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Tony Scott, in the interviews that accompany “Beverly Hills Cop II” states (while discussing the casting of Brigitte Nielson for that movie) that his background is in painting, and that casting is like putting colours on the canvas.

I found this to be a really interesting comment. I’ve written articles in the past about giving each PC their own role within a scenario (Scenario and Campaign Arc Building Tips, Part 1, Part 2), but this suggested something slightly different to me – the concept of giving each principal character (PC or NPC) their own distinct emotional tone. The suggestion was that emotional tones amongst the PCs that are complimentary would create a more cohesive and interesting style of interaction amongst the members of a group of connected characters, whilst contrasting tones would help set key NPCs apart from the group.

If The Chemistry Is Right…

Associations immediatly began to flash through my mind. We’ve all see movies where we feel that the leading actors are slightly miscast, even though there’s nothing wrong with the actors abilities or with the interconnection between the roles that we’re playing. When the reviewers talk about such films, you always hear them use the term ‘chemistry’, as in “there was no chemistry between the cast”. A favorite example is Dick Tracy – there was nothing wrong with Warren Beatty as Tracy, or with Madonna’s performance in the movie, when considered in isolation – but the combination just didn’t Gel, at least for me. In comparison, where the chemistry is right, such as that between Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwartzenegger in Twins, it doesn’t matter how unlikely the combination seems at first glance – it works brilliantly on the screen.

That was the first association: that this was a metaphor that permitted an insight into creating a “chemistry” between the principal cast of a movie – or, in our case, a game.

Identifying Emotional Tones

Artists use specific terms to describe colours, some of which translate directly into emotional terminology. Warm, friendly tones work well together. A single strong contrast with a hint of a matching tone can be complimentary. A lighter tone only balances a darker tone in the company of a central tone, whose ambiance associates with both the other tones. There are all sorts of colour-compositional analagies that can be created.

Can you picture a single colour that is representative of the emotional contribution of a single PC in your campaign to the overall party? What sort of ambiance is created by the interplay between the colours of the party – and is anything out-of-place or missing?

These are subjective and philosophical questions with no easy answers, but the benefits of such an identification, at least in theory, are manyfold.

Using The Palette

Every NPC is more than just a collection of statistics on a page and a story function. Even if there is a personality profile and background, there are still a whole range of ways that personality can be expressed, a diversity of styles in the way the character can manifest – and each with its own emotional nuance and colour.

The metaphor, in other words, gives a tool by which the manner in which the antagonist’s relationship and interaction with the protagonists can be tuned and tweaked. Bluster and Bombasticy? Icy and emotionless? A perpetual slow boil? A Sarcastic manner of expression? Everybody’s friend? Soft-spoken and Creepy, or Loud and Manic? By choosing what aspects of the personality you put on show, you manipulate the mode of engagement between the PCs and the character, with the result that the relationship can be exploited to support the story function of the character.

Exploring the emotional tones of the character within a campaign won’t solve every problem, but it’s a different way of looking at the makeup of a campaign, and having a different perspective at your disposal is never a bad thing.


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