The Spotlight

Over the last few days, I have been thinking a lot about the ‘spotlight’ in games. Everyone uses different terms for things, so let me explain what I mean. The ‘spotlight’ falls on a character and that character is highlighted. They become the star of the show, the rest supporting cast members. Usually during this process new things are revealed about that character, or something happens that benefits them. For example, in Dark Sun, we are in Tyr before Kalak’s fall. One of our PCs is Bay, a powerhouse of a man with amnesia. We’ve had games that revealed not only is Tyr Bay’s former home, but his real name is Varius and he was a noble who ticked off Kalak, which got him shipped off to the mines. Because of where we are and what we are facing, we’ve had games that focus on various parts of Varius. (Yes, I did that on purpose).

But the spotlight is a double edged sword. On one hand, it is wonderfully fun for it to all be about you. Of course, it never is 100% about you. You do have teammates, but they understand and just work at helping you unfold your story, most of the time. At the same time, the glowing eye of the Sauron DM is burning upon you. Look at it this way – LOTR was arguably all about Frodo, but he left that trilogy with a finger missing, his brain partially fried and was never quite the same. Sam went on to get married, have cute babies, and finally sleep with the chick he had a crush on forever- Frodo went on to hang with a bunch of stuffy elves. I know which one sounds better to me.

I’ll confess, the only time I have had the ‘spotlight’ in Dark Sun were the first few games my character joined, a year and a half ago. Since, I have watched it fall on and burn various players. I have also had a moment here and there of jealousy, but now I kind of crave the roll of Samwise. I can fly under the radar, kill a big ass spider or two and still end up having a full happy hobbit life.

So which player are you? Are you a spotlight craver, or a shadow lurker and why? Some of you I play with a lot, I know exactly who you are, because I know you as well as I know myself. But for the rest of you, which one are you?