DMs: Are you a "plot-nazi"?
- Thread starter Uller
- Start date
jester47
First Post
Somtimes I feel like Silent Bob in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."
I am sitting there thinking "THE SIGN, ON THE BACK OF THE CAR SAID "ANIMALS OF HOLLYWOOD!!!!!"
My party has not yet discovered the cool properties of holy water. Almost every adventure someone is doing somthing with holy water. I love undead, they encounter undead all the time, yet noone ever thinks to buy any of the cool special items. They are third level and still using torches! "HELLO, THE SHOPKEEP IS TAKING INVENTORY OF HIS SUNRODS!" or "HEY! THE PRIEST IS AMKING HOLY WATER!"
I think this is because noone in my group has really sat down and read the equipment section...
This is in a similar vein to railroading. A railroading DM would almost force the PCs to buy the equipment he was showcasing.
end rant.
Aaron.
I am sitting there thinking "THE SIGN, ON THE BACK OF THE CAR SAID "ANIMALS OF HOLLYWOOD!!!!!"
My party has not yet discovered the cool properties of holy water. Almost every adventure someone is doing somthing with holy water. I love undead, they encounter undead all the time, yet noone ever thinks to buy any of the cool special items. They are third level and still using torches! "HELLO, THE SHOPKEEP IS TAKING INVENTORY OF HIS SUNRODS!" or "HEY! THE PRIEST IS AMKING HOLY WATER!"
I think this is because noone in my group has really sat down and read the equipment section...
This is in a similar vein to railroading. A railroading DM would almost force the PCs to buy the equipment he was showcasing.
end rant.
Aaron.
EricNoah
Adventurer
I'm a bit of a plot nazi. I do assume certain things will happen, that the players will bite the various bait, and that they'll partake in the "adventure."
The times where I've created more of an environment for them to just run around and do stuff, my players literally didn't seem to know what to do. They had no sense of urgency and it just didn't feel like D&D to any of us.
That said, I do try to gather a lot of input before designing adventures and campaigns as to what the players would like to do.
The times where I've created more of an environment for them to just run around and do stuff, my players literally didn't seem to know what to do. They had no sense of urgency and it just didn't feel like D&D to any of us.
That said, I do try to gather a lot of input before designing adventures and campaigns as to what the players would like to do.
Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
I try not to railroad -- sometimes I'm more of a plot-commie than a plot Nazi. Y'know, from each according to his ability....
For example, the players might be traveling through a city, and they're afraid they're being followed. A PC native to the city asks, "Do I know of any quiet teahouses nearby, maybe with a back room?"
I'll look back at the player and say, "I don't know. Do you?"
At which point she'll grin and say, "Yeah -- about two blocks from here, the Silken Mug. It's pretty posh, but the owner, an elderly elvish man, is very discreet."
And I'll say, "Fine," and they go there, and I take on the role of the elderly elvish man that she just told me about, and the adventure continues.
On the other hand, I throw hooks at PCs with the understanding that they'll do something with the hook. If they learn about a ghoul-worshipping cult in town, they need to blackmail the cult leaders, or go guns-a-blazing into the cult temple, or they need to infiltrate the cult, or they need even to talk to the authorities about the cult -- but if they completely ignore the cult, I'll be peeved.
One other thing: when I'm lazy, my plot hooks come across as wild coincidences (a PC's husband happens to be a member of the cult, or the PCs just happen to be 100 feet away from a fight when it begins, or something like that). The PCs, for some reason highly suspicious of the world in which they live, have a hard time accepting that anything is a coincidence, and are convinced that there's enemy intent behind everything (is the fight down the street a setup by their enemies, designed to get them into trouble with the law?)
So how about y'all: are your plot hooks often wildly improbable, or do you try to make them subtler and thereby less coincidental?
Daniel
For example, the players might be traveling through a city, and they're afraid they're being followed. A PC native to the city asks, "Do I know of any quiet teahouses nearby, maybe with a back room?"
I'll look back at the player and say, "I don't know. Do you?"
At which point she'll grin and say, "Yeah -- about two blocks from here, the Silken Mug. It's pretty posh, but the owner, an elderly elvish man, is very discreet."
And I'll say, "Fine," and they go there, and I take on the role of the elderly elvish man that she just told me about, and the adventure continues.
On the other hand, I throw hooks at PCs with the understanding that they'll do something with the hook. If they learn about a ghoul-worshipping cult in town, they need to blackmail the cult leaders, or go guns-a-blazing into the cult temple, or they need to infiltrate the cult, or they need even to talk to the authorities about the cult -- but if they completely ignore the cult, I'll be peeved.
One other thing: when I'm lazy, my plot hooks come across as wild coincidences (a PC's husband happens to be a member of the cult, or the PCs just happen to be 100 feet away from a fight when it begins, or something like that). The PCs, for some reason highly suspicious of the world in which they live, have a hard time accepting that anything is a coincidence, and are convinced that there's enemy intent behind everything (is the fight down the street a setup by their enemies, designed to get them into trouble with the law?)
So how about y'all: are your plot hooks often wildly improbable, or do you try to make them subtler and thereby less coincidental?
Daniel
Uller
Adventurer
Pielorinho said:
My plot hooks are usually up front and clear. They are like big billboards that say "ADVENTURE THIS WAY!" Sometimes they are red-herrings, and sometimes they are a chance at a side-trek if the current series of events is growing stale. I try to never be subtle with players when it comes to keeping things moving because I find that players miss my subtler clues or misinterprit them.
Within a series of adventures, the hooks are usually very plausible clues about what is going on around the PCs. For instance, one of the adventures I am currently running involves a powerful cleric who has recently purchased a very large amount of onyx...Since my players may miss that clue, I will find a way to point out that onyx is used to create undead (and this cleric has left some undead in his wake). So the idea is that the players will hopefully grow concerned as to why a cleric would purchase enough onyx to create 200 undead. Whether that will lure them into a future adventure or not, I don't know (if not, they will eventually hear about a nearby village being over run by ghouls).
Other hooks tend to be the coincidental sort. They happen to be in town when the Mayor and his daughter are attacked by a werewolf...the creature seemed to avoid harming the girl, but nearly killed the mayor...this event has nothing to do with the PCs except that I had it happen at a time and place when they would know about it so that they can do something about it if they want.
I openly remind them of all the hooks they are currently aware of.
Olive
Explorer
BlackMoria said:
This is not just funny, it's HILLARIOUS!!!
but i can also imagine my players doing almost exactly this. I set up a situation where there was a cult in a town, trying to gather ingredients for summoning rituals... but they PCs decided once they became aware of said cult, that the more they investigated, the more that they would be likely to fight demons. so they left town instead...
In my experience, my players are so keen on roleplaying that they automatically follow any vague lead or rumour that gets put in front of them. I roll on a random tavern roll that some one is looking nervously around? they follow him and question him at sword point an hour later. Whenever I include a rumour in a local pub, they start acting as if this is THE ADVENTURE!!! Its kinda fun, but a bit odd. All I'm trying to do is make them feel like this is a world where things happen and they think every thing is a quest.
arwink
Clockwork Golem
I work on the theory that Plot-Naziing is the Dark-Side version of a DM who wants to create an entertaining and believable story in his or her world.
As mentioned earlier, a lot of early published modules are examples of railroading at its finest, but for some reason the games are such fun that the players are willing to let the rail's slide, get into the groove and enjoy the game. Things tend to go bad when these same rails aren't fun, and most certainly aren't following the path the players would prefer to go. In part, it's a matter of perception.
As mentioned earlier, a lot of early published modules are examples of railroading at its finest, but for some reason the games are such fun that the players are willing to let the rail's slide, get into the groove and enjoy the game. Things tend to go bad when these same rails aren't fun, and most certainly aren't following the path the players would prefer to go. In part, it's a matter of perception.
Shard O'Glase
First Post
Bow down to my plot, bow down I say, bow down to the plot of putrecence.
SableWyvern
Cruel Despot
Shard O'Glase said:
Funniest scene in the whole movie!
Similar Threads
