[Twilight Time] Giving depth and dimension to overused plots

Tue Jan 20 08:38:03 EST 2004

January 20, 2004 -- Giving Depth and Dimension to Overused Plots
Volume 5, Issue 1

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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

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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 at burningvoid.com). If I pass any of 
your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources 
page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want 
me to use your name and/or comments!

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