Plot Issue Questions

         The following is a list of questions for both GM and players, probing some common issues about how you prefer to deal with issues of plotting in an RPG campaign. It was compiled from discussion on rec.games.frp.advocacy, notably from posts by David A. Bonar and Mary Kuhner:

  1. Do I have a specific story I want to tell, a set of possible stories, or do I want to just explore a setting and genre?
  2. How strongly will dramatic elements enter into my planning of events? Will everything be exactly tailored to the specific characters or will things be more like they are in the real world?
  3. Will drama be used during action resolutions?
  4. Will the PCs receive any special bonus just for being PCs? Will I modify timing, mechanics, or outcomes to ensure their success? What about ensuring their continued existence?
  5. To what extent am I willing to adjust my setting on the fly?

Alternatively, these could be formulates as:

  1. When you are setting up a campaign or scenario, do you attempt to provide a plot for the PCs to follow?

  2. Do you deliberately attempt to engage the motivations and inner conflicts of the PCs?

  3. Do the PCs have special advantages, or disadvantages, relative to NPCs of the same ability?

  4. What kinds of preparation do you do?

Questions for Players

  1. Which of the following are important to your enjoyment of playing? How important? [This is the Fourfold Way, plus two.]

  2. Do you prefer to know a great deal about a character before you begin to play him/her? Or would you rather develop the character in play?

  3. Are you willing to modify your character's actions:

  4. Do you want the GM to protect you from:

  5. Is it acceptable to you if the GM modifies the outcome of events:

  6. How important are the following to you:

Additional Questions

         These are some further questions about the game contract in general, formulated by Mary Kuhner <mkkuhner@genetics.washington.edu>):

Questions for campaign set-up time:


John H. Kim <jhkim-at-darkshire-dot-net>
Last modified: Sat Sep 7 00:58:01 2002