ATruePacifist

By True Pacifist

• September 7, 2021
Rules: Yes
Referral: Youtube
How do you avoid powergaming in roleplay?: The use or attempted use of knowledge gained out-of-character as IC knowledge, disregarding that the fact that the character would have no real way of knowing such a thing themselves. Typical examples of this involve seeing where someone is on an OOC tracking map to find them ICly, using knowledge overheard in OOC conversations about certain events that can be used for personal gain through metagaming such as the location of the treasure, the combination to a locked container, the location of the secret door in a dungeon the character has never even been to before, etc.
How does metagaming disrupt fair roleplay?: Powergaming is the action of intending to force a particular outcome of Roleplay without actual participation and consent of the other party, usually in the perpetrator's favor. Such examples of this often involve things related to combat, such as two people fighting and one insisting the outcome of their attack as having outright wounded, debilitated or killed the other person without the other person having given any response whatsoever. It can also include possessing power far beyond what your character should be capable of such as attempting to lift several tons as a halfling, omnipotence, or other godly and ridiculous powers granted out of seemingly nowhere just for the sake of being able to 'win' a situation. It is an act that more often than not disregards half of the purpose of Roleplay entirely, the other people you interact with. Powergaming removes the presence, influence, development and interaction of other people for the purpose of attempting to forcibly turn things to one's own selfish desire, and amounts to attempting to write one's own story alone rather than experience and adapt to the world the character inhabits, the people within it, and the limitations or failures that are part of living within it.
Status: Accepted