Designing a Scenario
Posted 11th November 2009 at 02:33 PM by pawsplay
Talking about plot in an RPG tends to bog down the discussion, since no one can agree on what it means. That is why, when I am talking about designing a scenario, I prefer my own, more specific vocabulary that is agnostic as to whether a game is more open-ended or programmatic. The basic elements are:
Premise - The idea, theme, or text of a game. No particular outcome or meaning is predetermined. An example of a premise might be, "Defeating a gang of roving brigands that threatens the community."
Conditions - The starting event, situations, times, and places.
Trajectory - What is likely to happen, starting with what is likely to happen if the PCs do nothing, and what is likely to happen if the PCs do several likely things
Planned Events - Encounters, essentially. Events that the GM has planned to introduce at logical points. Note that they are planned, but again, not predetermined. Sometimes plans have to change.
Thus, a "sandbox" game is fairly open as to premise but has well-defined conditions. Trajectory and planned events may be devised in advance or improvised. A linear, or programmatic, game has a fairly clear premise. Conditions may be sketchy, but the trajectories are carefully established and the planned events are fairly well-defined.
From this vocabulary, we can easily construct what constitutes the dreaded railroad game, wherein the PCs are pushed along by the GMs will. In a railroad there may be a strong premise or a weak one, but it doesn't matter, because it's unimportant. Since the PCs' choices are irrelevant and their actions arbitrary in the face of the GM's will, the premise is empty. Conditions could be anything; we'll never find out, because the GM will keep the PCs constrained in time or place. The world needs not even the slightest level of detail because it is only as big, in practice, as the eyes and ears of the PCs. The trajectory consists of one path, from which the PCs may not deviate. The planned events are not simply planned, they are enforced. Thus, we can see that the design of a railroaded scenario is degenerate in every important respect.
Premise - The idea, theme, or text of a game. No particular outcome or meaning is predetermined. An example of a premise might be, "Defeating a gang of roving brigands that threatens the community."
Conditions - The starting event, situations, times, and places.
Trajectory - What is likely to happen, starting with what is likely to happen if the PCs do nothing, and what is likely to happen if the PCs do several likely things
Planned Events - Encounters, essentially. Events that the GM has planned to introduce at logical points. Note that they are planned, but again, not predetermined. Sometimes plans have to change.
Thus, a "sandbox" game is fairly open as to premise but has well-defined conditions. Trajectory and planned events may be devised in advance or improvised. A linear, or programmatic, game has a fairly clear premise. Conditions may be sketchy, but the trajectories are carefully established and the planned events are fairly well-defined.
From this vocabulary, we can easily construct what constitutes the dreaded railroad game, wherein the PCs are pushed along by the GMs will. In a railroad there may be a strong premise or a weak one, but it doesn't matter, because it's unimportant. Since the PCs' choices are irrelevant and their actions arbitrary in the face of the GM's will, the premise is empty. Conditions could be anything; we'll never find out, because the GM will keep the PCs constrained in time or place. The world needs not even the slightest level of detail because it is only as big, in practice, as the eyes and ears of the PCs. The trajectory consists of one path, from which the PCs may not deviate. The planned events are not simply planned, they are enforced. Thus, we can see that the design of a railroaded scenario is degenerate in every important respect.
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