who thinks Motivation is Important?

[gaby]

I think motivation for Become a Super-Hero is Important?

The Best Super-heroes have Good Motivation.

What are your Heroes Motivations?

[Warpig]

REVENGE!!!

Batman does it partly, so did Conan the Barbarian!

[znbrtn]

I think it can be important, but only if it the kind of campaign that cares.... Sometimes the whole thing is a thinly-veiled excuse to get into fights because that's fun, and I don't have a problem with it.

For any kind of RP, I think the most important thing is for players to enthusiastically play their roles. If clear plausible motivations make that easier, more power to 'em! When it comes to comics.... Honestly, I very rarely care that Batman's parents were killed when he was a kid.... Superman, WonderWoman, GreenLantern, and The Flash don't have much more than "because it's the right thing to do" (as far as I know), but it doesn't mean I don't get involved in their stories.

that's pretty much how i play it.

[MADMANMIKE]

..Without motivation, there is no game; I've got nothing to work with as GM if all I get from them is a list of superpowers and skills. There's got to be a personality that has dimension.

..Examples, in my latest group for Hero Dawn, A player gave me a character who studied martial arts at his gambling fathers request, was a bit of a braniac and attened all sorts of science camps and the like under his mother's control, and then after his father was murdered by a loan shark's thugs, went on about his life until getting 3000 dollars for a field trip and instead snapped and blew it all at the Poker tables in ATlantic City. Spent all night in the drunk tank and was confusidly on his way home.

..That's enough to write a book for me. I've got so many avenues there, it carries some of the thin backgrounds of the other characters, letting me build a story around him that can justify the others.

..So in retrospect, at least on character has to have good motivation, or there is no game. He's got revenge, angst, self-discovery, and the shadow of his broken home to motivate. That's what a GM needs to make a good story/game.

-Mike >8]

[KillWatch]

Motivation is the core of the hero. The motivation and the execution there of makes the hero who he is. Bad reason or good, overcoming obstacles, coming to terms with the past it's all good

I have it as part of my random pc gen

[Marrowlight]

Was at a Dragon Con panel this weekend with Chaykin, Wolfman, and Peter David -- I bring this up because they summed up the motivation for Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and iirc super hero comics in general as Jewish Guilt; a little off topic and behind the scenes, but it was an interesting panel and a look behind the camera that I wasn't expecting.

[MADMANMIKE]

Of course I aslo have to say that most supers are more hack and slash than anything else (IMHO).

..That's exactly why the motivation is so important. Who cares about an all powerful alien saving the world every day? We all do, only because that guy is also the bumbling self consious Clark Kent.

..Who cares about the super strong, super agile wall crawling wise cracker? We all do, because he's also the humanly falable Peter Parker.

..Without the pathos, it is just hack'n'slash, which gets boring real fast (about when I turned 14).

-Mike >8]

[Scooter the Outlaw]

I like the "because it's the right thing to do" motivation. I also like the angry hero who doesn't have revenge in mind. Sometimes they just see so many bad people they decide its time to go put a stop to them, give them a taste of their own medicine.

Why I oughta!!!

These guys also make great villians, like D-FENS in Falling Down.

Otherwise, some people don't care about role-play and just like to punch stuff really hard ('And yet, [they'll] end up on the cereal box'). That's cool, I enjoy fighting in games as much as the next guy. But personally, I like to have motivations that guide pretty much everything the character does. For example, my Heroes Unlimited character is still discovering her super powers... and uses them to protect the underprivlidged, being poor all her life. Just seeing some thugs bully a store owner is enough to motivate her to action. But on the other hand, if a bank is getting robbed, she requires an extra push to get moving, because from her point of view the rich don't need or deserve her protection. Her primary motivation being to protect the poor and undefended alone has added a lot to the character and generated some highly enjoyable RP moments.