Do you like plots?

[Mouseferatu]

I'm a storyteller. I can't help but love stories. I don't play D&D for the grind of the game. Not that that's not a fun way for people to play, but I've got an acting background -- I need a MOTIVATION.

Word.

I vastly prefer an intricate, ongoing plot to a "dungeon of the week." I can play the latter, but I will never enjoy it nearly as much as the former.

Of course, it's possible to go too far. That way lies railroading and pet NPCs. But it's possible to have a story- and plot-intensive campaign without those, if the DM knows what s/he's doing.

 

[Wombat]

Just a dungeon run? Well, at that point I'm going back to board games and miniatures battles. I would be just as happy playing Clue at that point, maybe even happier.

A plot? That is a Must Have for me! In my estimation this is one of the things that sets rpgs apart from other games -- plot, involvement, story, an evolving world. No, the plot does not have to be as deeply intricate as a John LeCarre novel, but I want motivation, I want character development, I want reasons for the adventures I go on and then I want consequences from our actions, good or bad. The game can start with a pretty thin plot (Baron A wants you to kill this horde of goblins that have been attacking your home village. Kill them all and you will be able to keep their treasure, as well as save your village), but eventually it has to weave into something larger, more intricate, and more exciting to keep my interest. This doesn't simply mean bigger, badder monsters or a parade of intricate logic puzzles. Instead I want to see minor elements from one story getting carried forward into the next tale, with minor NPCs eventually becoming very important. I want to know that my character is drawn into the world, that he has relations, loves, hates, that he knows a good place to buy a pie, a tailor to avoid, and people who he knows are out to get him.

Yep, a plot for me.

It's what makes gaming fun

YMMV, of course...

 

[Evilhalfling]

I get bored with simple dungeon crawls - esp very large ones.
but Im also not the greatest at figuring out plots, so they need to be fairly up front, or at least revealed by the end of the campaign.

behind the screen my style used to be that the players rarely figured out what was going on, a huge volcano of plots moving where the players never saw them. Now I prefer a few plots, all more easily discovered. Most of my dungeons have a base logic, who built it, who is using it now, some of what has happened in between.

 

[jgsugden]

As a player and DM, I think the best system is the 'Babylon 5' system, named for the 5 year television series by Joe Michael Straczynski. That television series would have made an excellent role playing campaign. It had the perfect blend of plot and standalone adventures, lengthy plots and overall storyline arcs to make for a perfect campaign.

Here is what I consider to be the perfect blend for a campaign, based upon this model.

#1: One long overall story that is hinted at in the first adventure and concludes in the final session. This story will build slowly, with little pieces falling into place over many, many sessions. In the end, all these pieces add up to one huge turning point focused around the PCs. (The story of Babylon 5 (B5))

Example: The BBEG in the campaign is going to be an ancient red wyrm that lives in a far off land, but is interested in acquiring things from across the world to complete an artifact of unimaginable power. In the first adventure, the PCs thwart or run across one of his agents, though they do not discover who this agent worked for until much later in the campaign.

#2: Two or three long story arcs that build over time, reach a climax, and then are completed during the life of the adventure. They might overlap, or they may be sequential. They should have some relationship to the huge story arc, but should be able to be solved without ending the major story. (The Shadow War, The Earth Civil War, The Centauri War)

Example: Returning to the dragon storyline above, you might have a low level storyline where the PCs find out who the dragon is and why he is sending out agents, a second storyline where the PCs go on a series of quests to discover all the things they need to know about the artifact under construction and a third storyline where the PCs have to make their way to the lair of the beast.

#3: Many small stories that will take 2 or 3 sessions to complete. These sessions may or may not be sequential. (The Nightwatch episodes, The Episodes relating to Sheridan's attack on Zahadum, etc ...)

Examples: That low level arch discussed above (where the PCs find out who the dragon is and why he is sending out agents) might involve a series of adventuers where 1.) the PCs run across a thief working for the dragon who steals something from them, and then must be hunted down, 2.) That thief's possessions include a treasure map leading the PCs into a dungeon crawl that takes a few sessions, and 3.) The treasure indicated on the map turns out to be something that the PCs can identify as being a part of an ancient artifact.
The PCs then have to go do some research in various adventurous ways to discover what the artifact might do ...

#4: Every session has its own climax. (Each episode of B5)

In any particular adventure, there should be one thing that is built towards for the entire session, and is completely resolved by the end of the day, though it may create more issues. There could be a mini-BBEG to kill, a puzzle to solve, a person to rescue, etc ... whatever. There should just be a single, stand out, moment of victory for the PCs in every game.

If you follow that type of format, you can't lose.

 

[3catcircus]

Hmm - I love deep, convoluted plots both as a player and as a DM because they extend the length of a campaign.

Unfortunately, I'm playing with a group that I used to DM for - the current DM and I seem to be the only ones who want a deep, well-thought-out, complex campaign. The problem is when you have a group that is focused on a mindset of either hack-n-slash or who look at the game as a way to have tabletop battles (3.x has done more to hurt the roleplaying aspect of D&D than any other single change to the game because of the heavy emphasis on tabletop grid-based tactical combat.)

When I was DMing, I had a lot of complex story arcs and plot hooks - the majority of the players looked at it as either boring (who cares, I just wanna kill stuff) or else they didn't want to put two-and-two together (hmm - we were ambushed - in Thay - and half our unit has been captured or killed; we've later pissed off both the local Thayan Enclave *and* the Telflamm Thieves' Guild; we are chasing down slavers who kidnapped people that attended the same party as us and then we meet two guys that just happened to be on the road and have no reason for being where they are and who aren't local who accompany us into town and then disappear; our replacement commanding officer just *vanished* without a struggle, as if he stepped 'somewhere else' in mid-stride and potential eyewitnesses only reported that there was a green flash - and now we wonder *WHY* we were shanghaied and turned into galley slaves - by the *same* type of people as the strangers on the road; when we finally manage to escape, we don't try to pursue the reason that our stuff which was confiscated when we were shanghaied has suddenly appeared in the rooms of an inn we picked at random; and we *then* wonder why we are ambushed in a big battle in a tavern designed to be extremely challenging for us?!?!?)

Granted - the two-and-two stuff *was* complex and convoluted, but they didn't even bother to really *try* to figure things out. Hmm - those guys on the road aren't local, but where *are* they from? Hmm - they have the same accent as the guys that shanghaied us? Why was it so easy to escape and *who* knew what inn we would pick (let alone be powerful enough to return our stuff that the shanghaiers took)? How come our new commanding officer vanished without a struggle and what would make a green flash in the process? How come the ambush in a tavern was so challenging - is someone testing us to see if we are a threat to them or if they can use us as pawns?

Afterwards, when I explained my story arcs to the current DM, he agreed that it was complex but solveable - and if the party would have exerted a little effort, they wouldn't have felt like they were being railroaded or that things didn't make sense.

 

[Ourph]

Are you satisfied with raiding dungeons without thought as to any behind-the-scenes reasons for going in?

Not only satisfied, but thrilled beyond description.

Are you excited by deep, convoluted plots for everything and everyone?

BORED. TO. TEARS.

 

[Monte At Home]

Are you excited by deep, convoluted plots for everything and everyone?

Yes. Yes, I am.

 

[The Shaman]

I like it when my character enters a room, and there's a mural on the wall depicting a story, and when I relate the details of the mural to a loremaster later on she can tell me about the battle and its participants and maybe give me clues to some other interesting places to explore.

I like it when my character helps a merchant with an eligible daughter who is trying to arrange a marriage with another merchant family, and later on my character is invited to the wedding.

I like it when my character visits a village by a river with a ferry, and later returns to the same village to find a bridge has been built.

I don't want the GM telling me stories - I want to create them myself through my character's deeds. What I want is to feel like things are happening in the world whether my character is there to see them or not.

 

[Galethorn]

As a Player (not a DM), how much plot do you like in a D&D game?

Are you satisfied with raiding dungeons without thought as to any behind-the-scenes reasons for going in?

Are you excited by deep, convoluted plots for everything and everyone?

1. I've never gotten enough to know how much, but I certainly want more than I've been getting.

2. No. If my character doesn't have a reason for doing something, I tend to lose interest. It can be as simple as a matter of survival, though, to keep me interested...but if it's just nothing, my LAMEDAR gets very high readings.

3. Not excited really...it depends on your definition of Plot. When I think Plot, I'm not thinking of all the crazy betrayals, loyalties, and lies between various involved characters; I'm thinking of story structure; rising actions, climaxes/resolutions, falling actions, and conclusions.

 

[T. Foster]

When I want complex stories and characters I read books and watch movies (both of which I do a lot of). But that's not at all what I'm looking for when I play D&D. I play D&D to be faced by challenges and obstacles with meaningful consequences for success and failure. I want to have my roleplaying/negotiation, logical problem/puzzle-solving, combat tactics, and resource management skills challenged in roughly equal proportion, and I want my success or failure at those challenges to have a meaningful impact on the course of the game (i.e. I don't want to be strung along on a railroaded plot where it doesn't actually matter if I do something particularly clever or stupid because the DM has already decided in advance that the party is going to win this fight/solve this puzzle/convince this NPC because the plot demands it). Nothing bores me faster than realizing that the plot is going to unfold the same way regardless of what my character does, and that I'm effectively an observer, not a participant.

Likewise I also very much dislike "roleplaying for the sake of roleplaying." I very much enjoy trying to gain information, or to convince someone to undertake some particular action, through roleplaying (what I categorized as roleplaying-oriented challenges above) and would by no means consider myself a "rollplayer" or "hack 'n' slasher," but just hanging around the inn idly chatting in-character with no particular purpose other than ambiance-building and character development drives me up the wall with boredom and frustration.

Challenge me and make me think on my feet. Reward me if I do well, and punish me if I do poorly. Don't try and tell me a story you've already decided the beginning, middle, and ending of, and don't expect me to join you in some kind of method-acting workshop.

EDIT: Realizing that the above rant was tangential to the OP's actual question, I'll rephrase a bit: the level and detail of backstory development (which is what I think the OP was actually refering to by "plots") is completely inconsequential to me. Insomuch as coherent and detailed backstory development leads to fun and interesting in-game challenges (such as it does in the works of Gary Gygax -- Necropolis, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc.) I'm all for it, but even then what's really getting me excited isn't the backstory itself but rather the challenges that grow out of it, and if I could be faced with those same quality of challenges without the backstory I don't think I'd miss it a bit (for instance, I don't find Necropolis particularly more satisfying than the Tomb of Horrors, despite the former having a very detailed backstory and the latter none to speak of). When backstory overshadows in-game activity (e.g. the players sitting around listening to the DM recount the details of some historical incident rather than actually doing anything themselves) I'm against it.