A question came up in the post-mortem of a game I play in that basically came down to
How do I do the "right" thing in a game where I could do anything?
At first I thought (and said):
"Just do the first thing that comes to mind, or the second, or third...whichever seems most fun to you. There is no right or wrong."
And I stand by that, because in my view, my character may consider all the options, but they'll make a choice eventually, or make no choice (which is still a choice).
But then I thought about it some more and considered the fact that this is a new gamer, a new improviser, a new storyteller and it occurred to me that the answer I gave probably isn't all that helpful. So I'm going to try to make myself more clear here, cause I was in that place originally and others will be eventually and maybe they'll stumble here.
The way I break down my decision making process (and I reserve the right to change this immediately on being presented with new information):
1: What my character would do.
But that breaks down into loads of different ideas, because it comes down to:
a) The relationships my character has with the other characters
b) The relationship my character has with the world
c) What would be narratively interesting
d) What kind of risk could/would my character take
e) What I want to know about vs what my character wants to know (they're not always the same)
And then all those ideas split into their own fractals, like...
i) Would this other character dis/like what my character's doing?
ii) Does my character care about how they're perceived?
iii) Would their best guess about what's expected of them match with my best guess?
And on and on it goes...
I'm a psych PhD student, and oddly for an indecisive being, one of my research focuses is decision-making. So I can say (from a place of understanding but not knowing everything) that all the information I just gave is me making up my decision-making process with absolutely no knowledge of whether that's what actually happens.
Honestly, what probably happens more often than not is, in the space of a hundredth of a second, an idea whips into my mind and I say "Sage/Audrey/Chicanery/Alexandrie/Alais does X" with little to no thought of whether it's a good idea. Why do I do it this way?
Because I thought of it in that moment and I'm an indecisive person by nature. Decision paralysis (being unable to make a decision between presented choices) is a real thing that can affect us and weigh us down. On top of that, unlike CRPGs where you are often given a list of options, in TTRPGs we can theoretically do/try anything. Decision paralysis is why in my household, if someone suggests take out, they come with an idea. If that idea is rejected, the other of us suggests a cuisine and we go back and forth that way, rather than both trying to decide together what's gonna be for dinner. Trying to decide together is exhausting. We get too hungry that way.
The longer you sit trying to make the "right" decision, the more loaded that decision becomes. Especially in a streamed situation where you also feel the pressure of time and silences feel aeons longer than you think they are, but also in home games and in everyday life. It's why I try to just make a choice then honour it. If it goes wrong, I deal with the consequences of that. If it goes right, that's wonderful. Either way, I'm not locked in anxiety over whether I made the correct choice. Realistically, we're playing a game to relax.
There is no "right" choice. Just a fun choice. As long as you're having fun, you're doing it right.
If you're playing with people whose views on storytelling are similar to yours, you can't get it wrong. If you're not, you'll know pretty quickly whether you need to find a new group to play with. You'll feel it, or you'll discuss it. And you should discuss it. Because that's not anyone's fault, it's just a difference in style.
I have no idea whether that was at all helpful, but it felt like it needed to be said. Enjoy your games, be kind to each other, and keep communicating.
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