Active Passive Musings
So it seems to me like active and passiveness isn’t a one dimensional thing. Not even a two or three dimensional thing.
The main way that I think of activity is the distribution of relevance across a timeline. A very active player like caliborn is constantly doing things 24/7, but those things aren’t all that important. A passive player like callie mostly lies in wait for the right moment to strike, then all at once, turns the tide. They both impact the story the same amount, but Active players have many points of smaller influence and Passive players have few points of huge consequence. When I call a class passive or active, this is usually what I mean. It creates some interesting distinctions though, like witches being extremely passive. Note that damara inverts and is also a time player, so she acts incredibly actively instead. Pages are also incredibly passive, maybe more so than witches, as every important page we’ve seen had just one important moment.
The other spectrums are Active-Reactive | This is another really important one Selfish-Selfless | do their powers come at the benefit or expense of others? Internal-External | do their powers mostly affect themselves or others? Force-Flow | Do they push their will or just go with the flow? Literally Passive-Active | do they activate their powers or do they just happen? Exploit-Allow | Similar to force-flow but specifically regarding their aspect
There are probably more, but yeah, passive-active is an at least 7 dimensional spectrum. Stop pretending that it isn’t. Classpects don’t make sense and that’s okay. Don’t try to shove classpects into a single hole. Debate me on this.
