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fandomhigh_ooc2007-01-14 08:54 pm
untouchableskin.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2007-01-14 08:54 pm
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OOC: So you want to run a plot?
How to Run a Plot
I know that the idea of running a big plot can be very intimidating, but it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve run a number of them (by myself and with others) and helped other people plan and execute theirs, so I’m hoping this guide will give you all the tips and info you need to successfully run a plot. The examples I’ll be using to illustrate my points will all be from plots I’ve run.
No, we’re really not all on crackjust ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
multi_madrox. I think there are three primary ways that people get plot ideas.
1. Adapting Canon – This generally happens when you want to introduce an element of canon into the game or you want your character to undergo some sort of character development.
Ex. Marie getting her powers. - I made the specific choice to bring Marie in as Marie (pre-powers) because I wanted to do this plot.
2. What if? – This generally happens when someone says 'What if xyz happened?'
Ex. The ghost plot - This plot came up because a few of us were contemplating ways to torture our characters and wondered how they’d react if ghosts from their past haunted them.
3. Goal – You want something specific to happen (a relationship, an interaction, etc).
Ex. The ‘mommy dearest’ plot. - This plot came up because we wanted Veronica and Bel to become friends.
Just like in writing, plot ideas can come from anywhere. The trick to running a good plot is adapting that idea to an RP setting.
The very first thing you need to do is get a good grasp on what your plot is going to entail and how you’re going to translate it into a text-based setting.
Every plot is going to be different, but some things to consider include:
Figuring out your key players is essential.
First thing you should always do is check with the players who share your canon. For one thing, it’s polite, and for another, chances are, you’ll want their characters involved.
Who is your character close to?
Who is likely to be effected by whatever is going to happen in the plot? Roommates, Significant Others, Teachers, etc should all be considered. And even if they aren’t going to be involved, you should give them a heads up so they know that something is going to happen.
Ex. I almost forgot to tell Willow that Marie was going to end up in the clinic during Parents Weekend when we did the Azula/Zuko/Bel/Marie fight. Luckily I remembered and was able to let her know. I didn’t tell her how or why, just that Marie was going to end up there so she would know.
Who can do what you need done?
Do you need a tech whiz? A magic user? Someone that knows something about present day California? Whatever your plot calls for, chances are there is a character in the game that can provide it. Don’t be afraid to send someone an email and ask them to be involved in your plot if you have someone in mind. If you have no idea who might be able to help, don’t be afraid to put up a plotterywheel post. You can ask in general terms so the entire game doesn’t know what you’re plotting. You can also check this handy post which catalogues the abilities of all the characters presently in game.
Ex. I knew before I brought Marie in the game that I was going to do a plot where she got her powers during her first kiss. It just so happened that between getting the acceptance letters for the Summer 06 characters and the start of that term, Jamie’s player was working in the DC area and a bunch of us went out to lunch. Naturally the conversation revolved around our new characters and one of the reasons I asked him if he’d be interested in having Jamie be the person Marie kissed was because Jamie’s ability to duplicate meant he wouldn’t need to take his character out of the game for a few days.
Is there a way to work in other people?
When I run big plots, I try to come up with a way to involve as many people in the game as I can.
Now the more people you have involved, the more bogged down planning can get and I can understand why people would want to limit the number of characters in a plot. And some plots (like the Azula/Zuko/Bel/Marie fight) really don’t require a huge number of participants.
But if you do have something that has an opportunity to include a number of people, there are some effective ways I’ve discovered to make that go as smoothly as possible.
1. Don’t recruit anyone but your key players too early.
For the Marie getting her powers plot – I knew that she was going to kiss Jamie. I had a planning community that included her core group of friends (i.e. – the people most likely to be involved). We loosely planned the post-kiss actions (I knew she was going to duplicate and that the dupes were going to end up at two different places on the island while the original Marie ended up at the TARDIS) but that was about the extent of it.
I put up a plotterywheel post after the kiss happened (because I was trying to keep that part under wraps) explaining what was going on and that we’d need people to look for Marie. That way anyone who was around and interested was able to participate.
2. Delegate Tasks
I knew that I would be playing three different versions of Marie that day (the original and two dupes) and that given the circumstances, they wouldn’t be easy interactions, so I asked Bel to ICly and OOCly head up the search & rescue mission.
3. Break people into small groups.
For the final fight scene of the ‘mommy dearest’ plot, we organized the fighty people who had volunteered into groups of 3 or 4 and each small group got a demon to fight. We created the demons specifically to match the abilities of the fighters in each group. That also allowed all of the fighty people to play simultaneously which allowed the fight scene to be completely played out in five hours.
4. AIM chat rooms are your friend.
When you’re trying to coordinate a number of people in a scene, it’s really best to have them all in an AIM chat room. You can organize who’s tagging when, you can talk about scene expectations, you can address any potential problems, etc. etc. (And my personal favorite is creating amusing chat room names.)
For the ‘mommy dearest’ plot, we had a main chat room to coordinate everyone and then we split into smaller rooms for each of the fighty groups. I had people playing NPC demons for each group and they were ‘in charge’ of those chat rooms. It worked out very well.
Sometimes preplay can save your plot and sometimes it can really bog things down. Things to consider when deciding what to preplay:
One thing you need to keep in mind with preplay is coding time. If you preplay on an LJ filter and have a lot of comments, it’s going to take a long time to code and that might defeat the purpose of preplaying. You can preplay into a googledoc (formerly writely) and include the coding to insert the icon at the beginning. It’s not a fancy table, but it works just as well.
The short answer is ‘as much as you can’. A guideline on what kind of plots need admin approval can be found here.
1. Make sure you cover your basics.
Give a good background of your plot and include links to canon information where applicable. You should never assume that the admins know your canon or remember that specific plot. Explain how you anticipate this working in Fandom and how people will be effected.
2. Key people
Before you submit to the admins, you should have the OOC clearance of the other people from your fandom and the primary people you want to include.
3. Flexible dates
The calendar can get full fast and some people submit things very early. It’s good to have an idea of when you’d like to run your plot, but it’s also good to be flexible about dates (unless, for some reason, you have a plot driven need for things to occur on a certain day/date).
4. General Outline
Include events leading up to the plot, if there are going to be preplays, scenes that will be open game-wide, etc. etc.
5. Violence
If there is going to be any fighting or other violent acts, you need to have as much detail as possible and a plan for how the violence will be dealt with ICly. Do you want an authority figure to catch someone in the act? Or do you need the in game administration to turn the other cheek? If there’s a fight in town, how are you going to avoid catching the attention of the Troopers?
First of all, let the people involved know that the plot was approved and what date it’s on the calendar for.
Second, decide how much information you want/need to give to the game at large and how far in advance you need to do so.
Third, stop and take a deep breath because this is probably when the panicking starts.
Some things you should keep in mind:
Above all else, remember its all PRETENDY FUN TIME GAMES and even if something goes wrong, it will work out in the end. If you ever want someone to talk to about a potential plot, feel free to ping me (roleplayingjen(at)gmail(dot)com). The admins are also always available to answer questions.
I know that the idea of running a big plot can be very intimidating, but it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve run a number of them (by myself and with others) and helped other people plan and execute theirs, so I’m hoping this guide will give you all the tips and info you need to successfully run a plot. The examples I’ll be using to illustrate my points will all be from plots I’ve run.
No, we’re really not all on crack
multi_madrox1. Adapting Canon – This generally happens when you want to introduce an element of canon into the game or you want your character to undergo some sort of character development.
Ex. Marie getting her powers. - I made the specific choice to bring Marie in as Marie (pre-powers) because I wanted to do this plot.
2. What if? – This generally happens when someone says 'What if xyz happened?'
Ex. The ghost plot - This plot came up because a few of us were contemplating ways to torture our characters and wondered how they’d react if ghosts from their past haunted them.
3. Goal – You want something specific to happen (a relationship, an interaction, etc).
Ex. The ‘mommy dearest’ plot. - This plot came up because we wanted Veronica and Bel to become friends.
Just like in writing, plot ideas can come from anywhere. The trick to running a good plot is adapting that idea to an RP setting.
The very first thing you need to do is get a good grasp on what your plot is going to entail and how you’re going to translate it into a text-based setting.
Every plot is going to be different, but some things to consider include:
- Will I need NPC characters?
- Will people need special icons?
- Who is likely to be effected by this?
- What potential roadblocks could occur?
Figuring out your key players is essential.
First thing you should always do is check with the players who share your canon. For one thing, it’s polite, and for another, chances are, you’ll want their characters involved.
Who is your character close to?
Who is likely to be effected by whatever is going to happen in the plot? Roommates, Significant Others, Teachers, etc should all be considered. And even if they aren’t going to be involved, you should give them a heads up so they know that something is going to happen.
Ex. I almost forgot to tell Willow that Marie was going to end up in the clinic during Parents Weekend when we did the Azula/Zuko/Bel/Marie fight. Luckily I remembered and was able to let her know. I didn’t tell her how or why, just that Marie was going to end up there so she would know.
Who can do what you need done?
Do you need a tech whiz? A magic user? Someone that knows something about present day California? Whatever your plot calls for, chances are there is a character in the game that can provide it. Don’t be afraid to send someone an email and ask them to be involved in your plot if you have someone in mind. If you have no idea who might be able to help, don’t be afraid to put up a plotterywheel post. You can ask in general terms so the entire game doesn’t know what you’re plotting. You can also check this handy post which catalogues the abilities of all the characters presently in game.
Ex. I knew before I brought Marie in the game that I was going to do a plot where she got her powers during her first kiss. It just so happened that between getting the acceptance letters for the Summer 06 characters and the start of that term, Jamie’s player was working in the DC area and a bunch of us went out to lunch. Naturally the conversation revolved around our new characters and one of the reasons I asked him if he’d be interested in having Jamie be the person Marie kissed was because Jamie’s ability to duplicate meant he wouldn’t need to take his character out of the game for a few days.
Is there a way to work in other people?
When I run big plots, I try to come up with a way to involve as many people in the game as I can.
Now the more people you have involved, the more bogged down planning can get and I can understand why people would want to limit the number of characters in a plot. And some plots (like the Azula/Zuko/Bel/Marie fight) really don’t require a huge number of participants.
But if you do have something that has an opportunity to include a number of people, there are some effective ways I’ve discovered to make that go as smoothly as possible.
1. Don’t recruit anyone but your key players too early.
For the Marie getting her powers plot – I knew that she was going to kiss Jamie. I had a planning community that included her core group of friends (i.e. – the people most likely to be involved). We loosely planned the post-kiss actions (I knew she was going to duplicate and that the dupes were going to end up at two different places on the island while the original Marie ended up at the TARDIS) but that was about the extent of it.
I put up a plotterywheel post after the kiss happened (because I was trying to keep that part under wraps) explaining what was going on and that we’d need people to look for Marie. That way anyone who was around and interested was able to participate.
2. Delegate Tasks
I knew that I would be playing three different versions of Marie that day (the original and two dupes) and that given the circumstances, they wouldn’t be easy interactions, so I asked Bel to ICly and OOCly head up the search & rescue mission.
3. Break people into small groups.
For the final fight scene of the ‘mommy dearest’ plot, we organized the fighty people who had volunteered into groups of 3 or 4 and each small group got a demon to fight. We created the demons specifically to match the abilities of the fighters in each group. That also allowed all of the fighty people to play simultaneously which allowed the fight scene to be completely played out in five hours.
4. AIM chat rooms are your friend.
When you’re trying to coordinate a number of people in a scene, it’s really best to have them all in an AIM chat room. You can organize who’s tagging when, you can talk about scene expectations, you can address any potential problems, etc. etc. (And my personal favorite is creating amusing chat room names.)
For the ‘mommy dearest’ plot, we had a main chat room to coordinate everyone and then we split into smaller rooms for each of the fighty groups. I had people playing NPC demons for each group and they were ‘in charge’ of those chat rooms. It worked out very well.
Sometimes preplay can save your plot and sometimes it can really bog things down. Things to consider when deciding what to preplay:
- Availability of players - Preplay works best for important scenes if you have time zone issues or if your plot is taking place during the week when people have work.
- Intensity of scene - Attacks or intensely emotional scenes are sometimes best preplayed because you need more time to think about your comments or you may find a need to edit things as you’re playing out the scene.
- Number of characters – I personally think that preplays with more than 3 or 4 characters generally get too long and too difficult to follow. That is strictly my personal preference, but in my experience, too many people in a preplay can slow things down. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but its my personal guideline.
- Balance – I think a mix of preplay and liveplay is a good way to handle a plot. Again, personal opinion, but reading preplay after preplay can get tiring. I like the suspense that comes with reading along as something is unfolding.
One thing you need to keep in mind with preplay is coding time. If you preplay on an LJ filter and have a lot of comments, it’s going to take a long time to code and that might defeat the purpose of preplaying. You can preplay into a googledoc (formerly writely) and include the coding to insert the icon at the beginning. It’s not a fancy table, but it works just as well.
The short answer is ‘as much as you can’. A guideline on what kind of plots need admin approval can be found here.
1. Make sure you cover your basics.
Give a good background of your plot and include links to canon information where applicable. You should never assume that the admins know your canon or remember that specific plot. Explain how you anticipate this working in Fandom and how people will be effected.
2. Key people
Before you submit to the admins, you should have the OOC clearance of the other people from your fandom and the primary people you want to include.
3. Flexible dates
The calendar can get full fast and some people submit things very early. It’s good to have an idea of when you’d like to run your plot, but it’s also good to be flexible about dates (unless, for some reason, you have a plot driven need for things to occur on a certain day/date).
4. General Outline
Include events leading up to the plot, if there are going to be preplays, scenes that will be open game-wide, etc. etc.
5. Violence
If there is going to be any fighting or other violent acts, you need to have as much detail as possible and a plan for how the violence will be dealt with ICly. Do you want an authority figure to catch someone in the act? Or do you need the in game administration to turn the other cheek? If there’s a fight in town, how are you going to avoid catching the attention of the Troopers?
First of all, let the people involved know that the plot was approved and what date it’s on the calendar for.
Second, decide how much information you want/need to give to the game at large and how far in advance you need to do so.
Third, stop and take a deep breath because this is probably when the panicking starts.
Some things you should keep in mind:
- If there are going to be injuries, email the clinic staff to let them know when, what type and how many people to expect. Also let them know if anyone will be staying overnight.
- If your characters are going to be missing classes or work, give all of their professors/employers an OOC heads up.
- If you plan to have any major action/plotty stuff occur somewhere in town, let the business owner know. (i.e. a bar fight at the Devil’s Nest or a confrontation in the Diner).
Above all else, remember its all PRETENDY FUN TIME GAMES and even if something goes wrong, it will work out in the end. If you ever want someone to talk to about a potential plot, feel free to ping me (roleplayingjen(at)gmail(dot)com). The admins are also always available to answer questions.
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*snuggles*
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You're quite welcome.
Also? *dies at your icon* I really need to find a reason to get V on the island.
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*breaks out party pig*
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No kinky ice cube sex for you.
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I'd like to reinforce that the admins are always happy to help people work out plots. We'll look over ideas, tell people what works and what doesn't, and - if wanted - even suggest some things. And even if your plot gets rejected for some reason on the first stab, we're willing to help you knock it into shape if you want. The quality of the proposals we get tends to be very good, so on the fairly rare occasion that we outright reject something, it's usually because of either guest star issues or some conflict with a previously planned plot. One of those things can usually be corrected easily. If it's the previously planned plot thing... well, sorry if that happens. :(
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I FAIL.
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*Hugs!!!*
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You're quite welcome!
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It helps A LOT, good, clear steps to follow.
<3!!
*hugs and offers cake*
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Yay cake!
They are the steps that work for me :)
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Flexibility is important because sometimes last minute ideas really work out well :)
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Not that I did.
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If my brain were more organized right now, I'd toss in a few comments about how I organized and executed the two biggish plots I ran (teh emoo plot and Nadia's hallucinogenic fantasy adventure). But this is a very nicely organized cliff notes guide, and it's definitely good info.
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