I'm Not a Good Game Planner

[robject]

No, don't tell me I have low self-esteem. I know better than to think that.

I've refereed Traveller from the beginning, because I was the person who wanted to play it. And I've gotten better at refereeing.

When there is a known plot line to run with, I can manage just fine. Players tend to be creative problem-solvers, and if necessary I can guide them in how to use their characters to get things done.

But when it comes to sitting down and sketching out adventures or campaigns, I find I lack a certain type of creativity. Just pulling plotlines out of thin air seems to be hard for me to do. This most recent convention, where I am running two short adventures, is a very typical example. I have to come up with two plot lines, and I find I am paralyzed by the vast numbers of choices available.

I can run a CT adventure. I can riff off of same. I can pull a plot line from a book -- almost any book. And yet, I stall and fret for weeks, before landing on an idea... and as often as not, with significant help and suggestions from others (thank you, Whipsnade!).

 

[DickNervous]

Coming up with a completely original plot line is hard, like really hard. I pull my ideas from books, movies, TV shows, and video games, but I generally don't simply copy them. I use them as a starting point. Of course anyone who plays in my game at TravellerCon may argue that I pulled the core of that plot straight from a TV show (I did), but I also had to take the idea and make it work in Traveller (I think I have, I'll find out in a few weeks!).

So don't be afraid to start with an idea that you "borrowed" from somewhere else that you then built upon and fleshed out. We all know that the goal of the game is to create a new and exciting story with your players and have fun, and quite honestly, it doesn't matter where the idea comes from. I mean look at mainstream media (movies and video games in particular). How many times have they come up with a completely original plot for something? Call of Duty and Battlefield are on their billionith iteration and they still keep selling. So being original is not the name of the game. Having fun is.

 

[Whipsnade]

I'm poor at planning too. It's always too much or too little. I can never find the sweet spot. It's either a one page idea which barely rates as a classic Amber Zone or a hundred page tome which puts a bullet train in the concept of railroading. I can let an idea gain more substance during a session thanks to play results like table rolls or player actions. The trouble begins when I try to develop an idea on my own. I just keep adding more and more stuff until the idea dies much like how you can over water or over fertilize a plant.

As a referee I can ad lib well enough, but give me time to think and it's more paralysis by analysis. Keep me tap dancing so I don't have time to think about what my feet should be doing. That's why I'm able to get by my own flimsy ideas, I can punch them up on the fly.

As for creativity? Me? Score a laugh point. I'm a BRAZEN THIEF. I steal everything from everywhere and then file the serial numbers off by making a few simplistic twists. Sometimes I'm too lazy to do even that. Nothing I do is original in any fashion whatsoever. Nothing.

I do think I'm a fair script doctor. I've a knack for seeing "holes" or "glitches" in systems. It's how I've earned a living for most of my adult life and occasionally applying it RPG materials seem to come easy to me. The fact that I can see "holes" or what I think are "holes" is most likely why I can't hit the sweet spot when it comes to planning.

 

[aramis]

There is no such thing as an original plot - only variations on the basic ones.

Take a look at 36 dramatic plots (below is a synopsis)... almost anything dramatic is one or more of them... Heck, a good adventure is 1d3 plots... and 36 is awful easy to roll upon...

Pick 1-3 plots, fill in some interesting values for the various roles, and don't worry that' it's "not unique."

Then, figure out your player's role in it. They can be any one of the listed, or hired by some of them, or related, or even just spectators.

For example, a murder... they aren't likely to be the murderer, but they can be the witnesses. Thing is, the witnesses are grounds for yet more murders... them! Or for obtaining - in this case, the investigator trying to get them to testify. Or both...

When pressed, make a roll or three, and fill in the blanks. Instant adventure plot unfolds from these.

1. Supplication
   • a persecutor; a suppliant; a power in authority, whose decision is doubtful.
   • The suppliant appeals to the power in authority for deliverance from the persecutor.
2. Deliverance
   • an unfortunate; a threatener; a rescuer
   • The unfortunate has caused a conflict, and the threatener is to carry out justice, but the rescuer saves the unfortunate. Examples: Ifigenia in Tauride, Deliverance
3. Crime pursued by vengeance
   • a criminal; an avenger
   • The criminal commits a crime that will not see justice, so the avenger seeks justice by punishing the criminal. Example: The Count of Monte Cristo
4. Vengeance taken for kin upon kin
   • Guilty Kinsman; an Avenging Kinsman; remembrance of the Victim, a relative of both.
   • Two entities, the Guilty and the Avenging Kinsmen, are put into conflict over wrongdoing to the Victim, who is allied to both. Example: Hamlet
5. Pursuit
   • punishment; a fugitive
   • the fugitive flees punishment for a misunderstood conflict. Example: Les Misérables
6. Disaster
   • a vanquished power; a victorious enemy or a messenger
   • The vanquished power falls from their place after being defeated by the victorious enemy or being informed of such a defeat by the messenger. Example: Agamemnon (play)
7. Falling prey to cruelty/misfortune
   • an unfortunate; a master or a misfortune
   • The unfortunate suffers from misfortune and/or at the hands of the master. Example: Job (biblical figure)
8. Revolt
   • a tyrant; a conspirator
   • The tyrant, a cruel power, is plotted against by the conspirator. Example: Julius Caesar (play)
9. Daring enterprise
   • a bold leader; an object; an adversary
   • The bold leader takes the object from the adversary by overpowering the adversary. Example: Queste del Saint Graal
10. Abduction
    • an abductor; the abducted; a guardian
    • The abductor takes the abducted from the guardian. Example: Helen of Troy
11. The enigma
    • a problem; an interrogator; a seeker
    • The interrogator poses a problem to the seeker and gives a seeker better ability to reach the seeker's goals. Example: Oedipus and the Sphinx
12. Obtaining
    • (a Solicitor & an adversary who is refusing) or (an arbitrator & opposing parties)
    • The solicitor is at odds with the adversary who refuses to give the solicitor an object in the possession of the adversary, or an arbitrator decides who gets the object desired by opposing parties (the solicitor and the adversary). Example: Apple of Discord
13. Enmity of kin
    • a Malevolent Kinsman; a Hated or a reciprocally-hating Kinsman
    • The Malevolent Kinsman and the Hated or a second Malevolent Kinsman conspire together. Example: As You Like It
14. Rivalry of kin
    • the Preferred Kinsman; the Rejected Kinsman; the Object of Rivalry
    • The Object of Rivalry chooses the Preferred Kinsman over the Rejected Kinsman. Example: Wuthering Heights
15. Murderous adultery
    • two Adulterers; a Betrayed Spouse
    • Two Adulterers conspire to kill the Betrayed Spouse. Example: Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
16. Madness
    • a Madman; a Victim
    • The Madman goes insane and wrongs the Victim.
17. Fatal imprudence
    • the Imprudent; a Victim or an Object Lost
    • The Imprudent, by neglect or ignorance, loses the Object Lost or wrongs the Victim.
18. Involuntary crimes of love
    • a Lover; a Beloved; a Revealer
    • The Lover and the Beloved have unknowingly broken a taboo through their romantic relationship, and the Revealer reveals this to them Example: Oedipus, Jocasta and the messenger from Corinth.
19. Slaying of kin unrecognized
    • the Slayer; an Unrecognized Victim
    • The Slayer kills the Unrecognized Victim. Example: Oedipus and Laius
20. Self-sacrifice for an ideal
    • a Hero; an Ideal; a Creditor or a Person/Thing sacrificed
    • The Hero sacrifices the Person or Thing for their Ideal, which is then taken by the Creditor.
21. Self-sacrifice for kin
    • a Hero; a Kinsman; a Creditor or a Person/Thing sacrificed
    • The Hero sacrifices a Person or Thing for their Kinsman, which is then taken by the Creditor.
22. All sacrificed for passion
    • a Lover; an Object of fatal Passion; the Person/Thing sacrificed
    • A Lover sacrifices a Person or Thing for the Object of their Passion, which is then lost forever.
23. Necessity of sacrificing loved ones
    • a Hero; a Beloved Victim; the Necessity for the Sacrifice
    • The Hero wrongs the Beloved Victim because of the Necessity for their Sacrifice.
24. Rivalry of superior vs. inferior
    • a Superior Rival; an Inferior Rival; the Object of Rivalry
    • A Superior Rival bests an Inferior Rival and wins the Object of Rivalry.
25. Adultery
    • two Adulterers; a Deceived Spouse
    • Two Adulterers conspire against the Deceived Spouse.
26. Crimes of love
    • a Lover; the Beloved
    • A Lover and the Beloved break a taboo by initiating a romantic relationship Example: Sigmund and his sister in The Valkyrie
27. Discovery of the dishonour of a loved one
    • a Discoverer; the Guilty One
    • The Discoverer discovers the wrongdoing committed by the Guilty One.
28. Obstacles to love
    • two Lovers; an Obstacle
    • Two Lovers face an Obstacle together. Example: Romeo and Juliet
29. An enemy loved
    • a Lover; the Beloved Enemy; the Hater
    • The allied Lover and Hater have diametrically opposed attitudes towards the Beloved Enemy.
30. Ambition
    • an Ambitious Person; a Thing Coveted; an Adversary
    • The Ambitious Person seeks the Thing Coveted and is opposed by the Adversary. Example: Macbeth
31. Conflict with a god
    • a Mortal; an Immortal
    • The Mortal and the Immortal enter a conflict.
32. Mistaken jealousy
    • a Jealous One; an Object of whose Possession He is Jealous; a Supposed Accomplice; a Cause or an Author of the Mistake
    • The Jealous One falls victim to the Cause or the Author of the Mistake and becomes jealous of the Object and becomes conflicted with the Supposed Accomplice.
33. Erroneous judgment
    • a Mistaken One; a Victim of the Mistake; a Cause or Author of the Mistake; the Guilty One
    • The Mistaken One falls victim to the Cause or the Author of the Mistake and passes judgment against the Victim of the Mistake when it should be passed against the Guilty One instead.
34. Remorse
    • a Culprit; a Victim or the Sin; an Interrogator
    • The Culprit wrongs the Victim or commits the Sin, and is at odds with the Interrogator who seeks to understand the situation.
35. Recovery of a lost one
    • a Seeker; the One Found
    • The Seeker finds the One Found.
36. Loss of loved ones
    • a Kinsman Slain; a Kinsman Spectator; an Executioner
    • The killing of the Kinsman Slain by the Executioner is witnessed by the Kinsman

• Required citation of source quoth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Character-driven play solves most problems.