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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 4617365" data-attributes="member: 3192">A "Plot-driven adventure" is a misunderstanding of role playing in which DMs try and script players' actions before they take them.  What it can also refer to is single objective role playing exercises.  In these cases, a sole objective needs to be achieved to finish the game.  It can either be chosen by the GM or the whole group, but must it be done before play can begin.  The GM or Referee then makes preparations based upon that particular objective.  For example, the objective may be to bake a cake, to cross a lake, or, in simulated fictional role playing worlds, to save a princess from a dragon.  Just as with any role playing the role players can either be assigned or choose for themselves the roles they will play.  The activity is made into a formal game by laying out specific rewards for accomplishing certain defining elements of their role (or roles if multiple roles are supported by the game design).  However, these other rewarded objectives are separate from the purpose of play in a single objective game.  Inevitably, the purpose of the game is to achieve the agreed upon objective.  Multiple ways to play this kind of game exist. In D&D some DMs' run a series of separate games with some relation between them.  The different boards you can complete within a computer game are a good illustration of this kind of play.  Each board level is generally confined to itself, but appears to be a consequence of finishing the previous level.  A "Character-driven adventure" is also poorly understood phrase that covers multiple different kinds of role playing and at least one kind of non-role playing objective.  The non-role playing understanding (or misunderstanding really) is that the player behaves, and play progresses, based upon what the "character" would do.  Asking the question, "what would my character do?" can help to understand how to act out a character, but it won't help one role play.The two meanings of this phrase that do qualify as role playing objectives are: 1. Situational-based role playing exercises where the players role play to the best of their abilities to fulfill their individual roles within a particular situation.  No objectives other than performing the roles are judged, but accomplishing goals defining of the role(s) do qualify.  Play continues until the situation is judged as over by the GM.  2. Situational-based role playing as in number 1, but with the initial situation continuing to the next based upon the consequences of the players' actions.  In this way, play evolves based upon previous performance.  No endpoint to play is required here as the objective of the game is being fulfilled by rewarding role playing.  As in many traditional card games, like Spades for one, scoring can continue beyond the point of when a specific number is reached.  Most role playing in this manner (called campaign play in D&D) goes on until players choose to stop playing.  Note: Neither of these two or the "Plot-driven adventure" single objective should be confused with the reward of experiencing what it means to be in the role in and of itself.  Because all role playing has objectives these other kinds of role playing setups are not necessarily incompatible with single objective role playing.  Players may be involved in a one time role playing exercise (or a "one shot") where the objective is laid bare, all the while playing the "character-driven" game where they can achieve the alternate objective of masterfully performing their role.  However, too much of avoiding an agreed upon objective can disrupt a group just as in any social endeavor.Here is an example, a one shot may be about baking a cake, but the role playing objectives may also be rewarded.  For instance, the quality of the cake baked, how sanitary the bakers were in making it, the time it took to complete the entire process, their frugality with using ingredients, or the wear and tear on baking utensils.  The other objectives rate the players' ability to be in the role of cake baker, but the game ends with the eventual baking of a cake (or when the GM calls off the exercise due to failure).Most games reward role playing well with abstract points, either to the entire group or team or to individual members for independent accomplishments.  As each GM, Referee, or Judge rewards differently based upon his or her own experience, knowledge, and judgment of the players' performances of the role, rewards (also known as Accomplishment Points or Experience Points) are valued differently from GM to GM (not necessarily group to group).  In competition judges often work together to best ensure accurate appraisal of the role players' performances.  Formal rules are used like reward points for killing a specific monster in D&D, but assessments can also increase accuracy by including multiple judges for each role playing exercise.  Judges' assessments might be totaled, averaged, or be a consensus agreement.   These benchmarks of achievement to be rewarded are also predetermined by the GM before the game begins, but can be determined by the entire group as well.  D&D has always used abstract experience points which tie into increased chances of avoiding or surpassing non-role played elements within its' game.  Specifically, the parts where players roll dice rather than role play the situation.  4th Edition uses a Quest system in order to reward players for setting their own goals.  Either way role playing is rewarded, the degree of the reward for these benchmarks is still set by the DM based upon their knowledge of the actual roles.</blockquote>

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