Do you like plots?

[Ellie_the_Elf]

I run incredibly complex and convoluted plots, or so my players keep saying. About a year ago I gave them each a prophetic dream, which they're still figuring out now.

I don't tend to plan all that far in advance, just throw things out there, and develop whatever catches their interest as we go along. Sometimes I don't have the plot fully worked out and use the ideas they come up with while they're discussing things- which makes them feel really clever

I definitely need a complex plot to run a game and hold my interest- I've tried running a straightforward dungeon crawl and it bored me to tears.

But I think player input is important- I often chat with my players about where they want to go with their characters and work some of what they suggest into my future scheming

Ellie.

 

[Abraxas]

In general I like a campaign to make sense and have some sort of overall plot - something to give the characters a reason for why they do things and why things are done to them.

That being said, I have seen a number of convoluted plots that resulted in horrible games. The DM sees the whole picture as he creates it, and fails to realize that the players only get to see snapshots of that whole as they play the game. What he perceives as obvious and logical could make no sense, because the more convoluted the plot the more necessary the details become, and screwing up just one can completely derail things. This can be compounded by several things.

Time between sessions can be a factor, without some way to keep things fresh in the players minds information can be lost between sessions - especially if you only play once every two weeks or once a month. Player fatigue can also be a factor, sometimes it just gets old when there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

 

[Bront]

I like a little of both. It's nice to know why you're where you are, and have a good overall purpose, and intertwining plots, and arcs, ect.

But, the occasional kill things, take stuff adventure is a good change of pace. And you can often get them involved in the plot at some level.

 

[coyote6]

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.

What Mouseferatu wrote.

I.e., Word^2.

 

[Dark Jezter]

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

Actually, they bore me quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, I love a good story as much as the next guy, but when every single NPC has a 10-page backstory and you need to draft a flowchart to keep track of the relationships between the hundreds of different characters and plot threads, that's when I start to say "Okay, can we just go down into a dungeon and kill something already?"

Complex isn't always good. Sometimes simpler is better.

 

[tonym]

You said it seems that the PCs/Players only question/note/figure out about 20% of what you put in the campaign?

Well, is it possible your players have intentionally avoided that remaining 80%?

Personally, I sometimes get overloaded on NPC names, historical details and rumors. At some point, I can start feeling like I'm in college taking notes for a test. When I reach that point, the fun-bubble pops.

After the bubble pops, if I have a choice between asking the bartender the names and races of all the wizards who were buried in the cemetery over the last 400 years, or just asking him for a dwarven beer, my PC will go for the beer.


Tony M

 

[Prince of Happiness]

No, I'm more a fan of gratuitous nudity and mindless sex.

Seriously, I'd have to say that it depends on the skill of the DM and players involved. You can have the greatest plot ever, but if it's so ham-fisted or, conversely, so subtle that it turns into a weekly session of "Seinfeld*" then it's all a waste to me.


*The D&D campaign where the campaign is about nothing!

 

[Mouseferatu]

I've noticed that a lot of people--not necessarily referring only to people in this thread--seem to equate "The campaign involves a long-running story" with "DM railroading and the inability for the characters to make any choices or have an impact."

I submit from personal experience, on both sides of the screen, that this is only true with a poor DM. (Or at least one who's not good at the balancing act.) It is, however, entirely possible to have a long, complex, intricate story that runs the entire length of a campaign, in which the PCs are very much the driving force, and player choice is meaningful.

You just have to have a DM willing to adapt the story accordingly, and players who are willing to create characters that fit within certain parameters. It only works if everyone involved wants it to work.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

*The D&D campaign where the campaign is about nothing!

Orcs. What's up with that?

 

[DonTadow]

As a pc I need to know that my actions are effecting the world which usually means I need a good plot. Dungeoncrawl adventures are fun for one shotters and conventions but in a campaign I'm in I need to know that there is an a b c and d. But dungeoncrawls usually havea definative ending whereas I know if there is a plot there are multiple ways I can go and change things.