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Story Elements in RPGs...
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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5682110" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>great thread idea</p><p></p><p>before somebody sends the "I don't want my game to be a story" post, which if you feel that way, please just don't post...</p><p></p><p>disclaimer: nobody wants to play a bad railroad. having story elements in your game does not mean you have a railroad.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I'd like to see ideas here that a sandboxes would feel comfortable in using, that they don't intrinsically violate the sandbox-code, whatever that is.</p><p></p><p>for instance, in a story, when the hero screws up, there's usually a setback or complication or when some major task is a bit too easy. That concept can be applied to D&D. A non-lethal consequence of choosing badly, or just failing should be a setback or consequence.</p><p></p><p>Forex: if the party dawdles too long, then the villain moves onto the next step in his plan. Therefore, when the party arrives, things are harder/worse than had they arrived on time</p><p></p><p>In a story, just about everything that happens in the story revolves around the PC. The PC is somehow related and affected by the situation, thus the situation is inherently about the PCs. Sam Spade doesn't just choose to accept or decline the client, because the client showed up at his office, others are assuming he is involved and it is impacting Sam.</p><p></p><p>In D&D, this can be translated to, don't just have missions that the PC may/may not accept. Make things happen that intersect the PCs path that the PC would care about and get involved with (what side they choose is of course their choice).</p><p></p><p>the climax in a story is usually where the big confrontation is. If your plot has a big bad guy, set him up with a cool set where the big fight will probably happen ASSUMING the party confronts him there and UNLESS they come up with a different plan to catch him on the way to work.</p><p></p><p>A stereotypical story uses a 3 act model. Act 1 is where the game starts with the PCs doing their normal thing. Presumably being kick-butt against some minor problem. Towards the end of that act is when they cross paths with the real problem. The end of the act (and acceptance of the hook) is when they choose to go tackle that problem. </p><p></p><p> If they don't tackle the hook, have some other material prepared and at intervals reveal the consequences of not tackling that hook.</p><p></p><p>In act 2, the PCs are working towards the solution. Somewhere towards the end of Act 2 is the setback, that their basic plan was too simplistic or the BBEG was more prepared than they thought.</p><p></p><p>Act 3, the PCs regroup and get their real progress on to the climax. The climax happens in the big boss fight. The denoument is when the PCs get home, treasure is split up, and NPCs show their reactions to the players efforts.</p><p></p><p>In a sandbox, I suspect the GM is NOT scripting any of this. But if you follow the progress it may have parallels. Act 1 the party decided to explore the Dungeon of Disastrous Doom. Act 2, the party kills monsters, takes their stuff, and the bard dies in a Pit Trap. Act 3, the party raises the bard and gets their killer dungeon game face on to find the Lich and kill him and take his stuff. The denouement is the party bickering over treasure and XP.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 5682110, member: 8835"] great thread idea before somebody sends the "I don't want my game to be a story" post, which if you feel that way, please just don't post... disclaimer: nobody wants to play a bad railroad. having story elements in your game does not mean you have a railroad. Personally, I'd like to see ideas here that a sandboxes would feel comfortable in using, that they don't intrinsically violate the sandbox-code, whatever that is. for instance, in a story, when the hero screws up, there's usually a setback or complication or when some major task is a bit too easy. That concept can be applied to D&D. A non-lethal consequence of choosing badly, or just failing should be a setback or consequence. Forex: if the party dawdles too long, then the villain moves onto the next step in his plan. Therefore, when the party arrives, things are harder/worse than had they arrived on time In a story, just about everything that happens in the story revolves around the PC. The PC is somehow related and affected by the situation, thus the situation is inherently about the PCs. Sam Spade doesn't just choose to accept or decline the client, because the client showed up at his office, others are assuming he is involved and it is impacting Sam. In D&D, this can be translated to, don't just have missions that the PC may/may not accept. Make things happen that intersect the PCs path that the PC would care about and get involved with (what side they choose is of course their choice). the climax in a story is usually where the big confrontation is. If your plot has a big bad guy, set him up with a cool set where the big fight will probably happen ASSUMING the party confronts him there and UNLESS they come up with a different plan to catch him on the way to work. A stereotypical story uses a 3 act model. Act 1 is where the game starts with the PCs doing their normal thing. Presumably being kick-butt against some minor problem. Towards the end of that act is when they cross paths with the real problem. The end of the act (and acceptance of the hook) is when they choose to go tackle that problem. If they don't tackle the hook, have some other material prepared and at intervals reveal the consequences of not tackling that hook. In act 2, the PCs are working towards the solution. Somewhere towards the end of Act 2 is the setback, that their basic plan was too simplistic or the BBEG was more prepared than they thought. Act 3, the PCs regroup and get their real progress on to the climax. The climax happens in the big boss fight. The denoument is when the PCs get home, treasure is split up, and NPCs show their reactions to the players efforts. In a sandbox, I suspect the GM is NOT scripting any of this. But if you follow the progress it may have parallels. Act 1 the party decided to explore the Dungeon of Disastrous Doom. Act 2, the party kills monsters, takes their stuff, and the bard dies in a Pit Trap. Act 3, the party raises the bard and gets their killer dungeon game face on to find the Lich and kill him and take his stuff. The denouement is the party bickering over treasure and XP. [/QUOTE]
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