What makes a good Plot?

[Silux]

I'm aware that there have been many questions asking for views on what makes roleplaying fun, what makes characters interesting and generally how to make things fun for players over the course of a role-play. My question, however, is a little different, and I did perform a quick forum search for an answer, but to no avail. I figured it would be beneficial for myself (and maybe for others) to open a new thread to get some fresh opinions.

What makes a good PLOT? Plot only.
What makes a story more interesting than your cookie-cutter adventure before you even take into account players and their potential impacts on the world? How do you make a story enthral from the onset and invoke emotion in players (or readers, if you were writing a novel). What aspects make a story great, what tropes and ideas. What themes interest you, and what, when changed from stereotypical stories, will make a story one for the history books. What kind of narrative voice is more powerful than an indiscriminate omniscient narrator, what techniques keep you coming back to a story?

[Hellis]

Well. When crafting stories you should always have a few things in mind. The people that are affected (not the players, but the people of your world), Is there a struggle of some sort? Is your world vibrant? Desolate? Alive? etc etc. You need to make people understand that there are things afoot, that there is some reason for them to be involved. As for what this is? Its different for everyone. People will be attracted to different kind of stories after all. That is just how it goes.

[Silux]

That's fair enough. I am aware that there is no genre or style that caters to all types of readers and players, otherwise one single work / roleplay would dominate and settings would not nearly be as diverse as they are, now.

Though let me pose the question to you individually. What do you like to see in a story / plot / world?

If you were reading / playing a fantasy, what would define the story and keep it interesting for you over a standard 'perfect hero fights evil and saves the world' setting. If you were reading / playing a sci-fi, what would grab your attention over a standard alien invasion or evil overlord galactic empire entity oppressing planets?

[Disciple Cain]

A good reason for it all. Believability. If I look at a story and, despite all the fantasy and sci-fi in it, I walk away and say, "Damn... I honestly believe that something like this could happen given the right circumstances" then I've definitely enjoyed the story.

Suspension of disbelief is the most important thing, and in order to provide suspension of disbelief you need good reasons. Not good reasons to provide it, but good reasons within the story that, in and of themselves, provide the suspension of disbelief.

Something like that.

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If I were better at explaining things, this would probably be understandable :P

[Calvin]

I think a good plot has something for each player to be interested in.

[Kadaeux]

Honestly. This question cannot ever be answered to everyones satisfaction.


What I consider a good plot other people will consider cheesy and b-grade (I've heard as much said about Babylon 5 on multiple occasions.), then a plot someone else considers good I would find dull, predictable and without merit, then there are plots that some people call good but almost every reasoning being on earth disagrees. (Twilight for example.)

[Silux]

Indeed, but I still pose the question to you all individually.

I am intrigued, Kad, what do you find interesting in a story?

[JoeStrummer]

It's all about the characters. Are they believable? Can you relate to them? Realistic? Likeable? Fun to hate? Fully fleshed out characters with back-stories, flaws, and weaknesses are what drive a good plot. Like it's been said before, what make a good story is down to opinion, but great characters can make even the most boring setting interesting. I'd read a book about two people in one damn room the entire time if the characters kept me interested enough.

[Kadaeux]

Indeed, but I still pose the question to you all individually.

I am intrigued, Kad, what do you find interesting in a story?

Depends on the type of story.

Just look at the RPs I take part in, I have a wide range of tastes, there are some where plot is entirely unimportant, it exists after the fact and has no pre-planning. It either happens or it... flops around a bit and expires. Then there are ones like Legends of Renalta which is both adhering to, and subverting, many fantasy tropes and so on.


From a book perspective the most important elements are engaging characters, and not just good guys. Example, Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy, one of the main antagonists Quinn Dexter.

He is a Satanist, a Rapist, a Murderer, and many many other things. He is without a doubt one of the most evil characters i've ever read about. And despite all of that he was somehow likable towards the end of the trilogy...

[Silux]

I seem to notice this as a recurring theme when I pester people in questions such as this: Suspension of disbelief.
Realistic characters, events and settings always seem to keep people intrigued in the story, if not just for the characters themselves. I would probably place this as one of the high priority aspects of any plot, though it is hard to necessarily control individual characters and suspend the disbelief in roleplays where you have minimal control over the heroes of your epic tale.

So, how about this as a side question? What do you think really creates a suspension of disbelief? And i'm not talking necessarily about just in terms of characters and their development, but what about in terms of the world, events, settings and so forth? Especially in fantasy and sci-fi worlds that are, by definition, unrealistic.