imagination or lend itself well to generating adventures. Does the psychology or motivation of a character actually matter to play? To what extent can a ref grasp the inner workings of a complex bureaucracy or even a single goblin? My advice is thus: try to define characters and factions by what they do. Unerringly, unless some great exception has reason to occur, they will follow their code of action. The Goblin King worships the fates through partaking in games of chance. The party, in my last session, knew this quirk and used it to escape certain death. They pressured the Goblin King to agree to a wager he could not uphold. This contradiction enabled them to escape imprisonment: the wager was broken and our heroes got away free. Because the players knew the actions which bound this King, they were able to take advantage of it. He has no psychology whatsoever. In fact, his entire write up is: "Plays games."
The focus on action keeps things tangible and directly actionable to the player. A farmer who misses his ex-wife might be a fun curiosity for the players. A farmer who misses his ex-wife so much that he has gone full mid-life crisis mode, gotten a goatee, abandoned his children to starvation, and has left to kill a dragon (And in doing so will wake it) is more interesting. The psychology isn't the thing: the action is.
The referee needs to understand what a given character or faction does and what capabilities they have. The loyal knight is loyal, and if the king's conspiracy is exposed he will drink himself to death unless someone else can stand in for his former lord. Psychology or motives can come with time, but may never really be relevant. In Knight of the Cart, Lancelot's love for Guinevere is never explained and never needs an explanation. Yet it is the primary engine that moves the story along, both rewarding and punishing Lancelot in equal measure.
Make your adventure games big and bold, with characters that would cross mountains for a whiff of gold or kill their loved ones for a taste of power. This is a plot focused approach to character and faction writing which centres action and excitement over nuance and depth.