From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:45 2004 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Most of what you discussed was how to stick parties into the middle of a game. But it's just as useful, if not more so, to start off with one. (Maybe you hinted at this and I missed it.) If there's a bunch of characters who have a common contact, however distant, a party may just be the perfect kickoff point for a campaign: 1) It brings everyone together conveniently enough that a bad guy could crash the party, drawing them into the main conflict. 2) Dozens of future plot hooks can be introduced. (Kind of like the Millennial Fair at the beginning of Chrono Trigger, if you've played that.) 3) Many characters (Player or otherwise) could get drunk and briefly show off their true colors. A good GM could make these into plot hooks themselves. And nothing strengthens friendship bonds quite like parties... A party at the beginning of a game might also be an invaluable character creation tool. For example, if someone has no idea what they want their character to be, throw them into a party. Have various people at the party come ask her questions, and use her answers to create a character. For example, if the local priest comes and talks to her, will she act shifty, avoid him, ignore him, or chat like old friends? Another advantage (I'm performing a thought experiment here, so I may be wrong) could be that these responses may be very natural to the player, making playing the PC in-character much easier to the player. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:45 2004 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Hi Heather! I was just reading your newsletter for the first time and wished I had seen it earlier. There was tons of good information that really kicked off a good "thinking session". I just wish I had seen this about 3 weeks earlier. Just a few weeks ago I DMed a game for my 3E group. The game revolved around an annual Festival in a good sized city. The festival was full of the normal attractions - foods, entertainment and games. I created a bunch of "fantasy" type games for the players to get involved in and it was a big hit. During one of the games a feebleminded man approached the halfling rogue noticing he had much success at winning the games. After a long conversation the halfling agreed to win a few prizes for the poor old man. When the old man reached in his pocket to pull out money to be used for the game's cost, the halfling noticed a most unusual coin. He successfully "picked" the coin. Later they found that the coin was the major plot hook for the night - it granted them access to a restricted level of the city's library. It was a variation of your "Gifts as Instant Plot Hooks" and I thought you would be interested in the twist. It wasn't really a gift. They had to work a little to get it and the lead up to the revealing of the coin was a blast! From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:45 2004 Subject: No subject Message-ID: This is kinda related to the last Twilight Time; it's about PCs indulging in a little celebration now and then. Tonight was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in my Wraith (Risen) campaign; the characters had a fairly harrowing time with some Heretics in Portugal before getting what they needed and fleeing back to London. Upon returning to safety, the youngest character (12 yrs old) presented his friends with presents that he'd found time to secretly buy while abroad. The player had been planning this for three weeks. Everyone was surprised and touched, and I had Tori Amos' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" play softly in the background. The characters later had a snowfight. As well as making the game seem more "real" to the characters, this brief episode gave the characters a bit of happiness and fun. I think that they needed it - god knows they've seen lots of nastiness. And it might even bring the characters to trust each other a lot more. Although advice on creating character backgrounds that mesh well is great, nothing binds PCs together quite so well as a little trust and affection. It also made the shocking psychological revelation that we ended the game on a bit more intense, which was nice. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Trademarks are property of their respective holders and are used for identifying purposes only.) FMG SIGNS LICENSE DEAL WITH GAME TABLE ONLINE March 5, 2002 Fat Messiah Games: http://www.fatmessiahgames.com/ GameTable Online: http://www.gametableonline.com/ Master the art of transformation on the Internet! Fat Messiah Games and GameTable Online are excited to announce a deal for creation of an online version of Shapeshifters, FMG's game of duelling wizards. This increases GameTable Online's growing catalog of titles to sixteen awesome games from nine top notch publishers, and will be the first online-play version of an FMG product since the release of Shapeshifters Lite on America Online in late 1992. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ USEFUL GAMING STUFF: The editor of Pyramid Magazine: http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/ Steven Marsh, wrote a great article this week about the fact that it's okay to make mistakes when you game and GM - it isn't the end of the world. I'd like to heartily second that feeling. So relax and have fun! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) All ads must be relevant to RPG players in some way. 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 . 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@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Tue Jan 20 08:38:03 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Giving depth and dimension to overused plots Message-ID: January 20, 2004 -- Giving Depth and Dimension to Overused Plots Volume 5, Issue 1 This is the Twilight Time zine, Copyright 2004 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward 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 or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: 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@burningvoid.com Good morning! Here we are with a new zine issue--the first in a few months--and there's also a new article on the site and some updated links. It's been pretty cold here lately, so it's time for hiding inside with hot chocolate and warm cats. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season, and that no matter how well or poorly your last year went, this one is better. :) Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Giving Depth and Dimension to Overused Plots Things become overused precisely because they work well. Cliches are cliches because they made so much sense or sounded so good that everyone wanted to say them. Trite plots are trite because they entertained so well, drew people in so effectively, that it was hard *not* to use them. This doesn't mean you have to stop using those plots--just that you have to give them some depth and dimension. Let's take the quintessential overused plot device for a moment: a princess (or other notable female character with a wealthy and/or important family) has been kidnapped and the party has to rescue her. It's been done a billion times, and most of you are probably groaning already. But let's see if we can find some ways to make this plot fun again. The Devil's in the Details Much of the depth in a plot can come from details. If you know you're using a plot that's a bit trite, then pay particular attention to your details and be sure to make them in some way unexpected and interesting. Some of those details can be physical: The princess isn't being held in the traditional dank dungeon or high tower; she's being held in a posh hotel or seaside resort. Some of the details can be details of plot: Her kidnappers aren't evil faceless bad guys; they have some lofty goal in mind (perhaps they want to force the princess' evil father to free their families, who are prisoners of war). METHOD: Take your trite plot and write the gist of it down. Then write out all the overused elements that typically go into that plot, and several details that exemplify those elements. Then think about how you could change those details in ways that will change the plot itself, making it new and interesting again. Character, Character, and More Character Almost any plot can be made interesting and new by populating it with unexpected and fascinating characters. The princess in this plot usually fits into one of several categories, for instance: #1. She's pretty much just a plot device meant to get the party moving, and has no real personality. #2. She's spoiled and petty. #3. She's a paragon of virtue and helplessness. #4. This is a comparatively new permutation, but in some cases the princess is a spitfire who gives both her captors and her rescuers no end of trouble. You'll note that in all of these cases she has a fairly one-note personality, if she has a personality at all. Instead she needs to be a "real person". Give her the same treatment you would any major non-player character (NPC) around whom a plot revolves. Give her history, motivations, quirks, agendas, and layers. Don't stop until she comes alive on the page. METHOD: Take the characters involved in the plot (in this case at least the princess, some of her family members, and a few of her captors), make a list of the traditional or expected character choices, and then do something different. Write *at least* one paragraph about each character, and do a full write-up on at least one character from each group or side, including elements of back-story, history, and motivation. Give the personalities a few layers. Background, Motivation, and Context Make sure the plot and the characters involved in it have back-story, background, and motivation, and again, try to play with the unexpected. Traditionally: The princess' family is good and noble. Or, the princess' family is wealthy and just doesn't really notice the "little people". The kidnappers are mean and evil. They're doing this for money, for revenge, or to force the princess' family to do something bad. Instead, perhaps the princess' family is cruel, exploiting people for their own gain. Maybe they arranged to have her kidnapped as part of a scam (is she in on it, or is she innocent of the plot?). Or maybe the kidnappers are reasonably decent people who want revenge or reparations for something the princess' family did. METHOD: In this case, you can usually come up with interesting motivations by going back to that last section on character. As you come up with interesting characters, new motivations tend to suggest themselves. You can take this one step further, however, by taking everything else you've written up and looking at the larger context--then ask yourself how you can change that context in order to shake things up a bit. For instance, the "princess" is the daughter of a wealthy stockbroker who bilked a lot of people of their money, and she's been kidnapped by someone whose inheritance was lost in the stockbroker's scams. Now remember that there's a world in which this plot is taking place, and it is the *context* for the plot. Play with that. Perhaps law enforcement officers are simultaneously closing in on the stockbroker, and the kidnapper needs to hurry before the cops confiscate the stockbroker's money. Maybe, unbeknownst to the kidnapper, the stockbroker recently lost most of his money to a better con artist. Twists and Turns One of the best ways to shake up a trite plot is to set up the players to expect a certain, normal plot thread, and then twist it at the last minute, surprising them. This isn't a sure thing of course, since different people will anticipate different plot twists. Some people are very good at predicting where a plot will go and some aren't. Just play around a bit, try to do some unexpected things, and hope that now and then you manage to surprise your players. For example, I was watching a movie recently. It set up a certain expectation that one of the bad guys was conflicted about what he was doing, that he was falling for the main female lead, and that maybe this would turn him against the other bad guy. It's a pretty standard plot and it was set up well. So it was actually quite surprising when the moment of choice came and the bad guy very quickly and with few qualms at all decided to remain every bit the bad guy he'd started out as. One plot twist I've seen a few times in the kidnapped princess plot is the one where the princess is actually a part of the kidnapping plot. She wants her own revenge against her family for some reason, or her kidnapper is her lover and she wants the ransom money in order to run away with him. Depending on how well your players know their plots you might be able to make this particular twist surprising, but there are other twists and turns you can play with as well. Again, playing with context and character should help you to come up with something new and unusual. Keep in mind that what's new and surprising to one person can seem old to another (each of us has read different books and watched different movies), so don't despair if now and then your players think something you've done is a bit trite. By the way--if you really want an interesting variation on this plot, then watch the wonderful movie "Fargo." METHOD: Write down as many of the ways in which you've seen your plot play out in movies, TV shows, books, and roleplaying games as you can think of. Put an X next to the ones you see as being the most overused and trite. Try to brainstorm some new things that aren't on the list already, or ways in which you can subvert things that are already on the list. One Step Further One last thing you can do when trying to turn a trite plot into a new and interesting plot is to take it one step further than you think you should. This can take one of several forms: #1. Something happens in the middle of the plot that turns it into something else. (The party reaches the princess and she's already dead, for example. The plot now becomes revenge, or justice, or just trying to convince the princess' family not to have the party killed for failing to rescue her.) #2. The plot turns out to have been something else all along. (The entire kidnapped princess plot was a ruse meant to draw the party to a particular location where they would be ambushed, or to get them to raid a place they otherwise wouldn't be willing to touch.) #3. Something else interesting happens at the point where the plot usually ends. (Typically the party rescues the princess then takes her home. Any number of interesting things could happen on the way home, however, to take the plot in new and interesting directions.) METHOD: Make a list of major plot points, steps, or events. At each of those points, brainstorm a list of alternatives to the expected course of events. Pick something new and unusual and make use of it. Just because a plot is overused and trite doesn't mean you can't still get some mileage out of it. It's been said that all the plots in the world can be boiled down to some small number (six? Seven? I can never remember) of basic plot structures, and this is largely true. Which just makes the point that it isn't the plot that matters--it's how you dress it up and play it out. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@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! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html Tabletop RPGs vs. Computer RPGs: a different perspective on "problem players": http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/crpgvs.html Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 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 hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement 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 . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Sign in (if you've forgotten or lost 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@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Sun Feb 15 11:44:04 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Burning Void site update Message-ID: I only very rarely use this list for anything other than an actual article, so I hope you'll forgive the update. I'm buried in the middle of updating and re-vamping the site, which means it'll be a bit longer before another Twilight Time issue comes out, and I wanted to give you some idea of what we were up to in the meantime. As practice for the stuff I needed to know in order to revamp the site itself (like some php), I made us a bookstore powered by Amazon and Barnes & Noble: http://www.burningvoid.com/bookstore/ I've been playing around with a graphics program a bit, so the site's going to be a little prettier when I'm done with it. I'm trying to stay semi-graphics-light on the main site on principle, but since the bookstore uses some iframes stuff from Amazon anyway, its graphics quotient is a little higher. If you want a sneak peek at the kind of stuff we're doing with the site, the bookstore will give you at least a loose idea. There are also new banners on the various resource pages of the site. Or, you could just wait a bit and see the site itself! I'm currently putting our ridiculously long links listings into a decent link directory so they'll be easier to navigate and update, and not too long after that pieces of the main site will be ready to go up. I'll probably do it a chunk at a time, and individual articles will come last. The site will be organized much better when I'm done, and we aren't removing anything major. The resources for writers and roleplayers will still be there, as will the Twilight Time zine. We'll do our best to put in redirects to anything that moves, but if you link to us, you might want to consider switching to the main page if you haven't already: http://www.burningvoid.com/ By the way, while I'm at it, I have a bit of a question for you all. Some people have expressed interest in PDF compilations of our articles for ease of reference and printing and such. I was thinking about it and realized that if I was going to do that, I'd want to do some rewriting first since a number of the articles are getting a bit out of date. That led me to the idea of taking the articles, fleshing them out, trimming redundant bits, filling the holes, and otherwise turning them into coherent e-books. If I was going to spend that much time on this, though, it's something where I'd really have to charge a few dollars for it, probably selling it through RPGNow for $5 or something like that. If you think you'd buy such a thing, drop me a line to let me know. If enough people are interested then I'll look into doing it. Thank you for your time, and have a great day! Heather Heather Grove heather@burningvoid.com http://www.burningvoid.com/ From heather at burningvoid.com Mon Mar 8 10:18:19 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Burning Void has changed! Also, a review of Terra Incognita Message-ID: <8F0B0E6C-7112-11D8-BB70-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> March 7, 2004 Hello! One more update on how the Burning Void has been changing; the next email you get from us should be an actual article. :) The major areas of the site have been redesigned; you can see for yourself by going to: http://www.burningvoid.com/ One of the things we wanted to do was reorganize things. Because the site originally started out as my homepage, things were buried in long URLs. Now things are getting a lot simpler. If you have any kind of link to our site, you might want to update it! The roleplaying resources portion of the site is: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/ The writing resources can be found at: http://www.burningvoid.com/write/ And the reviews are at: http://www.burningvoid.com/review/ Also, since there's now a nav bar on the left, it should be much easier for people to find their way around. We've moved all of our various link collections into a program called WSNLinks: http://www.burningvoid.com/links/ This makes them a lot easier to go through, and it's searchable. We'd love to have people rate sites--we think it makes the listing more valuable for everyone who wants to use it. Also, anyone can submit a link by going to the category/subcategory where they want to submit it and clicking on "suggest new link." If you sign up for an account and submit the link to your site while logged in, you'll be able to edit your own link listing. If you see your site in the directory already (we have almost 800 links in there so far!) and want to be able to edit it, you'll find instructions in our link policy page, which hopefully will answer any other questions people might have as well: http://www.burningvoid.com/linking.php We've done our best to put in redirects, but if you notice that anything's broken, please let us know! There is one new thing we've put up, and that is a review of Grey Ghost Games' "Terra Incognita": http://www.burningvoid.com/review/rp2003n4.php I'm planning to do reviews of both the Buffy and Stargate SG-1 RPGs before too long! The only things that haven't really been updated at this point are the individual articles, and we've started going through them one at a time. So far three are done, and they've been edited a little in the process. I've been starting with the articles on this page: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/gmelement.php Thank you all for your patience during the changes, and hopefully I'll be sending you an actual article soon! Have a great week, Heather Heather Grove heather@burningvoid.com http://www.burningvoid.com/ From heather at burningvoid.com Mon Mar 29 16:52:12 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Writers' Books for RPG Adventure and Plot Creation Message-ID: March 29, 2004 -- Writers' Books for RPG Adventure and Plot Creation Volume 5, Issue 2 This is the Twilight Time zine, copyright 2004 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward 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 permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: 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@burningvoid.com Good afternoon! I admit it--I'm addicted to writing books. Not because I think they contain the secrets of the universe. Not because I think they'll magically turn me into a great writer. And not because I'm insane. Well, maybe because I'm insane. Mostly, though, I just find them fascinating. I love seeing all of the different ways in which different writers approach their craft. I love weighing the ideas and seeing what I think of them. I simply enjoy reading them. Most people either love or hate writing books--they either see them as wonderful or useless. I think they're potentially pretty useful, as long as you use them in certain ways. (We got a whole article once out of the pros and cons of using writing books.) You never want to read writing books as a way to procrastinate from doing actual writing, and you never want to trick yourself into thinking you can learn everything you need to know from books. But within those boundaries, there are books that can teach you a great deal. Sometimes I even find things that I think apply pretty well to creating RPG plots, characters, and ideas. So in today's article I'm going to tell you about some nifty writing books and explain how they might just help your game. Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Writers' Books for RPG Adventure and Plot Creation Here's a handful of writing books that could improve your game, and why. Enjoy! 1. Just this morning I started reading a book called "No More Rejections: 50 secrets to writing a manuscript that sells," by Alice Orr. I know, it sounds horribly gimmicky. I think I got it mostly because I've never read one of these "secrets to getting published" books before (I prefer books on craft, creativity, and technique) and I was kind of curious. As it turns out, it's mostly a book on craft, creativity, and technique, so I'm glad I got it after all. It's just written from the perspective of "what is your editor looking for?" and "how can you avoid screwing over your chances of getting published?" Because much of this boils down to "how can you make your story coherent and interesting?", some of it can definitely apply to tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) material. Use it to help you find holes in your plots, and to help you tighten up all those stray bits of material that tend to get frayed around the edges. One of my favorite bits with respect to RPGs is a list of dramatic themes that serve as sources of conflict. These include betrayal, duty, cowardice, obsession, loss, devotion, hatred, disgrace, and revenge, among others. I think that if you were strapped for plot ideas you could easily run down the list and find something you could build on. I think you could also find out whether your latest plot was likely to have at least some emotional spark to it by running down the list and making sure one of the traits on it was present. "No More Rejections: 50 secrets to writing a manuscript that sells" by Alice Orr, ISBN #1582972850 2. Nancy Kress is absolutely amazing when it comes to writing advice. Her book "Dynamic Characters: how to create personalities that keep readers captivated" is so popular that it's often difficult to find. If you can find a copy, however, it's well worth the purchase. Not only does it have plenty of information on creating vivid and interesting characters, but it also has the most complete "character dossier" of questions I've ever seen. Kress also has a great sense of humor that keeps this book from being dry and boring. "Dynamic Characters: how to create personalities that keep readers captivated" by Nancy Kress, ISBN # 0898798159 3. Although I think that by and large Kress' book is better, Rachel Ballon's "Breathing Life into Your Characters: how to give your characters emotional and psychological depth" is probably more easily applied to roleplaying material--and it's certainly easier to find in a bookstore! It delves into fewer of the broader writing issues than Kress' book does, concentrating more on the psychology of your characters. Ballan is a psychotherapist, and her approach is to have you delve into your own memories and psyche to help you better understand yourself--the better to understand your characters. One of my favorite bits of advice from her book is this: "Don't ever say, 'My character would never steal,' or 'My character would never cheat.' Given enough desperation and faced with a harsh enough environment, your character can be motivated to steal, lie, cheat, or even die for something she wants or needs." "Breathing Life into Your Characters" could help any GM to create better, more "real" non-player characters (NPCs). It could also help you to better figure out how to create moving, personalized plots for the player characters (PCs)! "Breathing Life into Your Characters: how to give your characters emotional and psychological depth" by Rachel Ballon, ISBN # 1582971811 4, 5, 6 and 7. Sometimes, in the middle of a game, you need a bit of inspiration. In other articles I've suggested doing things like pulling out a tarot card and seeing where it takes you. You can also use this same method to help you come up with yet another new and interesting NPC or plot point. Now I have four places you can take inspiration from that aren't tarot decks: "The Pocket Muse" by Monica Wood, ISBN #1582971420 While sadly these bits of inspiration do not come on cards that you can shuffle, they are arranged similarly on the pages of the book. So you can open to a random page and see what comes up. "Inner Outings" by Charlene Geiss and Claudia Jessup, ISBN #1577312201 These colorful, huge cards contain very simple phrases and words on them. Shuffle them, pull one out, and see how it inspires you. "The Observation Deck" by Naomi Epel, ISBN #0811814815 Some of these cards are meant for content inspiration; many present ways to approach your writing. Use the former while coming up with ideas or running your game, and use the latter while coming up with plots, adventures, and characters. "The Writer's Block" by Jason Rekulak, ISBN #0762409487 This one boast *786* bits of inspiration for your writing! Some of them apply specifically to writing (little tidbits about what has or hasn't worked for or happened to other writers), but most of them are usable for RPG-work as well (photos, phrases, single words). 8 and 9. Almost any creativity book (particularly those with prompts and exercises) can help you to come up with ideas. Here are a couple of my favorites: "Pencil Dancing: new ways to free your creative spirit" by Mari Messer, ISBN #158297005X This one is a broadly-applicable creativity book meant for anyone, not just writers. The exercises get a bit silly, but that's kind of the point--it's meant to force you to set aside the inner critic that's telling you your ideas are silly so that you can more freely use your creativity. "The Writer's Idea Book" by Jack Heffron, ISBN #158297179X This book contains a gazillion prompts, but they aren't really of the type that's useful for pulling out in the middle of a game. They're specifically meant to help you learn to pull ideas out of everyday life, so they'd be best for a game set in the modern world, or for a game with very personal-level plots. You could also use them to help you come up with the mundane details of your NPCs' lives. 10. Heffron's "The Writer's Idea Workshop" is a sequel to the idea book, meant to help you take those ideas from rough nugget to polished finished product. As with book suggestion #1, this means that a number of the suggestions won't apply to your roleplaying game. However, many of them will. This book will help you to figure out which ideas will work, which won't, and how to get the most out of them. If you're truly interested in turning a mediocre or good roleplaying game into a great game, I think this book could do a lot of good. "The Writer's Idea Workshop" Jack Heffron, ISBN #1582972796 If you're looking for a change, or a new way to gain inspiration, rejuvenate your sessions, or improve your NPCs and plots, one or more of these books may be able to help you. If you enjoy writing, then why not go for a book that will multitask? Enjoy! SPECIAL REQUEST: If anyone has any other books that have particularly improved their ability to put together a good game, send 'em on in and I'll pass them on in the next issue. If there are enough of them I'll do a special issue! Include a brief (one-paragraph) explanation of how the book has helped you, the title, the author(s), and the ISBN number if possible. PURCHASE LINK LIST: If you want an easy way to find most of these books, I've put together a page of purchase links to Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Our site is an affiliate site, so buying through those links helps to support us! Thank you: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/2004/writbooks.php What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line. 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! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void: resources for roleplayers and writers http://www.burningvoid.com/ http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/2004/writbooks.php Purchase links for the books listed in this article We recently did a major overhaul to the site, and I'm still slowly working my way through converting individual articles. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 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 hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Missing Issues: If you have subscribed to the zine and do not receive an issue, please check two things. First, make sure any spam filter you may be using has been told that the zine is not spam. Second, make sure there's room in your account for the email--every month we get bounces from accounts that are over-quota. If your account bounces two or more issues in a row, we reserve the right to unsubscribe you from the list. 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 . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Sign in (if you've forgotten or lost 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@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Wed May 5 10:40:05 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Influencing vs. Scripting: The Fine Line of Free Will Message-ID: <856211EC-9EA0-11D8-A867-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> May 5, 2004 -- Influencing vs. Scripting: The Fine Line of Free Will Volume 5, Issue 3 This is the Twilight Time zine, copyright 2004 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward 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 without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Good morning! I have a couple of things to mention today. One is that Richard Dansky, who used to develop "Wraith" for White Wolf, has a new chapbook out (called "Shadows in Green") from Yard Dog Press: http://www.yarddogpress.com/shadows.htm Another is that I discovered a great website yesterday from horror author Michael Arnzen, called Gorelets: http://www.gorelets.com/ It's great for the horror/poetry/writing fans out there. It includes twisted little writing prompts for horror writers, as well as a fun and amusing email newsletter that I highly recommend. By the way, if you are a recent subscriber and thus unfamiliar with the free will articles on the web site, you might want to read those before reading today's article: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/gmfreewill.php Since this is a long article today, I'll dispense with the rambling and jump right in. Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Influencing vs. Scripting: The Fine Line of Free Will Copyright 2004 by Heather Grove and Jeffrey Howard Those of you who've been around the site for a while know that free will in roleplaying is one of our soapbox issues. There's been one thing, however, that has been difficult to put into words, and that has left a gap in the free will articles so far. In an article we called "Shameless Manipulation," we made the following point: "For all that I tell GMs not to script the ending of a story, you often do need to plan things out to a certain extent. After all, you're trying to come up with an exciting story for your players. Because of this sometimes you do want to steer the story in a certain direction. There are acceptable ways to do this. "If you created a world that didn't have any influence at all on the PCs' choices - well, there really wouldn't be anything going on in that world, now would there? You can't help but shape the game to a certain extent. Accept that how you shape the world will guide the PCs' choices, and use that to make the game fun - not to push your own agendas or your own idea of what makes a good game." However, although there's a strong boundary between influence/manipulation and railroading, it's a fine line and there are a lot of people who aren't quite sure where it lies. Unfortunately that fine line is something we've always had trouble putting into concrete words. There are some good guidelines in that other article, but the line itself never quite got defined. The Threefold Key to Free Will The key to defining free will in roleplaying is threefold: * Player characters (PCs) and players must get to make their own choices. * PCs must get to take their own actions. * Those choices and actions must have a real and substantive impact on the outcome of the plot, for good or ill. Everything else in this article is pretty much a clarification or example to help you understand exactly what I mean by those statements, and how they affect your game. It's all right for things within the game world to influence those choices and actions. This is unavoidable, as mentioned above, and desirable as well (it's how the GM makes the game fun for the players). But as long as those choices are freely made, those actions are freely taken, and they have a real impact on the plot, that's all right. It's that third point that makes things so sticky. GMs tell themselves that they can set things up so that no matter what, things come out the way they want. They may even be right about that; if the players/PCs make just the right set of choices, they won't notice that their choices don't ultimately matter. But... well, perhaps an example would help. Some years ago we read an adventure that shall remain nameless. At the end of act one, things were set up such that the PCs would most likely make a certain choice and take a certain action. However, the author put in a contingency plan. If the PCs failed to do the right thing, an NPC would step in and do it. If they made the author-defined proper choice it *seemed* as though their actions determined the outcome of the plot, but if the PCs didn't take that action, it became clear that their actions didn't matter--regardless of what happened, things would come out a certain way. THAT is railroading.* [*Special note that applies to everything in this article: Pretty much anything we can define as railroading you could turn into a reasonable plot. The trick is to make that lack of choice into an interesting in-game plot, rather than an out-of-game contrivance meant to orchestrate events to the GM's satisfaction. We don't recommend doing this, however, without some experience and a group of players that trust you.] The NPC Influence Example A GM we spoke with worried that he had unintentionally railroaded his group into doing what he wanted them to do. He'd determined ahead of time that the NPCs had certain personalities and pieces of information. Some NPCs lied, or came to a mistaken conclusion about the evidence and passed on their mistaken theory as truth, based on those personalities and pieces of information. Some of these mistakes or lies led the PCs in a particular direction. We don't see this as scripting--in fact, in some ways it can be the opposite of scripting. NPCs shouldn't be utterly reliable sources of information. One of the best tricks for making sure that PCs can't overly rely on friendly NPCs is making sure that, like anyone else, NPCs make mistakes. Sometimes they draw the right conclusions from evidence. Sometimes they draw the wrong conclusions. (If you know how your NPCs think, it's easy to do this realistically.) If your players understand that the world is in fact that realistic, then you end up railroading players *less.* If players believe that an NPC is always right and truthful, then that NPC can become too great an out-of-game influence on the party. It can get to the point where the *players* believe that if an NPC says something, they should heed those words as though they came from the GM. The NPCs (and through them, the GM) start to override the party. Making the NPCs every bit as unreliable and prone to mistakes as the PCs forces the party to evaluate NPC statements, use their own judgment, and come to their own decisions--it *reinforces* free will. The only time this isn't the case is when players believe they're working with the kind of GM who uses the ever-truthful-and-right NPC to push his players into doing what he wants. In this case, they'll probably believe they've been misled when they find out otherwise. But as long as the players understand that NPCs are human, and every bit as capable of lies, misdirection, and mistakes as everyone else, then using that reinforces free will. This is one reason why GM and players should sit down and discuss issues of game-play before they start up their gaming run together. The reliability of NPCs (and their tendency to stand in for the GM) varies greatly from group to group. Making these things clear up front helps to avoid misunderstandings. What Scripting Isn't We spoke with someone who worried that he was scripting because he had worked out ahead of time what the NPCs were planning to do, what they knew, and what would happen if the players/PCs didn't get involved at all, including a timeline. However, unless you're planning out what the PCs (the "main characters") will or should do, or you've decided that no matter what they do your timelined events will come out as planned, you aren't scripting--you're just detailing the world, characters, and background that will act and react along with the PCs. Consider it setting the stage and lining up the secondary characters. You just need to be willing to allow PC actions and choices to impact that timeline. The Dangers of Defining Railroading Too Broadly You'd think it would be players who'd define railroading too broadly. But in our experience, it's GMs who tend to define any sort of influence on a game as railroading. The GMs who do this generally have one of two reactions, then, to railroading: "Railroading is necessary. If I don't influence the plot, I can't make sure the players have fun." Or, "I can't plan out anything or I'll be railroading my characters!" Neither has to be the case. If you stop to realize that railroading isn't simply having an influence, but rather pushing the PCs along a SINGLE pre-defined, straight track (hence the term, 'railroading'), then it becomes much easier to see where that fine line rests. It's okay to influence and manipulate the plot. It's okay to plan events and sketch out what you'd like to see happen. You cross that line when you start making choices for the PCs as well as the NPCs. You cross that line when you force the PCs to take a certain action rather than allowing them to decide for themselves. You cross that line when you don't allow these choices and actions to impact the outcome of the plot. The Winning & Losing Misunderstanding Some people believe that a plot in which doing one thing will cause the PCs to succeed and doing another thing will cause the PCs to die or fail in their task is inherently scripting and railroading, because the PCs *must* pick the winning choice. This doesn't have to be the case, although it sometimes is. If you run your game in such a manner that "losing" or "failing" is considered wrong and there's only one choice that will lead to victory, then yes, you may well be scripting (if there's only one choice that leads to victory and the players feel they aren't supposed to fail, they'll feel they *must* choose that one path). However, in many games it's considered okay for characters to fail at something, and there isn't always a right vs. wrong answer to a problem. In these cases, it isn't scripting to have the plot come down to a hard decision. In fact, some players love dramatic stories where their character makes the "wrong" choice due to personality. Therefore, a prohibition against railroading does not prevent you from creating such difficult plots and choices--as long as your gaming group won't *feel* that such a choice is forcing them to do a certain thing. This is one of the many reasons why it can be a good thing to run games where character failure isn't punished, laughed at, or seen as wrong--you're left with many more plot options that don't step on players' toes. Inevitable Consequences One remaining gray area is that of the seemingly inevitable consequence. Let's say that the PCs kill a law enforcement officer, and the local law enforcement knows they did it. It should be pretty much inevitable that the law will inexorably hunt them down and either kill them or take them into custody. This is a direct result of the free choices of the characters, and it's a natural consequence of their own actions, but it can still *feel* frustrating, particularly if the PCs felt that killing was the best or only option open to them. (One person's inevitable consequence can be someone else's trap.) So, here are a few things to consider when you believe that there are inevitable and difficult consequences to actions the PCs have taken. First, are they really inevitable, or is that simply an excuse to get the plot to where you want it to be? Yes, some consequences might be inevitable; just make sure that yours truly are. Second, is the inevitable scene the cause or consequence? If it's meant to drive the characters to an end, it's cause. If it's the result of character choice or action, then it's consequence. Third, did you (intentionally or unintentionally) set up or push the PCs to commit the act that has such consequences? Sometimes harsh consequences are a good thing--GMs might use them to remind players that their characters should behave as real people, and that their characters' actions have consequences. For players who have trouble grasping the concept, a more visceral demonstration sometimes helps. Sometimes, however, consequences are a result of poor world design. Some game worlds include opposition to the PCs that is expansive and powerful enough that the moment the PCs make headway against them, they should swat the PCs down. That isn't much fun for anyone. If you believe that the inevitable consequence might be a bad thing, then try to find a way to make it less inevitable. Put another way, take it as a given that absolutely nothing in this world is *ever* inevitable, and simply think about what, in this particular case, could cause that to be so. Sit down and write out the chain of cause and effect that led to this point. Write out the resources the enemies have, and the way in which they plan to crush the PC(s). Then list out several potential events, circumstances or plans that might change things. Someone who wants to help the PCs might warn them. The enemy might want something out of the PCs, thus keeping them alive and perhaps setting the stage for an escape or rescue. The enemies might have restrictions on them that keep them from doing certain things, or flaws that can be exploited. The PCs might get their hands on something that makes the enemy's plans less effective or certain. For more ideas, we have an old article on defeating villains: http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2002/000005.html I am NOT saying that you should save the PCs--you only have to make sure that choices and openings exist, even if they're difficult or non-obvious and have only a very small chance of success. And as always, keep an open mind with respect to player creativity. Don't declare that something won't work simply because you think an event should be "inevitable." Absolutes are Plot Holes in Disguise This is something I've mentioned elsewhere. Any absolute (never, always, must, only, can't) is a potential plot hole. It's also a very good signal that you may be stepping on free will. When you put an absolute into a plot, you'll tend to create plot details that depend on that absolute. Any PC creativity could then wreak havoc on those dependencies, which can lead you to feel that you must railroad the PCs into fulfilling the absolute. For example: Absolute: the PCs can only get into the ruined castle via the servants' entrance. Dependency: a special item is in the room right by the servants' entrance, and they'll need it later on. Creativity: a PC comes up with some weird way to tunnel through some other part of the ruins. Havoc: now they won't have the item when they need it. Railroading: in order to make sure they have to enter via the servants' entrance, you have a wandering monster wreck an item they need for their new plan. Bad feelings: now the players feel as though it's useless to try to be creative, because you'll just make them do things your way regardless. Testing Your Plots and Game If you ever aren't sure whether or not you're scripting and/or railroading, take a look at your adventure and ask yourself these questions: * Are the PCs being allowed to make their own choices, or am I forcing them to make only the choices I want them to? * Do their choices have appropriate repercussions given the context of the game world, or am I simply punishing and rewarding the choices I dislike and prefer? * Are the PCs being allowed to take their own actions, or am I forcing them to take only certain actions and not others? * Do those actions have reasonable repercussions, or am I punishing and rewarding in order to herd the PCs through the "proper" plot path? * Have I given my players the message, intentionally or not, that they must choose the path that leads to victory? * Are there any absolutes in my plot? If so, what dependencies are there? How can I remove or change these dependencies and absolutes to leave room for player creativity? * Does any of my preparatory material assume or dictate certain actions or choices on the part of the PCs? Can I/am I willing to handle it if the PCs do something different? What other things might they try, and how would it impact the plot? * Do my NPCs have too great an influence over the decisions the PCs make? Are they always right? Do the players know that NPCs will behave as realistic people, and thus can lie and make mistakes? * Am I allowing the PCs to have a real impact on the outcome of the plot, or is the outcome predetermined? * Am I treating any events as inevitable? If so, under what circumstances might that inevitability come into question? Am I using "inevitability" as an excuse to put the PCs into a no-win situation? Ultimately, it still comes down to these three things: choices, actions, and impact. While you can influence and manipulate them, you cannot dictate them. If you keep this firmly in mind then you should be able to find that thin line, wherever it may lie. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line. 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! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: http://www.burningvoid.com/write/2002/critlearn.php This is a revised and expanded version of our old article, "criticism and learning to write." Since Jeffrey and I recently started playing AEG's "Stargate SG-1" RPG (lots of fun!), we've been checking out military research books. We added a bunch to the research section of the bookstore: http://www.burningvoid.com/bookstore/wrresearch.php#mil The various guides for officers and such are great for getting a feel for the culture and traditions involved in various branches of the armed forces. Some of the other books might help GMs who have trouble coming up with non-combat plots for military parties (like "Guide to Military Operations Other than War"). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information, barring a legal requirement to do so. Missing Issues: If you have subscribed to the zine and do not receive an issue: Make sure any spam filter you may be using has been told that the zine is not spam. Make sure there's room in your account for the email--every month we get bounces from accounts that are over-quota. If your account bounces two or more issues in a row, we reserve the right to unsubscribe you from the list. Subscriptions: The Twilight Time 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. From heather at burningvoid.com Tue Aug 17 17:18:17 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] The Burning Void and Twilight Time are back in business... Message-ID: <67EC6D62-F092-11D8-997B-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> Hello! I know that any subscribers who don't regularly check our main site are probably wondering what on earth happened to us. After all, our last web article and zine issue came out in May, more than three months ago! Well, we moved from New Hampshire to Maryland. It was on very little notice, and for some reason the email I sent to the mailing list never made it. For two months we stayed in a long-term-stay hotel with a terrible internet connection, and, well, I don't find hotel living conducive to writing. We just recently moved into our new house. We still have packed boxes strewn everywhere, but at least we have a reliable internet connection again! I have no idea how often things will get posted to the zine or site, as usual. However, there is a new article up at the site as of today; we started a section of the site for articles related to the "Stargate SG-1" roleplaying game, which we're enjoying right now: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/worldsg1.php As usual, however, we'll try to keep articles for the zine more generally useful. For instance, I might turn some of our experiences using "SG-1" into an article on mission-based plots, but I won't post an article regarding the main rulebook's mission generation tables or some such thing. There are enough new people who've subscribed since May that I figured I should clarify that. Welcome to all of you, by the way, and don't worry--I only send out non-article email when big things (like three-month hiatuses) come up. I do have another zine article in the works; I'm not entirely sure when it'll be done, but hopefully it'll be soon. I hope you all have a great day! Heather Heather Grove heather@burningvoid.com http://www.burningvoid.com/ From heather at burningvoid.com Wed Aug 18 06:07:24 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 06:39:35 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] twilight time list moved... Message-ID: <66D3246B-F0FE-11D8-93B6-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> Sorry for the short notice (this seems to happen a lot!), but the list moved. When I was without internet access for a few weeks so many spam mails to the list built up that I couldn't even access them to delete them. So, our service provider has kindly moved the list to one of their servers that runs a newer version of the mailing list software, with spam filtering. It's the same URL as before, but with "seven" where "two" was: http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime I apologize for the change! At the moment it's running on the horrible default colors; I'll fix that soon. Heather Heather Grove heather@burningvoid.com http://www.burningvoid.com/ From heather at burningvoid.com Fri Aug 27 07:05:59 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Fri Aug 27 07:10:13 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Mission-based adventure planning Message-ID: <13DB458A-F819-11D8-9C67-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> August 27, 2004 -- Mission-Based Adventure Planning Volume 5, Issue 4 This is the Twilight Time zine, copyright 2004 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward via email to other people, but only in its entirety - this copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or view the archives: http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Or send an email with a subject of "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" (without quotes) to Twilighttime-request at burningvoid.com Good afternoon! As most of you know by now, a long and complex move to another state caused a recent lack of zine issues and site articles. But we're finally back! Also, the mailing list moved to a new server. The only effect this should have on you is that the URL for the list now begins with "seven.pairlist.net" instead of "two.pairlist.net". If you have any links to the zine, please update them. Thank you! I've been playing Alderac Entertainment's "Stargate SG-1" roleplaying game lately (actually, playing in one game and GMing a second), so I've had reason to experiment with the mission-based adventure format. Because SG-1 is the game I've been using, I'll use it for example purposes throughout this article. If you like the genre and haven't checked out the game yet I highly recommend it! Despite the editing job on the main rulebook (it looked like more errors were edited *into* the book than were edited out of it), the game is incredibly fun. Standard disclaimer: "Stargate SG-1" and related terms are copyrighted, trademarked, etc. by other companies, and nothing in this article is meant to challenge those rights. The game is simply being used for example purposes. Official information on the SG-1 game can be found at: http://www.stargatesg1rpg.com/ Have a great day, Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission-Based Adventure Planning copyright 2004 by Heather Grove and Jeffrey Howard There are many different sorts of adventures and plots in roleplaying games, and the "mission" is only one. In mission-style plots the characters are generally members of a team. Someone hires them or gives them orders, assigning them a mission to complete. Military teams and mercenary groups are common sorts of RPG teams. For military characters the mission element of the game is particularly strong--military life comes with restrictions and rigid rules that outside life doesn't. Running a mission-style game allows a game master (GM) to do some things he couldn't with other types of games, but it also requires him to take into account other things that he normally wouldn't have to. It throws our old topic of free will into a particularly odd light--in a type of plot that's inherently narrow in focus and comparatively linear, how do you make sure you're maintaining the free will of the player characters (PCs)? With that in mind, we're going to get into some of the differences and similarities between mission-style plots and other types of plots. Differences between mission plots and other plots: 1. The party is supposed to play by a certain set of rules. Team members often operate under guidelines. They're expected to act in a certain manner, handle situations in specific ways, and uphold particular values. That doesn't mean they always will, but as a GM you at least have a better idea of how the PCs will act in any given situation than you would with a bunch of mismatched characters. For example, military teams in "Stargate SG-1" (SG-1) are expected to keep several goals in mind at all times. They're exploring new worlds, collecting information that could be useful to humanity, looking for interesting alien technologies, and trying to make peaceful contact with any new civilizations they find. Thus the GM can reasonably expect that a team will poke their noses into things they find interesting, examine and possibly take any intriguing devices they find lying around, and try to peaceably approach strangers. There will be circumstances that cause these patterns to break, but the guidelines still help as predictive tools. 2. The party knows the basic structure of the mission up-front. While plot twists and events can shock and surprise (and even turn a mission completely on its head), the party at least starts out knowing what they've set out to do and what their orders are. 3. Mission-style plots are expected to be comparatively linear. Missions are often expected to be more linear than other sorts of plots. There's a mission, it's carried out in stages, and the team fails or succeeds. This is an over-generalization; different sorts of games and GMs allow a different amount of latitude when it comes to *how* missions are carried out. But often a GM can get away with planning things more linearly than he might in another style of game. 4. Characters in mission plots are held accountable for their actions. Most teams that take on missions are held accountable by someone--whether the person who hired them or their commander (this can be true in other sorts of games, but it's particularly true for mission-based games). That authority chastises them when they do something "wrong", rewards them when they do something "right", and gives them guidance as to how to carry out a mission. This can be used to influence the manner in which a team behaves and carries out its missions. 5. The team is the focus. In other sorts of games, you'd probably consider the PCs to be the main characters. In a mission-oriented game, it could be said that the team as a whole is the main character. This does *not* mean that there can't be conflict, betrayal or disagreement within the team, and it doesn't mean there isn't room for individual personal plots. But it does mean that these things tend to be viewed through a lens of how they affect the team as a whole, and they tend to be less of a focus. Similarities between mission-style games and other games: 1. Free will is important. The PCs should be able to make their own choices. They should have a real impact on the outcome of the plot. They should be able to fail or succeed on their own merits. There may be a narrower range of choices for them to make, and free will may come in different forms, but it's still important. See the separate section on free will, below, for some specifics on how to go about this; you might also find the following previous Twilight Time article useful: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2004/000032.html 2. Surprises and twists matter. Even if the mission itself is understood from the start, there should be complications, surprises and twists--this keeps things interesting and exciting. It's also important to vary the structure of the game now and then to keep things fresh. Take the TV show version of "Stargate SG-1" for a moment. The characters aren't always assigned a mission--sometimes they're responding to events that happen. Even when they are assigned a mission, sometimes they get swept up in entirely different events, or they find out that their mission isn't what it seemed at all. This helps to keep the format from becoming stale and predictable. 3. Story matters. It's still important to tell a good story (assuming your gaming group cares about that at all). Think about mission-based TV shows for a moment--the good ones are exciting and dramatic. They involve compelling characters doing interesting things, with outcomes that matter. 4. Characters are important. Not all mission-based games rely as heavily on character interaction and personality as some other games, but characters are still important. Thinking about the TV show again, part of the reason it's in its eighth season now is that people love the main characters. When one left the show, fans set up an entire web site to try to get him back. There are entire fan-fiction sites devoted to various character interactions relating to the show. The show doesn't spend entire scenes dwelling on deeply angstful interactions generally, but there's always that touch of personality to make it compelling and involving. (And sometimes those personal interactions can be all the *more* compelling for being so brief.) Advantages to mission-style plots: 1. The PCs know where to start. When the PCs have a mission they're usually told explicitly where to start. This can be helpful if you have passive players or inexperienced players who aren't sure of what they're doing. However, it's possible to sabotage yourself here. Mission plot hooks should ride a balance between being too open ("we're supposed to assassinate someone, but we don't even know where to start looking for him? Just great") and too closed ("jeez, every last thing has been planned out *for* us. Wake me when I have to roll some dice"). PCs should have enough information to get them moving, but they should also get to plan things for themselves. 2. The PCs have some guidance. There tends to be a ready way to provide aid and guidance for players who are frustrated, confused, inexperienced, or lost. The detail level of orders, mission guidelines and resources can be tailored to the ability level of the players and PCs. Players/PCs that like to come up with their own ideas can be given the loosest of guidelines and the barest of mission outlines and oversight. Players/PCs who aren't sure of what they're doing can be given specific orders and closer oversight (this can even be used to turn passive PCs into more active PCs with a little care, by very gradually easing back on the level of detail and aid). Caution: think carefully about the kind of guidance the PCs have ready access to. They shouldn't just be able to call home and get the magic answers to all their questions. (See point #5 of disadvantages, below.) 3. The GM can predict actions and outcomes more readily. When you know what guidelines the PCs are acting under, you can predict their actions with greater accuracy. Don't let this make you complacent--you should still think about all the other things they might try, however unlikely. But at least it does tell you which possibilities you should spend proportionally more of your time on. 4. The GM can shape and influence the plot more readily. You can shape and influence the direction of the plot(s) through orders, mission guidelines, and the reactions of superiors. This has the same benefits as #3 (it helps you to predict outcomes), but it also helps you to actively shape the direction a specific plot or plots will take. For instance, a team has been ordered to report back to their commander in seven hours. This will strongly affect how the PCs respond to time-critical situations, and can impact pacing, tension and drama. Warning: there must always be a believable reason behind any order the team receives. Last night we watched a movie in which a military character carrying out a mission wasn't told about a second half of the mission that his teammate was supposed to carry out. While this complicated the plot and created tension and drama, we never were able to figure out why on earth he would have been left out of the loop--there seemed to be no good reason for it, and plenty of reasons why it shouldn't have been done. 5. Parameters are predictable. You and the players all know what to expect from a mission-driven plot, at least to a certain extent. It will often be easier to predict the length of a mission than that of some other types of plot. The players probably know something about what they're getting themselves into (how dangerous the missions tend to be, what sort of missions the team usually takes, the kinds of people who would be on such a team), and thus they're less likely to have incorrect assumptions that cause them to develop characters that are inappropriate to the game, or strike off in undesired directions. It's also easier to swap players in and out, or to have a player be away for an episode or two, because missions tend to be of limited duration. It's easier to keep a party of PCs together because they're required to work together (however, there's still room to allow them to do things separately). 6. Simplicity. Mission-style games usually have fewer plot threads going on at the same time. This tends to keep things simpler, which some people prefer. However, those who desire complex, interwoven plot threads *can* still work them into a mission-style game, it's just that the game will start having more plots in it that aren't strictly missions. Disadvantages: 1. Restricted format. If you're playing with mission-style plots, well... you're playing with mission-style plots. Although you can still vary the plot style, by and large most of your plots will be of a certain limited format. Not everyone enjoys this. Make sure your players understand what the game will be like and are happy with the idea ahead of time. 2. Restricted character choices. Although there can be a range of choices when playing a member of a team assigned to a mission, there will always be choices that are inappropriate. For instance, in a game of SG-1 where the characters are all members of an SG team, they must be smart enough, competent enough, ethical enough, fit enough, and responsible enough that the government would feel comfortable hiring them for such a sensitive post. This might not sound so bad, but there are a lot of choices these requirements eliminate. And while it's possible to come up with reasons why the government would ignore or not know about deficiencies in one or two of these areas, there's a limit to your flexibility. If everyone is interested in playing the appropriate sort of character, and players are willing to put some creativity into making their ideas and characters fit the game, this is fine. But not everyone wants to be that limited in character choice, and it can also make character creation difficult--if a player rolls particularly low attribute scores, for instance, it can be hard to justify how this character would end up on an SG team. 3. Restricted character actions. Depending on the genre, a team's actions may be severely restricted. Again, there's the example of the US military. There are many rules and regulations that should govern characters' actions, and plenty of people will chafe at that. You can find ways to make things less strict (for example, the characters are considered so valuable that they're allowed some latitude), or you can make sure your players are comfortable with those restrictions. Sometimes it can be exciting to try to play a game within such guidelines, but it isn't everyone's idea of fun. 4. Research, in some cases. Again, SG-1 makes a good example. If you're going to GM a game involving lots of military missions, you really should have some idea of how the military operates--its culture, its structure, its rules and regulations, its traditions, and so on. These things should have a large effect on how characters act and behave, and they're a large part of the feel and atmosphere of such a game. The players should also have some understanding of these things. This can take some research and reading; for instance, in order to play an Air Force officer in an SG-1 game a player might read the "Air Force Officer's Guide." This can make a real difference in your understanding of a character, or of how a mission might be carried out. In most mission-based games--even those that don't involve real-life organizations--you'll want to have a good idea of how the organization operates and what it means to be a member of it (and so will your players). We have a beginning list of military research books to play with: http://www.burningvoid.com/bookstore/wrresearch.php#mil 5. Resources vs. game balance. One of the difficulties of running a game in which characters have access to the resources of an organization is knowing how and when to limit those resources. In SG-1, mechanics such as "gear picks" and "resource points" help to limit resources, as does the lack of gratuitous manpower (not to mention budget issues). In many games it can be difficult to justify why the organization in question doesn't have a particular item or piece of information to give to the characters. If you don't take this into consideration, it becomes tough to justify why the PCs can't solve a plot by walking into the supply room and grabbing the right piece of equipment. After all, shouldn't their superiors *want* to give them the supplies to do the job well? You need limitations on resources. Scarcity is one limitation; almost any TV show involving team-based missions introduces budget troubles as a limiting factor. This doesn't have to mean the organization is poor--they just have to be very careful with the equipment they have. A team that routinely requisitions excess equipment and brings it back damaged (or not at all) will probably lose some of its ability to requisition things in the future. The culture of an organization is another possibility; it could be a matter of pride and competitiveness that teams do a job with as few resources as possible. Practicality is another limiting factor: if you're going someplace you have to walk to, there's a limit to what you can carry on your back. When designing a mission take resources into account. Think about supplies and information the team might have access to. Decide what they can and can't get or find out, and WHY. Have an overall picture of just how powerful and resourceful this organization is, and what its individual members have access to. Where does free will fit in? As already mentioned, plot focus in a mission-style game will be narrower. The GM will have a greater influence on PC actions and plots are likely to be more linear than usual. On the one hand this is fine, as it's expected. It's a part of the genre. You can't have a mission plot without having a mission! On the other hand, there are still many elements of free will that can, and should, be worked into the game. 1. The PCs should have some autonomy. Orders should leave room for the PCs to make their own plans. The level of freedom can be tailored to your players, with more experienced and proactive players receiving broader and more vague instructions. For instance, orders might consist only of "acquire item X from warehouse Y," leaving the team to decide how--a stealthy nighttime raid? An all-out attack? A con game? A slick plan involving disguise and forgery? This allows for more creativity and freedom, and it allows the PCs to create their own consequences by how they choose to achieve a goal. The PCs should *always* have at least some autonomy to carry things out in their own way. 2. PC decisions should have a real impact on the outcome of the plot. The actions and decisions of the PCs shouldn't be irrelevant to the outcome of the plot (except in rare instances where that's meant to be an interesting and dramatic aspect to the plot). Don't make their decisions irrelevant in order to make sure the mission ends the way you want it to. Along the same vein, don't just pass the PCs off from important NPC to important NPC, always telling them exactly what to do and how, or always having them sit back and watch someone else be the hero. It's important for the PCs to be active participants in the world who help to shape it, rather than passive watchers who get led around by the nose. You aren't writing a novel or a short story here--you're helping to create a fun and enjoyable *interactive* experience for your players. 3. Both failure and success should be possible. It should be possible for the mission to fail or succeed. This is really an aspect of point 2, but we think it deserves separate mention, as people often don't realize it's an aspect of point 2. If the outcome of the plot is pre-determined, then the PCs aren't being allowed to truly influence it. To definitively state, "this *will* happen, no matter what the PCs do," is to deny any possibility that they might try something totally unexpected that should upset those plans of yours. This doesn't mean you can't try to plan out the ending of a plot. You can plan for what should or probably will happen, and you can try to shape things to create a good story. You can even write up that nifty ending scene you're hoping to accomplish. But it's important to realize that if the PCs come up with something that counteracts your plans, you need to respond to that rather than simply disallowing it in order to keep your desired outcome intact. 4. Don't fall into the "think like the GM" trap. Some GMs present obstacles and problems in a game that boil down to "think like the GM or lose." This happens when a GM assumes a certain tactic will be used, action will be taken, choice will be made, skill will be used, etc. and bases the survival or success of the party on that one assumption. This works fine if the team does what the GM expects, but tends to be extremely frustrating for them if they don't. Especially because what the GM sees as the obvious or only solution to a problem is often something that's heavily based in personal preference, and thus unlikely to be seen the same way by all other gamers. This way of writing up plots inherently punishes players for being creative in any way that the GM hasn't already thought of, and usually leaves the GM feeling that he must force the PCs to carry out the plot in a certain way. This is a particularly easy trap to fall into with mission-based games. Because many people think about missions in a very linear manner, GMs are likely to make assumptions about how a problem or obstacle should or will be solved. In order to avoid this: - Go through your adventure write-up and list out the obstacles to be overcome, problems to be solved, etc. - Write out any assumptions you've made about how they'll be solved. - Brainstorm at least two other ways to overcome each obstacle (look through PC character sheets to see if you can work in some character interests and abilities). If you can't think of any, then work more resources into the game that can be used to come up with alternate solutions. Make notes on what might happen if the PCs take these alternate routes through the plot. - If you feel you must present such a choice, make certain that failing to try your one specific solution doesn't result in automatic death or catastrophic failure. (See point #5.) - Make sure you've put in enough background information (NPC information, plot background, setting information) that you can respond and adapt to unexpected solutions the PCs might try, so that you don't have to effectively say, "you didn't read my mind, so you fail." 5. Most important choices shouldn't be binary. Binary choices are those that result only in failure or success, yes or no--particularly if the outcomes are complete success vs. catastrophic failure. They tend to mean that choosing the wrong course of action (failing to think like the GM, point #4) or having a bad roll of the die (oops, rolled low, we all blow up and die) can screw over an entire plot or get the entire team killed. This tends to be pretty anti-climactic. This isn't to say that all choices must be equal, nor that binary choices are entirely bad. It's perfectly fine for one choice to have a much better chance of success than another, or for binary outcomes to have an effect on the plot. But you still have to be willing to throw out or change pretty much anything pre-prepared if it becomes necessary. Because choices that you see as obvious will be seen differently by other gamers, binary choices can end up being the equivalent of telling someone, "roll a die. Odds you win, evens you lose." Most people play RPGs because they're looking for something more than that. Some starting suggestions: 1. Limit speeches and description. Usually we recommend against writing much in the way of specific speeches, conversations, and descriptions. The longer, looser, and more complex your game, the less you can predict how things will proceed, and the more likely such fragile material is to become obsolete. All it takes is a PC asking one unexpected question to throw an entire pre-prepared conversation out the window. We're going to alter this recommendation for mission-based games, however. Here you should just restrict yourself to small amounts of conversation and description that you can easily pick and choose from and alter as necessary. If you must write a passage of description, then summarize important bits in bullet-point form as well (thus if something makes the pre-prepared description partially irrelevant, you don't have to search through full text to find material to improvise new descriptions from--you just have to glance at a bullet-point or two). 2. Use tone to keep things interesting. While pre-prepared speeches and descriptions make things a lot easier, particularly if you aren't so good at improvisation, they also tend to sound "canned" and stiff, which can cause players to tune out. Although we prefer to solve this by improvising, sometimes it's just handier to have something pre-written. Try to write material that will sound as it would if you were successfully improvising it. Sentences should be comparatively short and simple, and it might help to use a conversational tone. Read the description aloud a few times and alter it until it sounds natural--things that look good on the page often don't sound right out loud. 3. Keep scenes flexible. Try to restrict yourself to loose descriptions of scenes and encounters with notes about how you might handle different PC actions and decisions. You can think of it as being a cross between a tool-kit and one of those old "choose your own adventure" books. It's like having a box in which you've laid out the tools you're likely to need (background info, NPCs, stats, encounters, potential scenes, descriptions, etc.), as well as notes on what to do when the PCs do x, y, or z ("if the PCs attack the creatures, the creatures will defend themselves [look up the pre-prepared stats and start combat]. If the PCs try to approach the creatures, the creatures will stand their ground and try to scare the PCs away without attacking them. If the PCs leave, the creatures will bide their time for now. They don't want to have to fight the full force of the team--they'd rather pick them off one by one"). Mission-based plots can be a lot of fun. They have their own advantages and a couple of disadvantages as well. They allow for more precise planning, but you have to remain flexible and open-minded with respect to PC actions. Missions can provide an exciting sense of purpose and drive to a game, and are particularly appropriate to action-oriented genres, but they aren't right for everyone. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line. 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! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void: resources for roleplayers and writers http://www.burningvoid.com/ We just put up a section for articles related to the "Stargate SG-1 Roleplaying Game": http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/worldsg1.php First up is a mission design template: http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/2004/sg1missiontemplate.php It's also available in PDF and .doc formats (see the article for links). If you found this article useful you might also find it interesting to look through the template; it should demonstrate some of how we go about carrying out the above ideas. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating at the RPG Gateway to let us (and others!) 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 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Missing Issues: If you have subscribed to the zine and do not receive an issue, please check two things. First, make sure any spam filter you may be using has been told that the zine is not spam. Second, make sure there's room in your account for the email--every month we get bounces from accounts that are over-quota. If your account bounces two or more issues in a row, we reserve the right to unsubscribe you from the list. 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 please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Sign in (if you've forgotten or lost 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 From heather at burningvoid.com Wed Dec 1 11:03:09 2004 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Dec 1 11:04:54 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Mid-Adventure Plot Twists in RPGs Message-ID: <7E87FDD8-43B2-11D9-993A-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> December 1, 2004 -- Mid-Adventure Plot Twists Volume 5, Issue 5 This is the Twilight Time zine, copyright 2004 by Burning Void and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward via email to other people, but only in its entirety including this copyright notice. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://seven.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! It's been a slow time output-wise, and some of the projects taking up my time aren't finished or aren't for the site, so I haven't put up a whole lot latelely. However, I recently posted a review of the "Stargate SG-1 RPG;" you'll find the link after the article as usual, along with links to a couple of other things (such as an outline for writing up scenes when putting together RPG adventures). I was going to do an article on one-on-one gaming (one GM/one player) as that's what my husband and I have been doing since moving to another state, but it ended up being too long for an email article. Either it'll go up on the web site or I'll break it up for multiple issues. Instead today, I have something a little bit different than usual. Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mid-Adventure Plot Twists One of the major ways to keep adventures and missions in roleplaying games (RPGs) from becoming stale is to vary them. Most exciting plots aren't entirely straightforward. While some game masters (GMs) introduce excitement primarily through raising obstacles in the obvious plot progression, many introduce plot twists as well (and often the two end up being the same thing). Sometimes a plot gets turned entirely on its head! You can do this in small and large ways; you can use one plot twist or several. Twists are one major way to ratchet up the tension and drama toward the climax of an adventure. Sometimes, however, it can be tough to keep coming up with plot twist and complication after plot twist and complication. Particularly when you want to make sure you surprise your players--RPG players are usually accustomed to puzzling out complex plots and are often one step ahead of where you expect them to be. For the most part I'm not a random chart generation kind of person. I like coming up with a good story, and often that doesn't jibe well with tossing together the results of a handful of die rolls. However, I do believe that random generation of things like plots and characters has several benefits to offer. The Benefits Of Random Plot Twist Generation 1. Sometimes it's just plain fun and different. Doing something fun and different can get your thoughts moving when you're feeling a little worn out or burnt out. 2. When you can't come up with something it's a way to get the creative juices flowing. The most creative person in the world has moments of, "uh... what should happen next?" There are all sorts of kinds of inspiration you can use at these moments; lists and random charts are just one method. 3. If you find you have trouble coming up with things that surprise your players, perhaps randomly generating a plot twist will help you to come up with something they aren't expecting. Sometimes you just have players that think like you and you need a little help in making things exciting for them. Things To Keep In Mind 1. Be willing to twist, torture, and toss out chart results as necessary. This doesn't mean you should throw out anything that doesn't immediately seem plausible, but if you just can't make it work or it leads to a boring, silly or otherwise unusable plot, then don't push too hard. Re-roll or pick something else. 2. Give unlikely results a chance before trashing them. One of the best ways to come up with surprising twists is to end up with a seemingly impossible (or very unlikely or odd) result and ask yourself, "what events or circumstances could make this possible?" 3. "Random" plot twist generation doesn't have to be random. A chart can be used as inspiration instead of a random generator. Sometimes you just need a reminder of the wide variety of plot twist types that are out there to get you going again, rather than a specific suggestion; having them in list or chart form is simply a convenient way to access them. You can easily hand-pick something that you like. 4. I think the best random generation charts are ones that you keep in flux and continue to add to. Be on the lookout for new ideas and incorporate them into your chart(s) as necessary. If you use a plot twist several times and it's becoming stale, remove it from the list for the time being or mark it in some way so you remember not to use it. Each time you use a twist you might also consider lowering its probability of being selected if you're using die rolls. 5. If a twist doesn't seem exciting or time-consuming enough, pick multiple plot twists. You can combine them in odd ways or use them at different parts of the adventure. 6. Remember that you might have to go back and change other things to make them work with the new plot twist. Try to pick your plot twists early on to avoid too much of this, and make sure to look for any plot holes created by the changes. As long as you can fill and fix them, you're okay. Sources Of Plot Twists One of the best sources of plot twists, in my opinion, is a list of plots. After all, one of the best ways to surprise your players is to have a plot turn out to be an entirely different sort of plot than it seemed at first. Or to have additional plots pop out of the woodwork when least expected. So look for (or create) lists of plots. Print them out and cut up the paper so you have one plot or plot idea per scrap of paper. Put the scraps into a box or something similar and draw one out without looking at it. Or, number them and roll dice. When using the "Stargate SG-1 RPG" I sometimes roll on the mission generation chart and adapt the result for a plot twist rather than an initial plot. One great online plot list is "The Big List of RPG Plots:" http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm Another source of plot twists is writers' prompts--they're meant to inspire ideas, after all. Again, print out lists and cut them into scraps, or open a book of prompts at random, or number them and roll dice. Here are a few online sources for writers' prompts (we also have a small handful in the writers' resources section of the Burning Void site); you can find more with a google search for "writer" and "prompt" (it also helps to add something like "spark," I found, to make the results more relevant): Writer's Digest's daily prompt: http://www.writersdigest.com/writingprompts.asp Writing Fix's Random Daily Prompt Generator: http://writingfix.com/dailypromptgenerator.htm FictionAddiction.Net's daily writing prompt: http://www.fictionaddiction.net/prompt.html There are plenty of free online sources of inspiration, but if you'd prefer a book there are also a couple of good books containing hundreds of writers' prompts each (disclaimer: the links provided are affiliate links and help to support this zine and site): "The Writer's Block," by Jason Rekulak: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0762409487//burningvoid-20 "The Writer's Idea Book," by Jack Heffron: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158297179X//burningvoid-20 A Quick List To Get You Started This is the quick list I put together for myself recently when I wanted it. It's skewed for a mission-oriented science-fiction game and for some of my plot preferences, but it's adaptable; change plot points and percentages as desired. It comes with numbers for a percentile (or d100) die-roll in case you want some randomly-gerated inspiration: [1-2] The PCs' destination (planet, dimension, country, whatever) possesses exotic conditions that could make life complicated or interesting (exotic plant life, animal life, atmosphere, gravity, temperature, weather conditions, past man-made disasters such as extreme pollution or nuclear war, etc.). [3-5] The population at the PCs' destination has been affected by unexpected conditions (religious wars, political upheaval, seclusion or segregation, invasion by outside forces, disease, starvation, etc.). [6-15] Something happens to change the mission into a totally different type of mission. Choose a new plot. If you use a standard plot generation chart, use it again to determine the new mission. Otherwise, print out a plot list, cut it up or number it, and choose a plot at random. [16-24] Something happens to add a new mission onto the characters' responsibilities. See the previous item for methods to determine this new mission. [25-26] The enemy has fewer or greater resources than expected. [27] A non-player character (NPC) expected to be absent is present, or vice versa. [28-29] An unexpected sacrifice must be made in order for the mission to succeed, or for the characters to survive or return home. [30-32] The characters find their way home barred, removed, destroyed or otherwise compromised. [33-34] The characters lose communication with their forces, allies or commanders. [35-43] The characters come across someone (individual, group or civilization) in need of rescue or aid. [44] The characters stumble across a situation that is easy to misunderstand, and thus they may act inappropriately to the circumstances. [45-47] The characters' headquarters, home base, families, or whatever are under attack, taken over or otherwise placed in danger. [48] The characters' forces have been infiltrated. [49-52] The characters are exposed to something dangerous--radiation, poison, disease, a drug, etc. [53-57] The team is stalked or attacked (this could be the equivalent of a random encounter, or it could be a part of the plot). [58] The characters stumble across unexpected guards or sentries and stand a chance of alerting them. [59] A player character (PC) or major NPC ends up in a hallucinatory, hypnotic, feverish, or similarly altered state of mind. [60-64] Equipment or information important to the mission is destroyed, stolen, or captured. [65-68] A location important to the mission has been overrun or occupied by hostile forces or dangerous creatures. [69] A natural cataclysm has changed the landscape and somehow interfered with the planned mission. [70-74] Someone important to the mission dies, gets captured, or becomes injured. [75-77] The team stumbles into someone else's problems and gets caught up in them. [78-83] The team uncovers evidence of hostile activity beyond the scope of their original mission. (For additional complication: due to lack of communication, other events or time pressures they cannot call home to get new orders or aid and must act on their own.) [84-85] Someone isn't who or what he says he is. [86] An NPC disappears or leaves without explanation. [87] Someone is being coerced or co-opted (blackmail, threats, seduction, mind-control, etc.). [88] Exotic plot twist--a one-of-a-kind alien encounter, a major character develops amnesia, the team finds out they're trapped in a virtual reality device, a major character disappears or retires, or something of that level. This slot is reserved for those plot twists you can probably use only once. [89] The team discovers that missing or presumed dead allies are being held captive. [90-91] The characters were misled about details of the mission. [92-93] A supposedly safe or innocuous location has been compromised. Its location is known, it's been bugged, there are troops waiting in ambush there, etc. [94] The mission (or some portion thereof) is a ruse intended to capture the characters, get information from them, or something similar. [95-96] Someone is attempting to use the characters for their own ends. [97] Someone believed dead turns out to be alive. (This might deserve a second complication layered on top, such as that person having new allegiances, not remembering who they are, being captured by the enemy, having new resources if they're a villain, having been off doing something interesting, etc.) [98] A natural disaster occurs, is about to occur, or has just occurred (volcano, flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake...). [99] Someone ambushes, betrays, or gives away the characters (intentionally or by accident). [100] An enemy turns out to be an ally (or at least a potential partner), or vice versa, either temporarily due to specific circumstances or more permanently. Hopefully this list will give you a few ideas to start with in coming up with something more appropriate to your own game and adventures! What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line. If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. 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