Handbook of Erotic Fantasy: Character Growth (Patreon)

A lot has happened to Fighter over the course of this comic. At last count the big lunk has died 38 times, leaving the current incarnation to bear the mantle of Fighter #39. His trusty steed has become his vigilante nemesis. He’s murdered his little brother in cold blood, and then endured Jeremy’s dark resurrection. The comic’s resident THAT GUY has been reincarnated, saved Christmas, lived through the apocalypse, slain his evil twin, killed his friends, and even committed backstory parricide. You’d think that could lead to some sort of character development. 

If you were to interrupt her personal time and ask, “Hey Fighter! Have your experiences lead to any personal growth?” she would heft her jiggly bits and say, “Yeah. These double D's!”

Clearly she remains the same old lazy-ass murderhobo as the last time she was watching elven mud wrestling. And you know what? That’s OK. 

For English major guys like me, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of story. Characters are supposed to learn and grow and change because, well, that’s what happens in fiction. It’s how we track the effects of plot, watching character outlook shift in response to events. That can be compelling at the tabletop too, but it isn’t strictly required. That’s because games don’t necessarily have the same conventions as other forms of narrative media. Imagine asking someone to describe the emotional arc of their Minecraft character, for example. You could invent one if pressed, but it isn’t mandatory to enjoy the experience.

Even though GMs tend to design story-oriented games, the other people at the table aren’t compelled to interact with them on that character development level. It’s there if you want it, but even within the same party it’s perfectly OK to have dynamic PCs and unchanging ones. Fighter can remain the same character regardless of the shape of her breastplate, and that doesn’t make her a bad PC. All the other awful shit she’s done on the other hand….