Roleplaying

As the name of the game implies, the principle point is to play a role. But there is more to a roleplaying game than just this, or it would simply be improvisational theater. As one of the players, your job is multi-faceted. You have two sets of priorities, the meta-game, and the in-game. The meta-game level is the one most like what you are familiar with from other games -- it is the level of playing the game as a game, and is most like storytelling. The in-game level is more like theater, and carries with it responsibilities much like acting.

On an in-game level, you want to assume a role -- your Main character -- and attempt to get into the mindset of that character. At every point, as your character, you are looking at the situation and responding as she would. At the same time, on the meta-game level, you want to do and say what will make for the most enjoyable story. Often, these two aspects to playing the game are referred to as the character and the player, emphasizing their primary points of view. As may be apparent, it is easy for these two points of view to come into conflict. Luckily, there are a number of tricks and techniques that help to mesh them.

Being a Hero

First, especially since this is a larger-than-life, super-heroic, black-and-white story, you need to start by building a character that fits that mold. If your character's ideals and beliefs are carefully constructed, you will often find yourself choosing, as your character, the path most interesting -- without any need to step back and consider things from the detached player perspective. Likewise, when you play the character, you can then more easily do what will make for an interesting story, without compromising the integrity of the character. So, there are several general principles that will usually help in constructing a character. First, the character should be a hero. That is, not only should she be good, but she should be actively good, going out of her way to confront evil, injustice, or wrongdoing. And she should not, generally, spend too much effort considering the wisdom of her choices, at least not in terms of immediate ramifications. This is not to say that wise characters are discouraged (just the opposite, in fact), but a true superhero does not hesitate to fight the villain -- or track her to her lair, or thwart her nefarious plot -- just because it might be dangerous or difficult. She will, of course, be cautious if there is a risk of collateral damage to innocent people, or if she is not certain that she has the right person, or if there is some other reason that direct, immediate action is ill-advised. Just usually not because charging headlong into combat against superior foes is suicidal.

Schtick

An equally important consideration when designing your character is niche: each character should be unique. In a group of characters, each character should be clearly the best (among the group members) in some area. This makes it much easier for the SG to give your character spotlight time. This unique niche often stems from the character's schtick, but it could be secondary to it. Most, though not all, superheroes have a "schtick". Your schtick is a very short (usually just a few words) summary of who your character is, as a superhero. The easiest sort of schtick is being best at something, or at least exceptional. Strongest, fastest, smartest, cleverest, most faithful -- these are the sorts of schticks that many superheroes' super-ness stem from. In modern comics, superheroes are often complex, and not easily shoehorned into a simple schtick. But in the world of Four Colors al Fresco, heroes should be simpler, like the pre-comic heroes of the pulps. Generally, a single schtick will be sufficient, though most character should have at least a few Descriptors that go beyond this. Even some Omegas that have more than one Omegaed Planet will still fit into a simple schtick.

"Vengeful master sleuth and inventor"; "super-human man from another planet"; "blind martial artist"; "super-fast"; "the physique of a human-sized spider"; "millionaire inventor".

Notice how many of these schticks are somewhat complex, conveying more than one idea. There is no requirement that a schtick be one-dimensional. Of course, there isn't even any requirement that you have one; it's just a useful tool for envisioning an appropriate character for the genre.

Grommets

Schticks help you all have fun by keeping the characters sufficiently different that you all get a chance to shine. Grommets have a similar role for player-Storyguide interactions. A grommet is something that a hook hooks into, in this case, the hooks for the Storyguide's plots. Like a schtick, grommets are not explicitly part of the game mechanics, but tend to be hidden among the Descriptors. It is your job to create a character with at least one grommet, preferably several.

Grommets are what keep the characters interested in the stories. In the early superhero genre, they are relatively unimportant. Most superheroes have one grommet that is sufficiently generic to fit just about any story -- usually, "feels obligated to use extraordinary powers for Good", or something similar. In other words, they're heroes just because they are. This is a perfectly acceptable grommet, but a bit bland -- everyone in the group probably shares it. So, as part of the pulp feel, make your characters more interesting by making them more interested in things. Every time you pick a Descriptor that somehow ties your character to the rest of the world, you're adding grommets. The most obvious of these are ones that talk about the character's relationship to another person, but anything that delineates or implies a personality trait helps, too. Because if she has a personality, then there are things that she will react to. Hot-button issues are a great help for the Storyguide. If she can count on your character to respond passionately when a particular topic comes up, it makes it easy for her to get you involved in plots.

Get Carried Away

In terms of actually roleplaying, the best advice is: more is better. The more you get into the head of your character, the more fun everyone will have. Try and look at things as your character would¹⁷ and react as she would. Related to this is originality. Especially when creating your character, get carried away and creative. Come up with the most unique, interesting character you can. Why have wings when you can fly by draining the phlogiston from unburned objects?

When you have the opportunity, invent new details about your character. And remember that that creative power extends to other elements of the world that touch your character. If the SG doesn't, invent a name for the cobbler you're talking to. In fact, in general, don't ask when you can state. That is, don't ask the SG if there's a night table in the bedroom you're searching, just say "I search the night table." If you overreach, the SG, or perhaps the rest of the Troupe, will let you know, or demand that you play a Storypath card to make it so. Better to overreach a bit and be curbed than to surrender your creative input to the Storyguide.

The Perfect Player

There are also aspects of just playing the game that are very important. First of all, forget all notions you have from other games about winning and cheating. You can't win an RPG, and the only thing you'll accomplish by cheating is spoiling your own fun. The point of an RPG is the telling of a collaborative story, so there is nothing to win, and "cheating" with the mechanics either has no effect, or undermines the tension of the storytelling. For that matter, many of the actions that would be considered cheating in other games, here aren't -- changing your mind on an action, even after you know the results; acting on information that your character wouldn't have (provided it furthers the story).

In addition to contributing to the unfolding story, it is your job as a player to pay attention so you know what's going on, and to know the rules so that you don't hold up the game. The rules of Four Colors al Fresco are relatively simple, and intended to be easily internalized, with the character sheets effectively summarizing, or at least giving mnemonic clues, to all of them. On the flip side, however, don't get hung up on the rules. If your Troupe is amenable, making a suggestion to the SG is perfectly acceptable, but if you don't like the SG's ruling, don't waste time arguing about it. All you'll do is get everyone upset, even if you succeed in persuading her. Instead, make a note to yourself, and bring it up to the group as a whole, either at the end of the session, or before you start the next time. It won't change that situation (generally -- with retcon¹⁸ , anything is possible), but maybe they'll agree that it should be handled differently in the future.

Which leads to the final directive of the player: don't make the Storyguide do all the work. Along with helping the creation, the players' job is to help steer the story. Think of it as mental armwrestling -- the players should be gently "fighting" the SG when it comes to the direction of the story, helping to build it through this tension. Two heads really are better than one in this case, and six are even better than that. Rather than the SG feeling like she's unfolding a pre-planned plot, and the players are merely choosing which branch of it to follow, she should feel like she's holding the reins of a team of wild horses, the plot just barely under her control (principally via the villains' actions), while the players lead it to where it will be most satisfying for all. Use your Storypath cards to make the plot more interesting, and give creative input. The resulting game will be all the more fun for the interweaving of several people's ideas.