Story-Driven instead of Character-Driven RP?

[Mike]

As the title suggests, this is about the possibility of doing a story-driven RP in general. Most RPs are character-driven, to the extent of the entire plot being one collaborative effort by all the players. Events may be planned ahead of time, but usually the the story is very open-ended and leaves room for anyone to dramatically change the course of the RP. This isn't a bad thing by any means, it's part of the charm of RPing and makes it worthwhile.

However, what I have in my head for a few RPs is one that is fairly linear compared to others. The basic outline of what would happen is there, but it would be by no means a way to railroad everyone to certain parts in the story. Everyone would still be doing their own thing if they didn't want to necessarily follow the main story. What would happen though, is that events would still go along regardless of whether or not the players did anything concerning the main story, though following it would still effect the outcome depending on whether or not the players succeeded in their goals.

To put it in a different way, one way to think about it would be to compare it more to being like a video game like an MMO than an RP. There is a world, and while you're free to do whatever you want (like sidequests), there is still an end goal that everyone wants to accomplish (main quest). So while the players can go around helping the towns they come across, there's still a Big Bad out there attempting to destroy/take over/save the world and setting up a main story for everyone, and if it isn't stopped, then you lose.


This ended up being longer than I expected, wow. If there's any interest for this kind of RP, or if there's anything I didn't say well enough, then let me know. I'll post what the actual RP is once I get a feel of whether or not anybody would participate in it. I'll change it accordingly to what response I get.

[Deinazz]

I like your explanation, and the idea about a story driven roleplay...

Can I just ask if your story driven idea, has any-some elements of fiction in it?

[Rai]

I like the idea. I like the idea of it being a roleplay that can be seen through to the end even better. Any types of Roleplays you like the most? I personally like fiction, sci-fi and fantasy to be exact.

[Mike]

Thanks! I wasn't sure of I'd get a reply for this. And yes, it does have elements elements of fiction in it with a bit of fantasy.

Edit: Those are my favorites to play through as well. I really like going through an RP all the way as well, there's a lot of satisfaction in it. Unfortunately though, I've only done it once, and that was years ago. It would be great to do that again.

[Rai]

Same here, was a long time ago though. Any ideas on what it should be about?

[Mike]

There was a RP I did a couple years ago in a video game fan forum, but it died just as three seperate story arcs were beginning to form and intersect. I've had some time since then to flesh out the story and setting more, so I was planning on using it. To make it more accessible for everyone who don't know as much about the game, I was going to edit the video game background so that no one would have to do any research on it if they didn't know what is was all about.

Basically, the setting is a (fictional) large, secluded island country set in modern times sometime in the 2000s. Though self-sufficient, they still have open trade with other countries somewhere across the sea. One night, a suspicious organization have a mystical object shipped overseas to the country. Unwittingly (and unknowingly), the mystical object begins to cause chaos everywhere it goes as it is taken around the country to it's final destination. One major side effect is the revival of magic, which has been thought to have been only a fairy tale from centuries ago. There is one main group who are thrown into a conflict that, if not resolved correctly, would change how the world and humanity worked. Permanently, for better or worse. Meanwhile, other groups are trying to deal with side conflicts that have arisen due to what the Big Bad is doing.

Nothing is clear-cut or black and white. No one truly knows what the villian's final goals are, or what the mystical object really is. The players are not necessarily right or wrong in whatever actions they take, and there may be no true main villian to have to stop. It's all about discovery, and finding out the truth of what is really going on. In the end, there are only four different ways the RP can end, and every character can effect which outcome can take place.


Wow. Again, that turned out to be a lot longer than I expected when I was typing this. Sorry about the long posts, or if I'm actually not explaining myself well enough.