Storn has posted Character Prompting Questions (direct link to 24 kb PDF), which explores what players want out of their characters. Sounds like a great shortcut to richer, more meaningful play. (Via 10 by 10 room.)
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You guys should take a look at Luke Crane’s Burning Wheel. All characters have three core beliefs that define how they interact with the world. They also automatically define what that player wants.
For example “I will follow the Shadowknight until he leads me to the dimension my sister was abandoned in” is good for player and GM. There’s even a reward system for players who do it well.
I just wrote about this concept to my group on Friday, after being inspired by a blog on the 20’x20′ room, about Push/Pull.
My goal is to raise the amount of Pull in my game by encouraging my players to help me create more conflict and story for them, by providing me some ideas of situations they would like to play their characters through.
Rudolf: BW is great for this — easily one of the best games around for demanding meta-info from the PCs. What I like about Storn’s sheet is that it can be adapted for any game, and goes a bit further than even BW.
Phil: The 20 by 20 push/pull post was excellent — how did your group respond?