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I did one a few years back that pretty much drew from Persia, Egypt and Arab lore... Admittedly mixed together and bastardised as a result, but it did well. Like, it actually had a conclusion. So if that's any indication...
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Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0
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10 yrs ago
Forum: Roleplaying Discussion
Brovo said
Universal rule of fiction: Limited space to covey a hundred concepts. It's the same reason characters never use the bathroom,
The don begs to differ.
Collab up. Post will hopefully follow the weekend or something.
Also I know I mentioned this to Brovo, but here's a small heads-up for everyone involved with my character; I'll be moving to China for half a year, flying the 11th. So my posting schedule will be eh... I don't know. So yeah, warning ahead of time, that can turn a bit tricky.
Also I know I mentioned this to Brovo, but here's a small heads-up for everyone involved with my character; I'll be moving to China for half a year, flying the 11th. So my posting schedule will be eh... I don't know. So yeah, warning ahead of time, that can turn a bit tricky.
Xixis & Esyllt
Hard to believe she was only a few days away from home, Esyllt could not shake the sense of awe the entrance of all the other nations had brought upon her. From golden armours, to goblins riding scorpions. She could feel her heart pound as high as her throat merely by the memory it, and now she stood in the middle of it all; wearing a ballroom gown specially made by the master tailor of Edmundal for this occasion. Esyllt remembered the tailor sweating and stuttering when she had brought up the subject. Hadn't her request been accompanied by a direct order from Edmundal's reigning lord, he would have profoundly refused the task. Efforts nor resources had been spared and the result was unlike Esyllt had ever dared imagine wearing. Now, the tightly strapped corset, the laces on her back and layers of half-cut ruffles falling down from her hips, made the ballroom gown her only awkward reminder of home amidst a gathering of the world's ruling class.
Although Esyllt steeled her face and composure to remain graceful, but had a hard time fighting off the blush on her cheeks. She felt like a small child within the ballroom. Renalta was a land of many races and cultures, but the Edmundal certainly wasn't visited by anything but the odd halfling or elf. It was exciting and overwhelming, and Esyllt kept catching herself staring just a little too long at the different races. The heat of battle and crisis had been between herself and fawning over Naraem, Aëyr and Draza earlier, but now she simply couldn't keep her eyes off of the magnificent variety in people that had gathered at the ball. Her attention shifted to a green man with a strange animal accompanying him. Esyllt brought her hand to her mouth to smother a small shriek of excitement she let out, seeing the an eight-legged creature as big as a full-grown man. It had a tail almost the creature’s entire body-length that arced over it’s back. Esyllt had stared just a little too long at the goblin and his animal to have gone unnoticed.
Esyllt, painfully aware of the ball's purpose and to an extent, her being a representative of the Queen's Blades. She couldn't wander off into the crowds after exchanging eye-contact. Forcing a modest smile, she walked over to the goblin in question. “Are you enjoying yourselves?” Esyllt asked politely, doing her best to not let her nerves echo through her voice. “Esyllt Boudica, knight of Edmundal and member of the Queen's Blades.” She made a small bow, as she ran through the long forgotten memories of ballroom etiquette she'd been taught at home. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The Scorpion skittered at her approach. “Well, I wouldn’t want to speak for Skatz here, but it is most adequate, though it lacks the boisterousness of some events.” Xixis cocked his head at the woman, he supposed she might have been pretty for a pinkskin, but he’d always felt like throwing up a little whenever he considered their kind that way. “I do hope you don’t intend to work in an outfit like that.” Xixis chuckled.
“Of course.” Esyllt smiled, this time more genuinely. She felt a weight drop off her shoulders at the goblin's casual response. Boisterous was contrary to the etiquette of the ballroom she knew, but Esyllt knew very little of the cultures of other countries nor their festivities.
“Skatz is the name of your...” Esyllt took a moment to think, not actually knowing what a scorpion was, “-Pet, is it? It is a creature unlike I've ever seen. Is it's kind common in your homeland?”
Perceptive as always Xixis noticed that relaxation. “Don’t worry Esyllt. Not all us rulers of nations have pikes up our arses, but pet, companion, mount, assassin dissuader Skatz is the second of his line to serve in such a role for me. But yes, they’re fairly common. Pity I could not bring the Asimov Worm to show off. Fluffy has intimidated more than a few to surrender.”
Esyllt was not sure how to respond to such a crude language, less so than the fact those words from a king. In her curiosity, she’d failed to recognise the goblin as Xixis, ruler of the Goblin Holds. In truth, Esyllt found it difficult to tell goblins apart, but she could not let that thought surface. Nonetheless, it took a hold of her tongue for a few silent moments.
“How interesting,” Esyllt recovered, unsure how she could speak to the goblin king in orderly fashion. “It must be intelligent to fulfill so many roles.” She commended Skatz, as her eyes strayed towards the scorpion. Esyllt studied it’s body, it’s structure, the way it moved. It was truly something she’d never seen before. Her (desperately) collected composure somewhat faltered in the light of her curiosity, as Esyllt’s eyes sparkled and her voice loosened a little.
“In my home, we have but horses and dogs. Fine animals in their own right, but nothing like Skatz.” Esyllt spoke, turning back to Xixis. She blushed a little before she continued with a question that had been on her mind since she Xixis mentioned the scorpion’s role as a companion. “Would you mind if I… If I pet it?”
Xixis paused thoughtfully. “I haven’t had a good haunch of dog in weeks, I should see if Kouri can get her chefs to get me some, some of the dogs here are terribly fat and juicy looking.” Xixis grinned. “Horse is ok, but on the tough side, as for patting Skatz, I would not advise it, it dissuades assassins in a very specific manner like that.” He thumbed over his shoulder at the stinger tail waving carefully. “He is smart enough, but not much more so than a well trained horse or camel, he’s just much deadlier.”
“I see.” Esyllt flinched a little at how Xixis described Skatz’ likely reaction, but moreso at the mention of eating dogs and horses, animals Esyllt only knew as companions. She would not speak out to the king, but Esyllt feared for the life of the animal that she had ridden to the capital.
Xixis chuckled. “Kouri reacted much the same way.” He winked at her.
“Oh, did she?” Esyllt suddenly felt a little more connected to the queen, in spite of never having spoken with either. The more she spoke with Xixis however, the more Esyllt realised he was closer to a countryman than nobility in behaviour. “I could only imagine her majesty’s reaction. Neither constitutes as a meal here in Renalta. Dogs are companions, shepherds and guards. Horses are mounts and labourers. Our cuisine must be very different from yours. I hope dinner was to your liking.” Esyllt let out a soft giggle, though she quickly smothered it not to offend the king. Strange as the goblin’s mannerisms were, she couldn’t help but feel intrigued.
“Oh, the Cuisines of the Free Holds and Goblin Holds are spicier, but not that much different to your own,” Xixis said plainly, “Of Cat, Dog and Horse as well as other species it’s a matter of wealth, I would wager that there are regions in Rheinfeld, Tuleria and even the Amazons who during times of great poverty have been forced to consume the flesh of animals they thought they would never, such as even rat.”
Rat Esyllt only knew as carrier of disease. She herself had lived in poverty before the kind lord extended his hand to her and her mother, but never had she turned to eating rat. Perhaps that was the difference between an entire nation in poverty, versus her own experiences.
Xixis sighed. “And before my rise Goblins have never been wealthy or looked down on well, and so I have to use sorcery to force equality. It’s a lesson the dogs of the Free Holds learn slowly.” He manipulated some dust and dirt in the hall to create a tiny dragon golem, it was little more than a magically animated caricature but it amused him to make it anway.
Xixis decided not to mention how alike man-flesh was to bacon. Delicious bacon...
Esyllt held her silence as Xixis commented on the Free Holds. She knew too little of international affairs to discuss such topics, especially at a ball that was supposed to unite nations. Yet when Xixis animated a small dragon… “Is that golemancy?” She asked, quite surprised. “Coincidence has it, I dabble in it myself.” Esyllt said, far too modestly. To reprociate Xixis’ creation, she summoned small pebbles of rock from her pocket dimension and let them form into a tiny Skatz in her hand.
“Would this look about right?” She asked, continuing to rearrange the structure roughly as she looked at the scorpion, probably unaware it was modeling.
“Equality has been a topic in Renalta as well. We live under the united rule of our queens, but generations of habits don’t die easily. Many cities struggle with the new morals, as does my home unfortunately.” Esyllt thought back of Edmundal. One of the very reasons she’d only ever seen humans, spare the odd elf and halfling, was because Edmundal was not as tolerant or the other races as their new monarchs. Although her adoptive father and lord had tried to adapt Edmundal in the Queens their vision, the townsfolk didn’t change overnight…
“It must be challenging, ruling a nation. I can only imagine.” Esyllt wondered out loud, showing slight surprise to how quickly she’d gotten to speak so easily with the goblin king…
Xixis chuckled and turned the sand dragon to glass. “No it’s not a true golem, the moment I ceased animating it it’d return to mere sand. And it looks alright.” Skatz began to take on an agitated stance. “But scorpions are not terribly social with other scorpions.”
“As for ruling.” Xixis said with a slight frown. “It is simple enough if you have the power and will to force hands, though I am a Goblin ruling an nation of ex-slaves. When most were once downtrodden it is easy to see the virtues of equality, even if the Freeholds do not. Orcs, Goblins, Humans, Elves, Trolls, Ogres and Grumpkins are all welcome, we care not your race so long as you respect our laws.” Xixis shrugged.
“True equality. Though our methods are differ, that is not too different from Renalta’s vision.” Esyllt said, although rule through force was somewhat of a bad memory for Renalta it’s citizens still. Then again, racism was still a big topic in the isolated towns, even if Renalta was becoming more coloured by the day. The topic was way over the woman’s simple understandings of politics, she didn’t dare speak of it in front of a king.
Esyllt let the scorpion-golem fall to pebbles in the palm of her hand, before putting them away. “I have never met another golemancer and I know little of it besides my own discipline. I inherited the knowledge from my father, but I have no memory of him.” Esyllt admitted, somewhat disappointed that Xixis wasn’t a true master of her art. Still, her spirit uplifted a little when she remembered Naraem.
“Yet, an ally in the Blades has recently asked me to show him the craft. He is a quick learner and creative thinker. Simply studying together teaches me new perspectives.” She spoke with enthusiasm. “Answering the Queens’ call has blessed me with both the honour of service as well as a wealth of opportunity. I know little of the world and you are truly the first goblin I’ve ever spoken to.”
“Be wary,” Xixis said calmly, “Not all of my kind are as well disposed as I am, many have been mistreated for most of their lives and though we are not a terribly long lived species without magic intervention our memories are long and grudges are hard to let go of.” He reclined a bit in on Skatz’s carapace. “And for some goblins, and orcs, the taste of human flesh is not a strange one.” He chuckled, “And please, don’t misinterpret that as a sexual advance, I’m sure you’re attractive enough for your kind but just the thought of that made me throw up in my mouth a little.” He grinned to show he was just being humorous… despite the slight taste of bile.
Esyllt decided to let the comment go, part unsure how to respond, but also part because in spite or reminding her more of an barbarian Xixis was still a king. “Thank you for your warning.” Esyllt decided upon, although she also remembered Xixis’ earlier request for her not to worry so much about appearances... “There seems to be much I do not know about the Goblin Holds. Would you care to tell me more about your lands?”
Maeven & Esyllt
Although thoroughly enticed by Xixis' stories, other matters would come to the goblin king's attention. Esyllt thanked him for his company and stories, before she wandered back to the ballroom. Although she had filled with courage to make acquaintances with yet another culture, it was a familiar figure she noticed dance with Naraem. Esyllt had a question for the drow's dancing partner, something she couldn't help but ponder. When she left Naraem's hand, Esyllt followed and approached the woman.
“Excuse me, you are Maeven Lucre, is that right?” Esyllt wasn’t sure, she was certain she'd recognised the woman, but her hair was of a different colour. “Esyllt Boudica, we’ve fought together but I believe we haven’t been properly introduced.”
Maeven stops from her listening on on the various conversations of the people about her, letting her drink drop to a tray of a servant nearby after she sips from it one last time. Finally she turns to address the most recent person to address her. She was growing famous it seemed. She smiles and offers her hand out to this Esyllt. “In the flesh. Is it my mechanics you heard about? I was known for my shop in Tuleria for a time, but I’m afraid I’m no longer open for business if that’s what you wished to talk about…” She pauses, Esyllt’s features a little familiar before she can place them. “Ah, you are right, though. We have seen each other. Back in Arian. Back at the little game.”
Esyllt shuddered at the mention of the skirmish as a game, hopefully Maeven wasn’t as insane as the little girl who dubbed it as such. “I have no doubt your mechanical skills are top-notch,” Esyllt smiled politely, hoping to ease into the topic she’d wanted to bring up with a little small talk. “I have never seen anything quite like an iron dragon. Of course, I must admit I’m not familiar with mechanisms or dragons.”
Even if she was genuinely curious about Fafnir, Tuleria and engineering, something else weighed on her mind. “There is something I wanted to ask you, if I am not too forward, but it has come to my attention that you’ve spoken with the girl who fought us in Arian. The entire ordeal remains a mystery for me, why would a young child command demons and threaten to destroy a town? It is beyond my comprehension.”
Maeven suddenly wished for her drink back. Her eyes flit across the ball room, trying to pinpoint where the key people were and make sure they were just far enough away from her that she was not going to get in trouble. Gustavo was not supposed to really be making a scene she was figuring, she could barely catch him and she was used to spying things most did not notice. Amanda was off trying to bother a goblinoid. Kouri and Alex were busy with other dignitaries for the moment… She turns to Esyllt and drops her voice in volume from before, not entirely sure why herself but feeling a bit protective of Meryl now after knowing her.
“Look… I don’t know the entire story myself… But if you talked to her, you’d know that she has connections with Sloth.” She pauses trying to let that sink in, “Yes. THAT Sloth. The demonlord. It should explain the command of demons right away.” She pauses and shakes her, crossing her head, “Her name is Meryl, though, and she really is a sweet girl, though. And I’m not really sure how she came into the company of James the Illusionist. All I know is that that rat bastard tricked her. He told her that people could be fixed like they could in the Nine Hells so it was all a game.”
“She herself came from the Nine Hells?” Esyllt suffocated a gasp and spoke in the lowest whisper she could manage. She was quite taken aback by Maeven’s answer, finding it difficult to swallow. “There walk demons among us already...” Esyllt murmured, it would explain the company she kept... No wonder Maeven had to whisper. Certainly, Esyllt was not to question the conduct under orders of the throne, but from both the streets and the library, all demons were inherently evil and sinister. “I read demons are expert tricksters.” Esyllt suggested, calmly and neutral as she could. “Is it possible to trust Meryl’s word? What about her book, have they confiscated it?”
Maeven furrows her brow before turning with a servant that passes by to steal another drink, downing it with one go to try and keep up with this conversation. It was frustrating her to hear about the way Esyllt regarded Meryl. She holds up a finger to collect what all was just said before addressing each point as it needed to be. “I don’t know where she came from, but she definitely spent some times in the Hells with Sloth and It must have been fond of her and It her just from tales of some of their interactions or we have no understandings of the Nine Hells at all, which I find highly unlikely.” She taps the empty wine glass along her other hand as she purses her lips, looking up at the ceiling.
“Secondly, I don’t think she’s a demon. Gustavo made mention of a puppet? And the angels present have not gone up in a panic about her presence on the grounds…” Maeven pauses for a moment before focusing her gaze upon Esyllt, “And something I think very key there… She almost seems like a blank slate for things to be written. Most everyone seems to believe that demons are innately demons of chaos and bound to exhibit the corruption they are born of. She doesn’t speak of any of them and has no demonic traits to speak of… And as for Meryl’s word… I trust it. A lot farther than I can say of most people.”
She puts on a hollow smile to Esyllt before raising her free hand, waggling a single finger, “Ah, but before you make a habit of putting all demons in the same basket… Keep in mind… The King Boann of Tuleria has Demon blood… As did two of the Legendary heroes that successfully completed the journey with the esteemed Queen Kouri… And their Sister, that sacrificed herself, or so the tale goes, so that they could make it out of the Warlord’s Keep at Southblood. We do not live in a world where it is safe to speak in ignorant black and whites. You do not know who you will offend.”
It was true that the angels would have noticed a demon below… Although Esyllt never had seen a celestial being before, she had noticed some guests with something radiant about them… Well that and one guest had two white wings popping out of his back. Still, the tale of demonic blood amongst the heroes of Renalta was new to Esyllt; a note contrary to all she had previously believed. Esyllt would inquire Naraem later, because Xixis already had proven his race to be different from the insult worse than calling one’s mother a harlot, and the drow had appeared mannered even… Even if a little obsessed with death and nonchalant about the dead.
“I did not know that.” The restrain in her voice hinted at Esyllt not being convinced (as well as slightly annoyed, as she frowned at Maeven’s wagging finger). “The writings make it seem like our knowledge covers their nature and structure, but much I’ve learned has already been pulled into question since my arrival.” She admitted, but for some reason she found it difficult to swallow Maeven knew that much more than her.
“We need to learn more about this. Even if Meryll is innocent, her presence and company is worrying. She must have been sent here with a reason…” Esyllt thought, but couldn’t grasp exactly what it was… Nor James the Illusionist’s motivation behind the attack. There was so much Esyllt couldn’t even grasp, it was difficult to tell if anything was real. For the first time that evening, she mimicked Maeven and pulled a drink away from a nearby servant to wash away the doubt and chaos. Although the alcohol did little to clear her mind at all…
“I don’t know how this makes you speak so much clea- hic.” Esyllt hiccuped, then coughed not to choke on her drink. Maeven had robbed her of her composure somehow, something even Xixis’ lewd comments hadn’t managed to do.
Maeven pauses for a moment before wriggling her fingers with a giggle, twirling the glass between them. “Showmanship, sweetheart…” She pauses before trying to balance the empty glass on her palm and barely catches it before it can fall. “And that I’ve had to hold my liquor in the past.” she winks before letting the playfulness drop, a dangerous glint coming to her eyes. “You, of course… Might be thinking along the wrong path. Thinking she’s sent on a mission. She’s still a child. Someone loves her. She could have been swooped up, abducted… Or maybe she’s just a lot more powerful than we give her credit and can be taken advantage of easily. Kids, you know. They’re what you mold them to be. Be they monsters or saints. I hope you aren’t one who would see to treat her like a monster or that’s just what she’ll become, though.”
Esyllt found the logic in that with human children, but she still had to pull Meryl’s humanity into question. Many animals held onto their feral instincts, even if treated well, she’d learned. “I don’t know,” Esyllt admitted, though she couldn’t shake her unease, “I hope you are right, all these unanswered questions worry me… To think someone would use a child for their killing intent is as disturbing as a child with killing intent themselves. Bandits in our regions sometimes use their children to catch travelers off-guard, but never do even these villains put swords in their hands, much less tomes to summon hellspawn with.”
Esyllt sighed, and threw her at her feet. “It would sadden me to learn our enemy would push children this far. I hope you are right for Meryl’s sake, but I hope you are wrong for ours.”
“With some of the villains in our midsts, those we oppose have to be the vilest this and the other realms have to offer, Esyllt,” she nods to the Free Holds, “How else do you rationalize murderers, slavers and more being with the good guys, hmm?” She snorts and begins to walk away. She felt this conversation was about at its end.
A feeling that was mutual, as with a small nod Esyllt acknowledged the hint. Perhaps she was naive to the outside world, but in some way Esyllt couldn't help but sympathise with Maeven's feelings. The prospect of their future was so dark, she'd hope for the child's innocence.. Even if it only meant tipping the balance in her heart.
Oh BTW did I mention I was going to China for half a year? I'm pretty sure I did. I'm flying the 11th and my posting schedule will possibly be weird for a while.
Kaga said
I'd like to argue strongly against the episode idea. Roleplays with an episodic plot tend not to work out as well, at least not when the episode "beginnings" and "endings" are clearly defined, because people seem to have a hard time getting past the first couple "episodes". Also, RP's with this setup tend to rely strongly on a cast of characters that sticks around permanently. And that's hard to maintain.
On the contrary. The Library is episodic and it works just fine. When people drop the RP they drop during missions (episodes) far more often than in between them. So my experience tells me something completely different. Also it doesn't rely heavier on it's cast than other RP's. In fact cast composition is being switched around almost every new mission, which granted, may run a couple months each, but makes for something completely different. And yet; 22/11/11 and still running.
Episodic RP's are like any other. What you make of it. There are some pros and cons but none of them have been touched on in this thread. So I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.
Tempest said
I'm sorry! I TRIED!
I kinda had a training week in the middle. Training that apparently consisted out of 6 hours of auditorium a day. Information overload. I'll be wrapping up those collabs today then.
Hell, still not finished with my collabs. Speedposter!
So, you're going to be leading a quest. That's cool, great even. You're going to guide players through a story arc and give them a fantastic roleplaying experience. That sure sounds exciting, but how do you go about this?
Hi, I'm Kestrel. I've been a GM for... Well, most of my ~7 year old roleplaying career and lead a number of long-lasting roleplays, two of which completed, as an on-going RP since 22/11/11. I figured that's enough credentials to pretend to know something about the topic. For this guide, I'll be covering how I go about setting up a story. I may or may not do stuff for other aspects of GM'ing in the future, but this guide will focus on just one thing; how to set stuff up. I'll be covering a number of subjects, from what should be present in your posts, basic storytelling structure, etc.
Before all that, I need you guys to acknowledge a crucial difference. Some consider it controversial, but ignoring this difference leads to many GM's falling flat on their faces. It is the difference between writing and roleplaying.
Writing vs. roleplaying
A lot of people think roleplaying is similar writing a novel or short story. This is wrong! The primary differences between novel-writing and roleplaying are participation and interaction. Posts their main function is interaction and setting up interaction. This can be interaction with other characters, NPC's, the environment, etc. Sure, players will enjoy a well-written post, but they're not just an audience; they're participants in the creative process and your fellow writers. Reading is only half the experience for any roleplayer, they also came to write. This is why you don't just need to entertain them, but provide them with building blocks. As their fellow player, and especially as a GM, you need to burn that into your mind. Here's a small list of things GM's, both new and experienced alike, run into when they confuse writing with roleplaying;
Remember that before storytelling, GM'ing is people management. The best roleplays come out when everyone is motivated to write, so you should facilitate that freedom over trying to tell a story of your own. Understand you're writing collaboratively and the moment even just one player joins, the story isn't just exclusively yours anymore. You can't make an RP work if you can't make your players write it.
Pacing
Now, much as I've outlined the difference between writing and roleplaying, that doesn't mean we can't gain anything from common tools used in writing. Whether you tell or facilitate a story, you need to know how at a basic level, a story works and how it is structured. The determining factor to the structure in a story is, of course, pacing.
Pacing determines the speed at which a scene or plot moves, and is the most influential factor in engaging your audience. Because there are people far better at explaining the general concept of ideal pacing than I am, here's a great explanatory video about how pacing works from people who like videogames.
That was it.
If you didn't watch it (shame on you) it boils down to the following. When setting up any form of entertainment, you want to start with a hook; something that instantly grabs people their attention. After that, you want a slight lull to acclimatise people to your story before ramping up the action again. Every time you ramp up from there, you create just a little more excitement than in your last peak, before you lull again. Basically it's a cycle going;
Now, there's two big differences between creating good pacing in videogames (as put forward in the video) and in roleplaying.
Long story short; everything you write needs a balance between action and rest. You need not only read into the scenes to properly balance this, but also into the feedback of your players.
Three-act structure
Where pacing deals with the engagement in a story, the three-act-structure deals with coherence and is basically the glue of a story. As the name suggests, the three-act-structure splits up a story into three main segments.
Like the pacing cycle, the three-act-structure doesn't just apply to story as a whole. Especially with roleplays that tend to be composed out of multiple arcs, it can go down as deep as the post- and scene-levels. Although probably there won't be two plot-twists per post, there will probably be a small Act I to every obstacle. Keep in mind though, that unlike pacing, the three-act-structure is not to be enforced with an iron fist. You can deviate from it if you feel so inclined and have the skill and confidence to pull it off, but the three-arc-structure is a very convenient baseline to work with.
The Golden Rule
The golden rule is that no matter how carefully you planned your story out, at some point, your players can and will poke holes in it. I strongly recommend you to embrace this. In spite of everything you have planned and plotted out, roleplaying is a collaborative effort. Sometimes players will derail your story. Maybe a knight's loyalty to their king wavers, causing one player to throw a wrench in the party's plans by leaking to the enemy. Learn to see this as a natural part of roleplay, because in my honest opinion, players surprising you is one of the best parts of being a GM. So be flexible, learn to improvise, and don't be afraid to tell your players you need an extra day or two to figure out where to go from there.
Also here's an obligatory reference and yes, I totally think this paragraph deserves it's own chapter.
Exposition
Now that we have covered the basics for the overall structuring, we're going to go down to post level. As a GM, most of the time you're supposed to set the scene, meaning you'll be showing off the environment, NPC's and obstacles players will get to play with. This is called exposition; you expose your players to their environment.
The important thing about exposition is that it can't be too long, but it can't be to vague either. As mentioned way back, players are more motivated by getting to write than getting to read, so it's important not to info-dump your exposition. Only write about what is directly relevant (unless you plot on using Chekhov's Gun). Make sure what you write has a function. You don't need to narrate every detail of an NPC's new Mercedes, that's not relevant to the players. However, if the NPC describes every detail of their car, players will learn about his passion and can potentially use that fact to change topics when trying to avoid a question, or threaten to destroy his car if he doesn't work with them.
The exception is Chekhov's Gun. Chekhov's Gun is a narrative element that may seem irrelevant at the time it's introduced, but becomes relevant in the scene afterwards. A slightly different looking egg in the hen house may not seem worth mentioning, up until you have tiny snakes crawling around. Players won't need to be told these were snake eggs, because you shed light on the detail earlier, they'll connect the baby snakes to the odd eggs.
One important element that may not directly be interacted with, but still is essential, is atmosphere. Describe the atmosphere when entering a new space. Again, don't info-dump, but do stimulate the senses. Here's an example about the dragon's den;
You needn't stimulate all senses (especially taste is often irrelevant) but try to at least address a couple. We experience the world through our senses, and this is a great show don't tell method to set an atmosphere and so immerse players in your world.
Conflict & Obstacles
What is a story without conflict? That's like drinking a cup of muthafkin tea. Not very exciting. No, a good story requires multiple parties to clash in some way, be it with arms, words, possessions, etc. Now there's basically two kinds of conflict; man versus man and man versus environment. Man versus man suggests two concious parties having conflicting desires, for example the classic hero versus villain set-up. However conflict isn't just two guys or gals butting heads, it could be between small groups, or two entire planets. You could make it a three-way conflict, or be a neutral faction in a war trying to end it peacefully. Man versus man simply means you are dealing with a concious antagonistic force actively pursuing a clear goal (regardless of whether this force is an elf, a group, male or female, has seven legs, etc).
Man versus environment works with a (mostly) non-conscious antagonist. This could be trying to survive in the wilderness, a hurricane ravaging your hometown, etc. In a roleplay, environment is rarely the main antagonistic force, but that ancient trap-filled ruin you're exploring or the vast forest filled with feral predators and poisonous lants are common examples of man versus environment in roleplay. The environment isn't consciously out to stop you from reaching your goal, but interferes with it nonetheless.
Conflict gives birth to obstacles to overcome. Different obstacles require different approaches, and multiple viable ways to get around. You should vary your obstacles and optimal solutions. Some fights are best avoided, others it might be easier to beat the opposition down than to reason with them. However, not everything is about combat. Let's take an example obstacle and see a number of different ways you could go around it.
The party needs the support of a king to further their quest, but the king does not trust strangers. What can they do?
As you can see, there's multiple ways to go about it. You may even want to cross off a couple options, like the king being guarded quite heavily, making a solution with force backfire, or making him a tyrant so that flattering him will suit you better than employing a third party. etc. Note that obstacles aren't always fights either, and many obstacles can be overcome without combat.
Action-reaction cycle
Last, but certainly not least, the action-reaction cycle. Almost any good post, from either player or GM, consists out of two parts; reaction and action, or interaction and setting up interaction. Let's break that down.
While players can be a little more passive here or there without much consequence, as a GM all your posts have to evoke a response. You're the pacing master, you have a quest to guide your players through. With every post, you are expected to push the plot forward and give players something to respond to. Reactions are equally important, because player actions need to influence a scene (or they'll feel useless) and because acknowledgement in and of itself is a little reward. Most of us prefer to talk to other people than our bedroom walls because they respond. The same applies to collaborative writing. Acknowledge and write something to everyone, even if it's small, so they feel part of the roleplay.
That's All, Folks
You learned about the core differences between roleplaying and writing, conflict and obstacles, how to structure your arc and what to include in your post. Now it's up to you to apply all that. Both have a basic structure and be prepared to deviate from your original idea, understand when to speed up and slow down, and at all times consider your players and their needs. Following this guide alone isn't an end-all to make you a good GM, that requires experience and mastery of a wider range of skills, but it should at the very least give you a basic guideline to hold onto when setting up stories. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be afraid to ask how players feel about your set-up, and if something doesn't work out; analyse what went wrong and try again. With that, I wish you the best of luck setting up your new stories. Godspeed.
Kestrel out.
Hi, I'm Kestrel. I've been a GM for... Well, most of my ~7 year old roleplaying career and lead a number of long-lasting roleplays, two of which completed, as an on-going RP since 22/11/11. I figured that's enough credentials to pretend to know something about the topic. For this guide, I'll be covering how I go about setting up a story. I may or may not do stuff for other aspects of GM'ing in the future, but this guide will focus on just one thing; how to set stuff up. I'll be covering a number of subjects, from what should be present in your posts, basic storytelling structure, etc.
Before all that, I need you guys to acknowledge a crucial difference. Some consider it controversial, but ignoring this difference leads to many GM's falling flat on their faces. It is the difference between writing and roleplaying.
A lot of people think roleplaying is similar writing a novel or short story. This is wrong! The primary differences between novel-writing and roleplaying are participation and interaction. Posts their main function is interaction and setting up interaction. This can be interaction with other characters, NPC's, the environment, etc. Sure, players will enjoy a well-written post, but they're not just an audience; they're participants in the creative process and your fellow writers. Reading is only half the experience for any roleplayer, they also came to write. This is why you don't just need to entertain them, but provide them with building blocks. As their fellow player, and especially as a GM, you need to burn that into your mind. Here's a small list of things GM's, both new and experienced alike, run into when they confuse writing with roleplaying;
- As a GM, you're not telling a story, you're facilitating a story. The outcomes of scenes should depend largely on the actions of the roleplayers. If the actions of players don't influence the outcome of a scene, you're just making your players writing your story for you. This is called railroading and railroading is bad, because being railroaded is boring. Feeling powerless to change something may be interesting in a novel, but use it sparingly, if at all, in an RP, because being powerless inherently demotivates people to try anything.
- If you're forced to make a choice between pretty words and getting a message across, always choose the latter. In general players are far more motivated by the content they can produce than by your wordplay. You want your message to be clear and concise. If your message is complicated, sometimes this means you have to tell before showing. It's a sin in novels, but you can afford more vague moments when your readers don't have to instantly react to something. In roleplay, you don't solely rely on your words to engage your players, you rely on theirs.
- When you make an obstacle, make sure there's more than one way to get around it. If every problem has only one solution, you're railroading. If you have a dragon guarding a treasure, don't force players to slay the beast, give them the option to sneak in, bribe the dragon, lure it out and have team B steal it while you distract it, etc. That doesn't mean any option has to be easy, just that multiple should be viable.
- Make sure everyone can grab the spotlight. Don't appoint (or banish the thought, make your own) main character, unless you want your roleplay to die. Die hard. No matter how interesting said main character is. For every player, their own character is the main character. Respect that. If you choose to fight the dragon, don't make it's only weakness an arrow to the eye. Or at the very least, force everyone to work together to create an opening for the archer to take their shot.
- Make sure everyone has something to do at every moment. When someone posts their character doing nothing of importance whatsoever, it's a waste of time and space, as well as demotivating for that player, the other players and you, the GM. You can't interact with someone posting nothing. Some players are more passive than others; so give them incentive. Don't put just one NPC in the room you expect everyone to talk to, create multiple NPC's, or other forms of interactive elements, each possessing their own little tidbit about the information-puzzle.
- Don't have too many characters in one scene at once. In a novel you have complete control over what to discuss, but with multiple writers big scenes can quickly become chaotic. Or worse; if you have eight players at the same spot at the same time, people will only use their post to react until everyone has posted, with the only action happening in one or two posts. Ideally, have three or four, five at most characters at the same scene at the same time.
Remember that before storytelling, GM'ing is people management. The best roleplays come out when everyone is motivated to write, so you should facilitate that freedom over trying to tell a story of your own. Understand you're writing collaboratively and the moment even just one player joins, the story isn't just exclusively yours anymore. You can't make an RP work if you can't make your players write it.
Now, much as I've outlined the difference between writing and roleplaying, that doesn't mean we can't gain anything from common tools used in writing. Whether you tell or facilitate a story, you need to know how at a basic level, a story works and how it is structured. The determining factor to the structure in a story is, of course, pacing.
Pacing determines the speed at which a scene or plot moves, and is the most influential factor in engaging your audience. Because there are people far better at explaining the general concept of ideal pacing than I am, here's a great explanatory video about how pacing works from people who like videogames.
That was it.
If you didn't watch it (shame on you) it boils down to the following. When setting up any form of entertainment, you want to start with a hook; something that instantly grabs people their attention. After that, you want a slight lull to acclimatise people to your story before ramping up the action again. Every time you ramp up from there, you create just a little more excitement than in your last peak, before you lull again. Basically it's a cycle going;
- Action
- Lull
- Action
- Lull
- etc.
Now, there's two big differences between creating good pacing in videogames (as put forward in the video) and in roleplaying.
- Where the video names three different sizes for the curve; being arc, scene and action. In roleplaying I will use arc, scene and post. As a GM you have no control over the pacing within a player's post (obviously) and your influence over a scene is limited. After all, the scene is a sequence of posts. You only have your own posts to influence the pacing of a scene. Use these posts wisely. Understand where to slow down and where to speed up. In spite having less control, you have a lot of direct input to read into. When characters become more passive or posting slows down, it's probably time to ramp up the action. If it becomes chaotic and confusing for players to follow a scene, you probably waited too long with the lull. Optimal timing is hard and can be different for different players, but as you practice, you will come to read into the moment more naturally.
- The second big difference is that roleplays have lull moments whether you write them or not. This is because unlike other media, you don't have a constant stream of content coming your way, but you have to wait for people to read and respond. Because of this, make your lulls short. Give people small breathers before they have to go back to saving the world, but limit the time this takes. Tavern scenes are where roleplays come to die. To compensate for this, use time-skips where needed.
Long story short; everything you write needs a balance between action and rest. You need not only read into the scenes to properly balance this, but also into the feedback of your players.
Where pacing deals with the engagement in a story, the three-act-structure deals with coherence and is basically the glue of a story. As the name suggests, the three-act-structure splits up a story into three main segments.
- Act I deals with the exposition; introducing characters and environment, as well as the premise of the story. This is where the first plot-point will be introduced and dubbed the inciting incident. With this, the story is set into motion. For your typical fantasy story, this can be meeting with the king and hearing (or maybe even watching as) the princess is kidnapped by a dragon. Why dragons keep doing that remains a mystery...
- Act II is the meat of the story. This is where the protagonists of the story will be jumping over hurdles to reach their goal. Be it by training how to joust against a dragon, going through the ancient trials to be found worthy to wield the dragon-slaying lance, etc. Usually act two introduces the second plot point, where everything turns around (dubbed the reversal). If you want a plot twist, this is the most convenient part to place it in. Maybe it wasn't the dragon who kidnapped the princess, but the princess is plotting to use the dragon to usurp the throne from her father.
- Act III, finally leads to the climax. This is where the plot hits hardest and the final confrontation takes place. Stakes are highest and the action is the most tense. To defend king and country, the heroes take on both the dragon and the princess. Then, after the heroes succeed (or fail) there is the denouement; which is pretty much a difficult word for bringing in the lull we learned about with pacing.
Like the pacing cycle, the three-act-structure doesn't just apply to story as a whole. Especially with roleplays that tend to be composed out of multiple arcs, it can go down as deep as the post- and scene-levels. Although probably there won't be two plot-twists per post, there will probably be a small Act I to every obstacle. Keep in mind though, that unlike pacing, the three-act-structure is not to be enforced with an iron fist. You can deviate from it if you feel so inclined and have the skill and confidence to pull it off, but the three-arc-structure is a very convenient baseline to work with.
The golden rule is that no matter how carefully you planned your story out, at some point, your players can and will poke holes in it. I strongly recommend you to embrace this. In spite of everything you have planned and plotted out, roleplaying is a collaborative effort. Sometimes players will derail your story. Maybe a knight's loyalty to their king wavers, causing one player to throw a wrench in the party's plans by leaking to the enemy. Learn to see this as a natural part of roleplay, because in my honest opinion, players surprising you is one of the best parts of being a GM. So be flexible, learn to improvise, and don't be afraid to tell your players you need an extra day or two to figure out where to go from there.
Also here's an obligatory reference and yes, I totally think this paragraph deserves it's own chapter.
Now that we have covered the basics for the overall structuring, we're going to go down to post level. As a GM, most of the time you're supposed to set the scene, meaning you'll be showing off the environment, NPC's and obstacles players will get to play with. This is called exposition; you expose your players to their environment.
The important thing about exposition is that it can't be too long, but it can't be to vague either. As mentioned way back, players are more motivated by getting to write than getting to read, so it's important not to info-dump your exposition. Only write about what is directly relevant (unless you plot on using Chekhov's Gun). Make sure what you write has a function. You don't need to narrate every detail of an NPC's new Mercedes, that's not relevant to the players. However, if the NPC describes every detail of their car, players will learn about his passion and can potentially use that fact to change topics when trying to avoid a question, or threaten to destroy his car if he doesn't work with them.
The exception is Chekhov's Gun. Chekhov's Gun is a narrative element that may seem irrelevant at the time it's introduced, but becomes relevant in the scene afterwards. A slightly different looking egg in the hen house may not seem worth mentioning, up until you have tiny snakes crawling around. Players won't need to be told these were snake eggs, because you shed light on the detail earlier, they'll connect the baby snakes to the odd eggs.
One important element that may not directly be interacted with, but still is essential, is atmosphere. Describe the atmosphere when entering a new space. Again, don't info-dump, but do stimulate the senses. Here's an example about the dragon's den;
- [*] Sight, when entering the den, the heroes can see scorch marks on the walls and skeletons and armour laying around; hinting at the dragon's cruel treatment of unwelcome guests.
- Hearing, if they hear a dragon's snoring or they hear it's roar has completely different effect on the atmosphere, even if everything else is the same.
- Smell, smell is the sense closest related to memory, as well as an indicator of the unseen and unheard. When you describe a sweet smell in the air, you're throwing players for a loop and make them wonder; is there something else besides the dragon in this den?
- Touch, which may be the most difficult, but whether a dragon's exterior feels like cold, hard scales or they are so fluffy you're gonna die has a big impact on how players will interact with it.
- Taste is a little more obscure, but it often warns us of what we should and shouldn't put in our mouth. Also, if you can taste the air, that's a good indication breathing it might not be such a good idea.
You needn't stimulate all senses (especially taste is often irrelevant) but try to at least address a couple. We experience the world through our senses, and this is a great show don't tell method to set an atmosphere and so immerse players in your world.
What is a story without conflict? That's like drinking a cup of muthafkin tea. Not very exciting. No, a good story requires multiple parties to clash in some way, be it with arms, words, possessions, etc. Now there's basically two kinds of conflict; man versus man and man versus environment. Man versus man suggests two concious parties having conflicting desires, for example the classic hero versus villain set-up. However conflict isn't just two guys or gals butting heads, it could be between small groups, or two entire planets. You could make it a three-way conflict, or be a neutral faction in a war trying to end it peacefully. Man versus man simply means you are dealing with a concious antagonistic force actively pursuing a clear goal (regardless of whether this force is an elf, a group, male or female, has seven legs, etc).
Man versus environment works with a (mostly) non-conscious antagonist. This could be trying to survive in the wilderness, a hurricane ravaging your hometown, etc. In a roleplay, environment is rarely the main antagonistic force, but that ancient trap-filled ruin you're exploring or the vast forest filled with feral predators and poisonous lants are common examples of man versus environment in roleplay. The environment isn't consciously out to stop you from reaching your goal, but interferes with it nonetheless.
Conflict gives birth to obstacles to overcome. Different obstacles require different approaches, and multiple viable ways to get around. You should vary your obstacles and optimal solutions. Some fights are best avoided, others it might be easier to beat the opposition down than to reason with them. However, not everything is about combat. Let's take an example obstacle and see a number of different ways you could go around it.
The party needs the support of a king to further their quest, but the king does not trust strangers. What can they do?
- Attempt to coerce the king through force.
- Win the king's trust by slaying a beast that's bothered them.
- Call in the help of mutual acquaintances to convince the king, or woo his daughter and have her convince her father for you.
- Entertain the king at the grand ball, slowly winning over his trust.
- Find a way to make it profitable for the king, making him an offer he can't refuse.
- etc.
As you can see, there's multiple ways to go about it. You may even want to cross off a couple options, like the king being guarded quite heavily, making a solution with force backfire, or making him a tyrant so that flattering him will suit you better than employing a third party. etc. Note that obstacles aren't always fights either, and many obstacles can be overcome without combat.
Last, but certainly not least, the action-reaction cycle. Almost any good post, from either player or GM, consists out of two parts; reaction and action, or interaction and setting up interaction. Let's break that down.
- A reaction is an acknowledgement of what was written before you. This can be applied to almost anything. Maybe the other character swings a sword at yours, then your reaction will include blocking, dodging or taking the hit. Maybe they ask you a question, and the reaction is the answer to that question.
- The action, on the other hand, deliberately sets something up to push the scene forward. After blocking the sword, your character attempts to parry and counter-attack. After answering the question, they ask a question of their own. Actions you set up will require a reaction from the other player(s) and so you keep the cycle going.
While players can be a little more passive here or there without much consequence, as a GM all your posts have to evoke a response. You're the pacing master, you have a quest to guide your players through. With every post, you are expected to push the plot forward and give players something to respond to. Reactions are equally important, because player actions need to influence a scene (or they'll feel useless) and because acknowledgement in and of itself is a little reward. Most of us prefer to talk to other people than our bedroom walls because they respond. The same applies to collaborative writing. Acknowledge and write something to everyone, even if it's small, so they feel part of the roleplay.
You learned about the core differences between roleplaying and writing, conflict and obstacles, how to structure your arc and what to include in your post. Now it's up to you to apply all that. Both have a basic structure and be prepared to deviate from your original idea, understand when to speed up and slow down, and at all times consider your players and their needs. Following this guide alone isn't an end-all to make you a good GM, that requires experience and mastery of a wider range of skills, but it should at the very least give you a basic guideline to hold onto when setting up stories. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be afraid to ask how players feel about your set-up, and if something doesn't work out; analyse what went wrong and try again. With that, I wish you the best of luck setting up your new stories. Godspeed.
Kestrel out.
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