[Twilight Time] Create Your Own Instant Plot Hooks
Heather Grove
heather at burningvoid.com
Mon May 13 08:36:00 EDT 2002
May 13, 2002 - Create Your Own Instant Plot Hooks
Volume 3, Issue 7
This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void:
http://www.burningvoid.com/
Copyright 2002 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except
where noted otherwise. You may forward it via email to other people,
but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright
notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means
without direct permission.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options or view the archives,
visit the Twilight Time:
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime
You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of
"subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request at burningvoid.com
Good morning!
Whew - that ws close! This mailing list used to be set up to
automatically post any email sent from me; it just blocked other
posters. But lately the spam and viruses have been flying fast and
thick, and they have a new twist: forged headers from your own
network. I saw one of these and immediately changed things so that
even my posts needed approval in order to go out. Sure enough, three
days later - mail tried to go to the list, supposedly from my address.
There *should* now be no way that spam or viruses can end up going to
the list. My fingers are crossed!
In the meantime, it's Spring, and you know what that means - yard
work. For the very first time we have a yard to take care of, and we
decided to start with all the bushes around the house. No problem -
until we decided we needed to rip out a rose bush (ow! Thorns!) and
cut down a tree. What was going to be the work of a few hours has gone
on for a whole day so far, and will probably take another. Still,
there's a nice feeling you get from doing it yourself.
And that's what this article is about - doing it yourself. Sure, we've
had all sorts of variations on the instant plot hook concept. But this
time we're going to talk about what makes a good IPH and how you can
come up with your own. I hope you enjoy it!
Have a great day,
Heather
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Create Your Own Instant Plot Hooks
In January of 2001 we created something we called the "instant plot
hook." These are little items and ideas that you can drop into your
game at a moment's notice, with very little preparation. The idea is
that they can take up a spare hour or half-hour here or there when
your players have unexpectedly run through the material you prepared a
little faster than you anticipated. Or you can drop them in when
things seem a little slow and you want to liven things up. If the
instant plot hook attracts the attention of the players and seems to
be working out in an interesting way, then you can flesh it out into a
full plot during the time between game sessions.
Since then we've gotten several articles out of the instant plot hook
idea. If you never saw it, you might want to take a brief glance at
the original article:
http://www.burningvoid.com/pipermail/void/2001q1/000009.html
This time, instead of simply handing you a bunch of IPHs, we're going
to help you make your own.
Remember the Mystery
Most important to an instant plot hook is mystery. If it's just a
random event, entirely explained, then there might not be a whole lot
for the party to investigate and you won't serve your goal of filling
up that half-hour or so. This isn't always the case - there are IPH
categories that don't require mystery - but it is a common theme.
Gifts have unannounced senders, odd undiscovered properties, or
otherwise mysterious origins. Cases of mistaken identity have a trail
of problems to track back to their source (the same with
mis-deliveries and switched documents). Prophecies and visions often
have metaphorical elements that must be puzzled out and matched up
with reality.
Hopefully there's enough mystery that the party can start checking
things out, ask a few questions, investigate a lead or two, but not
get too far in the space of that half-hour you need to fill. That way
you have the time between game sessions to fill in the gaps in the
story and expand on the IPH, turning it into a full-blown plot.
The other advantage to a mysterious IPH is a lack of detail tying it
to a specific plot, place, or person. This means that it's less likely
to be rendered obsolete when that plot goes in an unexpected
direction, the player characters (PCs) move to a new city, or a
related person dies. The mystery gives the IPH a much longer
shelf-life, allowing you to hold onto it until you need it.
Examples of mysterious IPHs:
#1. When the party wakes up one morning, they find that the world is
trapped in an unending night. The sun never rose. Everything is dark
and quiet. What happened? Is it a natural phenomenon? Who could have
done such a thing, and why?
#2. A non-player character (NPC), preferably a friend of one of the
PCs (or someone they need), vanishes in front of their eyes. Where did
he go? Did someone take him, and if so, why? Or could the problem be
with the PCs...
Keep it Short & Flexible
Keep the IPH short. One, maybe two paragraphs (at most) is usually
good. Sometimes it only takes a sentence or two. There's a good reason
for this - unless you're sure you'll use that IPH within the next
session or two, you never know when you'll make use of it. It could
happen next session, next week, or next year. This means IPHs have to
be as flexible as possible.
The more details you pin down in advance the more assumptions you're
making. Such as what interests your party, what they're likely to
check out and how, and where the plot is likely to go. If you don't
end up using the IPH for a while, then for all you know the party
might have moved to a different city, developed an interest in an
entirely different type of plot, or even switched membership a couple
of times. The NPCs you worked into the IPH's plot might have died. Any
of these things could make your well-detailed IPH irrelevant to your
current game or party.
The "instant" part of instant plot hook refers to the fact that you
don't have to change a lot of details before you drop it into your
game. The fewer details you pin down in advance, the fewer details
you'll have to change.
Examples of short & flexible IPHs:
#1. A party member's shadow takes on a life of its own. What does it
do? Why has this happened? How can it be fixed?
#2. An enemy of the party comes to them for help, and it isn't a trap...
Think in Categories
If you're trying to come up with a nice long list of IPHs that will
last you a while, then start with categories instead of single items.
If you have difficulty with this at first, then start with a hook and
work backwards to figure out what sort of category it might fall into.
Here are the categories we've played with so far:
Basic instant plot hooks:
* Gifts,
* Cases of mistaken identity,
* Mis-deliveries and switched documents,
* Muggings, thefts, and random combats,
* Prophecies and visions,
* Disasters and catastrophes,
* Job offers,
* Mysterious nonexistent relatives or friends,
* Sudden trips.
Our creepy plot hook categories:
* Blood,
* Things that aren't quite right,
* Body changes,
* Mind changes,
* The hunt,
* Monsters,
* Mysterious disappearances.
Our item hook categories:
* Plot-relevant items,
* Items once owned by a celebrity,
* Historically relevant items,
* Personally relevant items,
* Unusual and unique items.
I'm sure there are quite a few more that we haven't thought of at all!
There are a couple of advantages to thinking in categories. First, it
helps you to make sure that you don't use the same sort of IPH too
many times in a row - you know that if you recently used an IPH from
one category then it's time to move on to another. Second, if you can
come up with an entire category that works well, then it can be even
easier to brainstorm later IPHs from that same category.
Make it Exciting
Try to make the IPH something that will immediately catch the interest
of the party. Mystery is a part of this - any player characters (PCs)
with a healthy dose of curiosity will hopefully get caught up in a
mystery. Excitement can come in any of a number of forms, however. You
know your players best, so hopefully you have some idea of what will
interest them and pull them into a plot. Use that!
Although what excites one group of players can be totally different
from what excites another, we'll do our best to give you a couple of
examples of exciting IPHs:
#1. A cinematic chase scene happens right in front of the characters.
Unfortunately for them, one of the participants decides to drag the
PCs into it. He hides behind a PC, tries to take a PC hostage, begs
them for help, or something similar. Who are these people and why are
they trying to kill each other?
#2. One of the PCs starts to have flashes that he thinks are
hallucinations. Unfortunately for him, as events unravel he starts to
realize that he's seeing through someone else's eyes. That someone is
doing something terrifying, horrifying, alien, or just plain weird
(something that can be narrated in a gripping manner). Who is the
other? Why is he connected to that particular PC? What is the other
trying to accomplish? How can the PC find and (stop/help) the person?
Include Questions
Include a few questions in your IPH that your PCs might look into or
try to answer, or that you will need to answer. It's a quick way to
get you thinking in the right directions, since you'll probably be
picking out your IPH in the middle of the game. It's an easy way to
remind you of what you need to fit into the game and get across to
your players. You might think of your questions as sparks to help you
improvise.
#1. When one of the PCs arrives home, he finds some other family
(seemingly perfectly normal) living in his home, claiming all of his
possessions as theirs. If he does any checking, no one except him and
the rest of the PCs remembers him as living there (although anyone who
knew him well seems a little uncertain), and any paper records show
the other family as living there. Who are they? Why have they moved
in? Why does reality seem to agree that the home belongs to them?
#2. [Another alternative is to add a few possible answers to those
questions, to give you something to work with when the time comes.
Even if none of those suggestions end up being appropriate to the
current situation, you can use them as inspiration:]
A package arrives for one of the PCs. Inside that package is a locked
strongbox with a note on it saying "Beware: Highly Dangerous," but the
contents seem simple and ordinary (a cheap bracelet, a random library
book, or a bottle of spring water). What's dangerous about the item?
Who sent it? Why did they choose one of the PCs as the recipient? Why
is there no explanation of the item included?
The item might have been sent by an enemy, mentor, unknown family
member, or random person who has heard of the PC's reputation (or who
has heard a prophecy regarding the PC). He might have sent the item
for safe-keeping. It could be a trap. It could be dangerous but
helpful, and he wanted the PC to have the use of it. Perhaps he left
the explanation out because he thinks the PC wouldn't believe him, and
thus wants the PC to find out the details to his own satisfaction.
Perhaps he didn't want to risk the explanation falling into the wrong
hands. The item could be magical or mystical, or simply important
because of what is prophesied to happen to or around it. It could be
some sort of illusion or disguise covering up something important, or
it could have something important hidden inside of it. It could be a
puzzle or message of some sort.
Practice Improvisation First
It helps to have at least a little experience with improvisation
before you start messing with instant plot hooks. They are, after all,
the antithesis of fully prepared material. This is all right, though,
as improvisation is important to game mastering (GMing) for so many
reasons! Check out the following articles if you need a little more
help with your improvisation:
Improvisation Made Easy:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/improvfreewill.html
Improvisation Tricks:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/itricksfreewill.html
Hopefully all of this has given you a few ideas for where you might
start when creating your own instant plot hooks. They're so useful
when your players short-circuit what you had planned. They're kind of
a safety net, so you don't feel like you have to railroad the PCs into
following your plot - you can let them take things wherever they want,
and then use your IPHs to fill in any blank spots that causes. As
always, free will in roleplaying rules the day!
What's Your Opinion?:
Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic
requests? Drop me a line at (heather at burningvoid.com). If I pass any
of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG
resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you
don't want me to use your name and/or comments!
Next Issue:
Defeating villains! Coming in just a few weeks (early June).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SITE UPDATE:
Burning Void Roleplaying Resources:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html
We have lots of new articles for you this month!
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/firewall101.html
Firewalling 101 for Players
Having trouble keeping player and character knowledge separate? Not
even sure what the heck I'm talking about? Check out our article for
players on "firewalling" - we provide tips and tricks to make dealing
with out of character information much easier.
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/rpworld8.html
Game Worlds Designed for Roleplaying VIII: Plot Hooks
Plot hooks - why to pack 'em in, and how to train yourself to write them!
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/reallife.html
Using Real Life Material as the Basis of Roleplaying Plots
We're tackling that old, controversial subject: is it okay to use
real-life events and tragedies as the basis for plots in your
roleplaying games? If so, when? And how?
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Reviews/0502-1.html
Jeffrey Howard's review of "A Thief's Tale," a Guildhouse Games $5 d20
supplement. Definitely worth checking out! (The review *and* the
module. ;)
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/outlines.html
How to Write Useful Outlines for Writers
Not all outlines are created equal. Some do a much better job than
others at getting across what they want. Learn a few tips & tricks for
getting across what it is that you want!
An article from the writing resources page that some of you might find
useful:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/workhome.html
How to Successfully Work from Home
This one was inspired by some of my own problems, and includes all the
tips & hints I could think of to make working from home easier and
more successful.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RATINGS:
You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let
us know how we're doing:
http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288
The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page:
http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Advertiser Instructions:
If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please
email <support at burningvoid.com> to come to an arrangement. We're also
willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news
announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any
ad or announcement.)
Privacy Policy:
We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand
out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end
up with), barring a court order to do so.
Unsubscribe:
The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely
voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us
and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong.
Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work,
let us know right away at <heather at burningvoid.com>.
In order to unsubscribe, visit
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime
sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to
you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of
"unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request at burningvoid.com
More information about the Twilighttime
mailing list