Acting vs Performance for RPGs

[Celjabba]

Performance:

Originally Posted by basic set

It is different from
Acting in that you are trying to impress and entertain people – not
deceive them.

Acting

Originally Posted by basic set

This is the ability to counterfeit moods, emotions, and voices,

A comedian who does an improv sketch or adlib on stage is using Performance.
He may also be using acting, as complimentary roll, to get in character.

Imho, A player/GM that try to change his voice/attitude to portray a PC/NPC and "deceive" the others players "this is not me, this is my character" is using Gurps:acting.
IF he is doing so not to portray his character but to impress/entertain the other players; it become a Gurps:performance.

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

A role-player isn't trying to deceive their other players, but entertain them.

Not sure I agree, or rather not sure I have met many players that could or would do this.
A couple players come to mind, that clearly acted their character as a performance to entertain.
But as a rules, most player either don't try (they describe what their character do/feel/say, they don't act it.) or act in character by changing their usual voice/speech patterns/... not to impress/entertain but to communicate "this is not me, this is the character".

[whswhs]

There is also the skill Hobby (Tabletop Roleplaying), which can be used to play a character in an RPG for a small audience of fellow RPGers. It's not good enough to substitute for Performance. But Performance can be used as a complementary skill for it; some of my best players had theater backgrounds.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

A comedian who does an improv sketch or adlib on stage is using Performance.
He may also be using acting, as complimentary roll, to get in character.

Imho, A player/GM that try to change his voice/attitude to portray a PC/NPC and "deceive" the others players "this is not me, this is my character" is using Gurps:acting.
He he is doing so not to portray his character but to impress/entertain the other players; it become a Gurps:performance.

I use exactly same skills, tricks and techniques that I learned for the stage or in the round when I game. The principle difference for me between Faire and a LARP (and the reason I don't LARP much) is that Faire has an audience (and actorbation bores me quickly) otherwise I approach characterization in exactly the same way. The principle differences between LARPs and tabletop, for me, is a tighter narrative focus (which is why I do play a lot of tabletop conversely) and less physicality, otherwise I again approach characterization in exactly the same way. Which skill am I using?

Do you suppose that LARPs use a different skill from tabletop? Or from theater in the round? Which use which skills? Why?

I will point out that formal acting education traditionally includes hours of improvisation games and exercises, but I doubt that formal espionage training traditionally includes sending trainee agents to UCB or Second City.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I use exactly same skills, tricks and techniques that I learned for the stage or in the round when I game. The principle difference for me between Faire and a LARP (and the reason I don't LARP much) is that Faire has an audience (and actorbation bores me quickly) otherwise I approach characterization in exactly the same way. The principle differences between LARPs and tabletop, for me, is a tighter narrative focus (which is why I do play a lot of tabletop conversely) and less physicality, otherwise I again approach characterization in exactly the same way. Which skill am I using?

Do you suppose that LARPs use a different skill from tabletop? Or from theater in the round? Which use which skills? Why?

I will point out that formal acting education traditionally includes hours of improvisation games and exercises, but I doubt that formal espionage training includes sending trainee agents to UCB or Second City.

To be honest, I doubt we use Gurps skills when playing Gurps. Any game system have edge case when mapping to real life, and this is obviously one.

But as I said, I know of few players with a theatrical/stage background. I have played with some, and I get what you are saying, but at least in my gaming history they are a distinct minority.

And yes, I would say LARP and tabletop roleplaying are different skills, or at least can be.

[sir_pudding]

Yes, of course, GURPS is a game and in real life "skill" isn't easily quantifiable or discretely categorical.

I am trying, and clearly failing, to ascertain what Kromm meant in respect to GURPS skills and using my real life experience as an example (for nothing else that GURPS is supposed to be based on real life benchmarks when possible).

Which skill does a GURPS character use to:
Perform on-stage improv?
Perform improv in the round?
Perform improv in a LARP?
Perform improv in a tabletop game?
Perform a pigeon drop or other long con?
Maintain a cover identity?

[Celjabba]

I have played a couple of rpg game using only IRC text chat. There was definitively no "performance".
But there was deliberate alteration of the speech pattern, for example writing in the feminine form if the PC/NPC was a woman.

Of course, unless we are playing a Gurps game of people playing rpg, which skill to use is rather academic :)
Should that happen, I would allow a player to use either.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

I have played a couple of rpg game using only IRC text chat. There was definitively no "performance".
But there was deliberate alteration of the speech pattern, for example writing in the feminine form if the PC/NPC was a woman.

Presumably the skill of characterization in textual media is Writing.

Of course, unless we are playing a Gurps game of people playing rpg, which skill to use is rather academic :)
Should that happen, I would allow a player to use either.

I think that improvisational theater might come up in a game. Certainly elaborate deception can. I am significantly more interested knowing which skills apply to these.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I think that improvisational theater might come up in a game. Certainly elaborate deception can. I am significantly more interested knowing which skills apply to these.

There's no question about which skill is used for the elaborate deception, is there?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

There's no question about which skill is used for the elaborate deception, is there?

I didn't think that there was a question about what skill that you use for improvisational theater, prior to Kromm's post.

[AlexanderHowl]

In my games, actors in cinema and theater uses Performance while con-artists and spies use Acting. Improvised comedy can use either Performance (when acting in an improvised scenario with partners) or Acting (when interacting with the crowd), it just depends on whether the comedian targets their troupe or their audience.