[Papers&Paychecks] 1.8 Personality

Sun Jan 29 04:29:05 UTC 2017

Hi

So many things to unpack... Please bear with me and let me know.

We've kind of got classes already with labourers, scientists, researchers etc... We many not want to overcomplicate things too much.

I quite like the way Lev has used MBTI here it shows a good understanding of MBTI - as far as I make sense of it myself.  I agree with Simon in that we will have to see how much of an explanation of the theory itself we have space for.  Lev has been pretty brief going over MBTI, only a few sentences per trait and around a page dedicated to this sub-system would feel fine to me but more than that would begin to feel like a text book. We may have to wait until later to edit things like that.

Some alternative options for a personality subsystem are below.  I know I've gone on a bit but I wanted to explore alternatives to better understand whether this was the option we wanted:

One option would be to skip the roll against 7 as a commitment to the preference and let the PC  choose that themselves, emphasising the idea that your MBTI is a preference.  The player would then be ruled by the bonuses/negatives In that sense it would be more like an alignment system with no rolling and less like Pendragon's system.

Another option to Lev's current rule set would be to skip past MBTI and use the Keirsey Temperament Sorter roles to give +2/-2 circumstance bonuses for discrete situations to each of the archetypes, e.g. Rodney's Mastermind gets +2 to project planning and -2 to disarming small talk.  This would be relatively simple.

I've had a think about choosing a personality system closer to the Pendragon format of traits (paying appropriate homage to Greg Stafford of course).  I would love for it to work but there are some problems. In Pendragon, if I remember correctly,  rolls are made against each trait (+/-) in given situations, making them 'skills' as opposed to bonuses on a scale of 1-20 I think. We have the four MBTI binary opposites on scales as Lev suggests but on 1-10 scale.

So Russell the programmer might have Extroversion 3 - Introversion 7, Sensing 4 - Intuition 6, Thinking 7 - Feeling 3, and Judging 8 - Perception 2.  In the example Lev gives he would roll against Extroversion or Introversion using the scores as a roll under target on 2d6 say. If he makes it he gets a tick against that trait, role-plays the result and then gets the chance to improve it in down-time later.

If we utilise the same mechanic Pendragon does it will encourage play towards certain roles (the office versions of knightly virtues perhaps?) which could be the archetypes and they could give substantial bonuses like chivalry and religious bonuses do in Pendragon.  It would mean we would be encouraging people to create and develop characters with extremes of these traits which could have some disadvantages - that's not the way most people work, it may not be fun to play as or with someone with extreme scores.  On the other hand are we trying to replicate reality or mock it? Working in an office can make people do weird things... These are just ideas and obviously we would need to playtest the personality system out to see what would be most fun.

And finally, I like the idea of long term social combat between the programmer and the manager that Lev hints at - the manager was defeated by losing that round and then chose to 'disengage', but wasn't reduced to 0 social hp.   Presumably something more permanent would happen then.  He could have hacked it out with Rodney's character and probably beaten him . This may have ended in Russell being sacked but the manager may have lost most of his kudos or social hp along the way.  Instead perhaps this is one of a number of skirmishes with each of them trying to get the upper ground & recovering between bouts.

Kudos, Resilience and Health for social, mental and physical hps?

Andrew

________________________________
From: PapersAndPaychecks <papersandpaychecks-bounces at rpgreview.net> on behalf of Simon Stainsby <bikenerd at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, 28 January 2017 8:43 PM
To: papersandpaychecks at rpgreview.net
Subject: Re: [Papers&Paychecks] 1.8 Personality

Can the archetypes be some analagous to DnD class or specialisation?
Perhaps provide bonuses to certain actions?

On 29 Jan 2017 7:34 am, "Simon Stainsby" <bikenerd at gmail.com<mailto:bikenerd at gmail.com>> wrote:
I like.
Firstly because critics of Myers Briggs point to the normal distribution (and variability) of results to show how it's all BS.

So having a game mechanic that is both normally distributed and having an experience point system that allows players to vary their MB results is cool.

Good example. Lots of description of MB / Archetypes. Editing final product will see if all the detail is needed (might need additional game play hooks to justify current size).

Looking good

S

On 28 Jan 2017 11:01 pm, "Andrew Daborn" <andrewdaborn at hotmail.com<mailto:andrewdaborn at hotmail.com>> wrote:
Nice. I just had a brief scan of it. It looks good, especially the example at the end. I'll go over it again tomorrow and get back to you.

Sent from Samsung Mobile

-------- Original message --------
From: Lev Lafayette
Date:28/01/2017 20:34 (GMT+10:00)
To: papersandpaychecks at rpgreview.net<mailto:papersandpaychecks at rpgreview.net>
Subject: [Papers&Paychecks] 1.8 Personality

Sample chapter sub-section. What do you think? Interested in Andrew's
point-of-view in particular :)

## 1.8 Personality

*"Most personality psychologists regard the MBTI as little more than an
elaborate Chinese fortune cookie"*
Robert Hogan

Like much of the corporate world, *Papers & Paychecks* uses the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a summary of a character's personality, and
mapped to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, both of which are derived from
Jungian psychology. Like most aspects of roleplaying games, this is
expressed in the simplified form, without auxiliary functions for example.
In other games this is the equivalent of their "alignment". As a
roleplaying game, a player should play according to the role of their
character.

Whilst the player is given a choice about the personality values of their
Type, within the range of 3-18, and an option is designed for random
generation on 3d6. Note that contrary to original expectations the four
dichotomies of MBTI tend towards a more normal distribution rather than a
bipolar distribution. In addition the formal MBTI uses absolute values
rather than a continuum.

**Favorite world: Extraversion/Introversion**

Extraversion and Introversion are preferences in MBTI, which may not map
to actual activities. In a general sense, Extraverted characters are
outward-focussed by preference, whereas Intraverted characters are
inward-focussed by preference. This does not mean that extraverted
characters necessarily prefer action to thought (or vice-versa for
introverts), but rather their actions have different reasons; the
extravert will think in order to engage with the extrernal world, the
introvert will act in order to engage with their inner world.

Socially, extraverted characters are often engaged in the company of
others, and are energised by social interactions, especially with a wide
variety of individuals and ideas. Introverted characters prefer smaller
close-knit groups, or even their own company. This should not be confused
with social anxiety issues; an extraverted character could suffer from
stage fright, just as an introverted person could be perfectly fine with
other people; they would just *prefer* to bury their nose in a book.

**Information: Sensing/Intuition***

Sensing and Intuition are information-gathering functions in the MBTI.
Again, it is a preferential model. In a general sense, Sensing characters
are orientated towards giving credence to information that is immediate,
empirical, and tangible, coming from their senses. In contrast Intuition
characters are more trusting of information that is contextual, rational,
and abstract.

A Sensing character will prefer to recall events as a set of facts,
whereas the Intuitive character will recall them as contexts and flow.
Sensing characters will solve problems but each step in a serial and
linear manner, whereas an Intuition character will solve problems by
taking in ideas, interpretations, and possibilities from a variety of
sources. Sensing and Intuition must be understood as information-gathering
traits, rather than a sensual response. An Intuitive character can still
be a person who enjoys physical sensation, just a Sensing character could
dislike physical sensations.

**Decision: Thinking/Feeling**

Thinking and Feeling are preferential choices when making decisions in the
MBTI. Characters with a Thinking preference tend to look towards internal
consistency as their primary source with a degree of detached fairness,
whereas characters with a Feeling preference tend towards the particular
circumstances and feelings of the people involved.

Characters who prefer Thinking for decision making are not necessarily
"thinkers" or more intelligent or rational, and likewise people who have
Feeling for decision making are not necessarily more sensate, or even more
empathic. The MBTI eveluates preferences, not ability.

**Orientation: Judging/Perception**

Judging and Perception are perferential choices when orientating one's
self to the external world. Characters with a Judging preference prefer an
organized and planned approach to life that has a high degree of structure
so they can be make contingencies. A Perceiving character has a preference
of living that has a higher degree of flexibility and spontaneity so they
can adapt to new circumstances.

Characters who prefer Judging are not necessarily judgemental, and
characters who prefer Perceiving are not necessarily more perceptive. It
is an expresssion of how one prefers to organise their interactions with
the external world.

**Game Use**

With an assignment or from random determination, characters will have MBTI
values for the four paired values. From here, a bonus is derived in the
same manner that is done for characteristics, based on the dominant value
of the pair or for the first value if the bonus is +0. When a situation
arises when a preference is called (e.g., a matter of world preference, of
information gathering, of decision making, of world orientation) the
player may optionally roll 2d6 against a target number of 7 (easy) to
*guide* their approach, adding the appropriate bonuse. The degree of
'success' above the target number establishes a commitment to a particular
approach to the dominant pair, and likewise the degree of 'failure'
represents a commitment to the opposite pair.

For example: Russel Wrench, a mild mannered computer programmer, has
randomly determined the paired characteristics: Extraversion 6 (-2) which
becomes Introversion (+2), Sensing 9 which becomes Intuition (+1),
Thinking 12 (+1), and Judging 14 (+2). The player marks in the character
sheet under personality I+2,N+1,T+1,J+2

**Keirsey Temperament Sorter**

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter provides roles which can be mapped to MBTI
values. These are provided here as a shortcut for players to make an "at a
glance" overall decision of a character's behaviour. Kersey assessed
characters on whether they were orientated by preference towards the
concrete and the abstract, then whether they were cooperative or
utilitarian, then informative or directive, and finally expressive or
attentive. This provides multi-level temperament, role, and role variants.

MBTI    Kiersey Role Variant    Descriptives
ESFJ    Provider        Observant, Logistical, Supporting, Supplying
ISFJ    Protector       Observant, Logistical, Supporting, Securing
ESTJ    Supervisor      Observant, Logistical, Regulating, Enforcing
ISTJ    Inspector       Obervant, Logistical, Regulating, Certifying
ESFP    Performer       Observant, Tactical, Improvising, Demonstrating
ISFP    Composer        Observant, Tactical, Improvising, Synthesizing
ESTP    Promoter        Observant, Tactical, Expediating, Persuading
ISTP    Crafter          Observant, Tactical, Expediating, Instrumenting
ENFP    Champion        Instrospective, Diplomatic, Mediating, Motivating
INFP    Healer          Introspective, Diplomatic, Mediating, Concilliating
ENFJ    Teacher         Introspective, Diplomatic, Developing, Educating
INFJ    Counsellor      Introspective, Diplomatic, Developing, Guiding
ENTP    Inventor        Introspective, Rational, Costructing, Devising
INTP    Architect       Introspective, Rational, Constructing, Designing
ENTJ    Fieldmarshal    Instrospective, Rational,  Arranging, Mobilizing
INTJ    Mastermind      Introspective, Rational, Arranging, Entailing

For example, Russel Wrench is a "Mastermind", and that is added in the the
character sheet next to the personality values.

The Boss should show interest in how players use these results as it
represents playing according to the character's psychological preferences.
A consistent use of such character preferences by a player, especially
when it is contrary to the character's interests at the time should result
in a Luck Point reward.

> Boss: OK, you're in for the big technical meeting. The manager and the
team are there, all NPCs except you. Everyone's really pumped out and
excited about this new roll-out of a massive new storage system for the
company, with a new operating system and storage protocol. Everyone's
talking over one another, scribbling on white boards and debating what
tasks they're going to do. Rodney, what's your character, Russell
Wrench, up to?

> Rodney: My character has Introversion at +2, I make a check and roll a
... ahh, an 11. Russell will pull out his laptop and start reading
through some technical specifications for operating system and storage
protocol.

> Boss: Whoa, the manager is not impressed with that at all, "This is a
*team* meeting Russell, your input is appreciated. A *lot* of money is
being spent on this project, including a lot of money on *your* wages.
We expect value for money", he says tersely.

> Rodney: Russell ignores the manager for several seconds and finally
mutters something about going over the technical details.

> Boss: Ha! That's excellent. Give yourself a Luck Point for playing in
character even when the character is under threat. The manager explodes
at you, "When ask you to participate, Mr. Wrench, I am giving an
*order*, not an *option*. We have come here for a team meeting to
determine the roll-out of a two million dollar project, and here you are
wasting company time playing around on your laptop. Either you
contribute or get out of here!". The room falls silent and everyone
turns looking at you. Your move.

> Rodney: Huh, attack is the best defense. I initiate a social attack
against the manager. I'll make a Computer roll, and spend my Luck Point
to make it a 12. That's my best skill and brings it to a total of 18.
What's the manager's defense?

> Boss: Er, well, he's really set himself up for this, so I guess it's a
counter-attack with Bully! His bonus is +5 total and he rolls a, ahh, 5,
for a total of 10. You win by 8 points, that's a huge loss to his
Charisma, even with his professional defense it'll take him months to
recover. OK, what do you do?

> Rodney: Russell closes the lid of his laptop, gets up, and says, "The
operating system and the storage protocol are incompatible". He glares
at the manager. "I've just saved the company two million dollars - and
saved your job", and then walks out the door.

> Boss: Drops mic, eh?

> Rodney: *nods* Drops mic.

--
Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech
Mngmnt) (Chifley)
mobile:  0432 255 208
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