RPGaDay2020 Prompt 10 – Want

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Prompt: Want

What does your character want? It's a question that many times is left out, even when an in depth background is created, and even when we give objectives for our characters- sometimes we forget that root question that lies beyond the objective. I'm currently playing four characters in four different campaigns – Kenetsu Phar, 4th level brawler, 1st level rogue in a Pathfinder campaign, Nelson Crowe, 3rd Level Scholar in a Silent Legions campaign, Grayson Kitsch, God of Asymmetrical Warfare and Son of Ares in a Lords of Olympus Campaign, and Valentinian Decimus Merula, former Actor, now Exalt of Pasiap in a Lords of Gossamer and Shadow/Exalted game. Thinking about this question, I realized that I don't know what any of them really want. I have objectives- Crowe wants to master the cursed sword he is the caretaker of, Valentinian wants to secure the world that he is responsible for from outside influence and harm. But those are just goals. For all of the care that I put into each of their backgrounds, I've never looked deeper than that to see what they want at a basic level, and I think that's one of the reasons that I sometimes lose the 'voice' of the character- because I don't truly 'know' them, nor what truly drives them. It's a sobering thought.