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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 1303633" data-attributes="member: 158">Shows like Buffy are good for more than just being like a well-run session; they also deal with human universal themes; acceptance; loss; sacrifice; understanding limitations; conceits and jealousies and how to cope, or fail to do so; these are statements of human conditions.A good RPG Plot can include these elements and be better off for it. What if the villain's tragic flaw is not that we wants to take over the world, but he wants to resurrect his long-dead brother? What if he's going about it in a way that will bring evil spirits to life? What if his brother is really a fantasy version of Adolph Hitler? Now you've gone from having an irredeemable villain to a guy you sympathize for, but you've STILL gotta stop.Basic plots make basic RPG's. Dynamic plots that speak to human conditions can be appreciated both on a simple level, and on the larger one.Pacing however, is a beast unto itself. Nothing -- comics, movies, novels -- come close. The closest thing I can say, is Newspaper Strips like Mary Worth or Spider-Man. The action there happens so gradually that an author has time to shift his mind. What he had planned is changed by outside influences on his or her daily life, and it shows in the strips. They may be planned a while in advance, but that daily or weekly deadline means that there are times for change before the final work, and it changes daily. So do gaming sessions -  influenced by the Players on the GM. Did your PC's figure something out early? Change the plot to compensate. Did they mess up and not figure something out until far far to late? figure out what happened, and narrate it. There's really nothing like it, short of old round-robin campfire tales where each member contributes. But the pacing is important to get right.Know as a GM when to speed things up, and when to give things some more time. Few writers short of Robert Jordan will spend ten pages on a shopping trip, but if your players are all having fun in a shopping spree, slow things down until the grow tired again. Speed things up when they tire of the current events.</blockquote>

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