Maybe my characters are not established enough to profit from the big-scale events, and perhaps I'm not yet settled deeply enough into settings, guilds and IC player conflicts, but for my characters the on-going story comes from themselves and the characters they meet.
many small RP's > one big RP
Some of the best RP I've had yet came from chance encounters - usually while addressing people who were loitering about, or having my character stand and watch. It's no use to expect everyone you meet to have time or an interest, as much as it doesn't help to /greet and say "good day" to every passing person. Playing along naturally, with an interest in one's surroundings and being open for things to happen seem to yield the best results. This has lead to anything from philosophical arguments to being robbed so far
.
One thing that's immensely important for any of my characters is to
have a limitation or bias. This will always help me to give me a direction where the free form environment doesn't give one, and bring me into situations
where I must be creative to resolve a situation with a given character. Some examples I've played with:
My first character has a strength in the thirties. Juggling his inventory between quests is a challenge in it's own right, sometimes, and he sits down frequently while receiving quest items
. He doesn't like hard work or getting dirty, and never mines himself (although I might have violated that one once or so). That means he is often in need of others mining for him. He's not a non-combatant, and his sharp blades and sword skill can dispatch some creatures.
My current character is a little less out-going than the first. This makes it a little harder to engage with people, but the RP I've had was more rewarding. He tries to learn magic but shuns books or academia, and the followers of Laanx. He prefers to learn from nature and exploration (and loves to comment on bugs and glitches in an IC way), and is curious to study the world. He likes to find remote places and hide some items there for others to discover (and he has learned that there are others who do the same). I think the limitations on this character are more of a social nature (no, he's not in a guild or a follower of Xiosia either), but in addition to that he trains mace & hammers as his main weapon.
Another character concept (a bit cliche, it's true) came from playing on EZPCUSA. A female dwarven cook with a big mouth... she's in her best mood when she can berate others. Mostly she complains about NPCs. Once she was doing a small errand for a GM-led Harnquist, and couldn't stop going on about how he was working too much and eating only apples...
It helps having opinionated characters, IMO. A lot
.
So yes, have duels and wars, and big markets for weapon sales. That will give my characters something to complain or worry or wonder about...
(I'm still levelling my characters, just slowly and as unrepetitively as possible, in case you wanted to put me in some RPvsPL camp)
