Dominant, indifferent, or passive? How do you play and which do you prefer?

[Fulsom]

I like to play characters with strong personalities, not necessarily a leader, but a council of sorts - someone that the leader can place trust in, perhaps empower the role of a second-in-command. My characters tend to be quite stoic and noble, but the one I'm playing right now, could be described as a loner. HOWEVER, I have written a personal plot which gets him involved in the story and to interact with other characters.

Its okay to role a loner, as long as you give them necessary force to take action, and be a part of the game. Like my character, he has been searching for something, but disregards the orders of a king to join in an expedition at the start. But when confronted by the king's soldiers, he is given a choice. He sees logic in aiding the King's quest, and interacting with characters. He will selfishly use the king's resources to achieve his own ends.

But again, I will just say that loners can take a part in the story, and not ruin it at all if they are written correctly...I'm not saying I'm the world's greatest writer, but it is important to give a loner type character a reason for aiding others, and not necessarily make them say "Fuck the world" and saunter on through the game without any interaction whatsoever, if you want to do that, write a short story.

[Goldmarble]

I seem to make characters with skillsets that make them into leaders, rather than being proactively choosing to take on the role itself.

Frequently my characters tend to have a more "outdoors" skillset, and a broader skillset than most other characters they interact with, because I tend to try and make my characters realistic. an example would be my character from a "mutant school" game, who was fifteen years old, but came from a very remote town. He knew a lot of outdoor skills: hunting, fishing, bushcraft, survivalism, etc. At the same time, he played sports, and he knew how to make music on a computer. He read books even. Most people who make a character period, focus on giving their character a handful of "skillsets", rather than fleshing them out like a real bloody person (How many "survivalism" games have the typical "Soldier" thrown in?). It seems as though because my characters have a broad knowledge base, and a grounded mentality, that other people's characters instinctively follow them (even if I try to make them non-leaders).

In a current game, my character is sort of turning into one of the "leaders" of the game, just because of his history, experience, and personality. He might be sort of a father-figure to one, or a couple other people in the game, because he is older and more experienced. One of the other character's even asked him to be the leader of his group, but my character turned him down, because he doesn't want to be a leader. Even though he very likely will end up being put into the position of a third group in the game with the way things are working out.

[Nereid]

I can do all, it depends on the character.

[Gowi]

I tend to write generally in this priority: follower -> leader -> loner; with loner being the least likely role I'll fulfil, it's all depends on my characterization in all honesty and the setting I'm involving myself within.

[demspec]

Well, i'm not really experienced, but when i have the choice i'll mostly be a follower/support character.

[Outcast]

I'm ashamed of how often I revert to a loner-type. I'm trying to fix it, but I still don't really have the confidence to make a leader. I tend to worry too much that I'm messing with a good plotline or ruining the intentions of fellow RPers. Stupid, I know.

[Brovo]

I'm ashamed of how often I revert to a loner-type. I'm trying to fix it, but I still don't really have the confidence to make a leader. I tend to worry too much that I'm messing with a good plotline or ruining the intentions of fellow RPers. Stupid, I know.

Not really. It's an understandable concern. The fact that you admit to your faults and desire to repair them makes you more truthful than several others already. That gets my approval.