How many plots do you have going?

[Dead guy on tab]

I just recently started keeping track of all the plotlines I am developing during a given session. My list appears to be growing somewhat large. How many plotlines (both active and building) do people have going at any particular time? How many plotlines do people hit on during an average (~4 hour) session?

[eternal_sage]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

in my DnD game their are currently 4 major plotlines... although the players do not realize this explicitly and think its more in the range of six-ish. that is pretty normal for me and our group, as more tends to muck things up.

[Mr_Yuck]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Yes, 4 or more plotlines going at once.

 

I also throw out red herrings and dead-ends for the players.

It makes things seem more 'real'.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I'm like Pirates of the Caribbean 2. EVERYBODY GETS A PLOTLINE!

 

if you're a dimension, you get a plotline. If you're a PC, you get a plotline. If you're a nanny in a building three blocks down and will never see anyone, ever...

 

YOU GET A PLOTLINE!

[eternal_sage]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

.....

 

i hated Pirates of the Carribean... all 3 of them (and i've only seen 2 ).

 

but yea, i find that each character should have one thing they are invested in personally, then there should be at least 1 plotline going on otherwise (i only have two full time players). to much more and you need a notebook just to remember who all you need to talk to. its like Morrowind, just without the console commands. then again, simple side quests like "fetch the nanny some hot water" don't count, either.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Right now after three sessions, I have 22 plotlines so far and growing. Not all of them are major, and I am not looking to hit on everyone each session. However, I am trying to lay the groundwork for long plot points.

[Rapier]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I think I've currently got between Micro, Mini, Main, Major and Massive Plotlines about 15 running. Some of the plotlines have already been pretty much dropped by the players. They may (and probably will) creep up again in the future, but for now they are inactive.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I have a tapestry of many plot lines going. there's a major one then lots of subplots and minor ones that can erupt to front stage at anytime. After decades in each of campaigns real time everything is very dense and rich.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Well. What do you call a plotline? How deep and complex is it? I view a plotline as a specific arc that requires resolution; i.e., it begins, goes somewhere, and closes. My campaigns are giant "plot arcs" (ask the cats at the last HEROCON about my Ravenloft campaign, that I spoke of in far too rapid of speech). Those are some plotlines.

 

I write one core plotline. Everything else becomes "stuff that happens, and stuff." (There's also this great bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you).

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I have been calling plotlines specific story elements that I am trying to chain together. I am positive some of the plotlines will end up tying together. I started tracking them since my campaign is young and I want to build a feeling of history. In addition, it gives me a way of checking in how I moving the assorted beans along (e.g. I haven't touched on plot X in awhile, I better include a scene to address). I would suspect each major scene would be connected to an individual plotline or each distinctive disad a character has callls out for a plotline if not more.

[Cygnia]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Plotlines for me vary depending on how much interest and effort my players want to make. Of course, that also has to be balanced so that the spotlight hogs don't gain all the attention at the cost of the other players at the table...

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Early in a game, I only have one or two at a time. After the groundwork has been laid, then I go for more.

 

When I have a robust game, I have a main plot, a secondary plot, and work in a scene or two (either in conversation, the news or something) that relates back to 2 or 3 others.

[eternal_sage]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

i'm sure it is probably because my games are much shorter than many peoples, in the neighborhood of 6 to 20 sessions (and this 20 session one is about to kill me) with the average being around 10, or about 2 and a half months of play. more than that, and i have to many other ideas for other games (currently planning a supers game, a W:tF game, and a steampunk HERO mech game, as well as working out several conversions from DnD of old settings).

 

i guess you could chalk it up to ADD... except i don't have ADD .

[concord]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Every campaign disad, such as Hunted, DNPCs, Secret Identities, etc. has a plot. Sometimes the plots intertwine between characters who share common campaign disads and sometimes they don't.

 

In addition to plots for campaign disads, there is usually one major plot arc and several minor plot arcs running at a time... each taking a turn to surface cause issues and then sink back into the background.

 

Currently with 6 active characters and a couple of NPCs, there are approximately 20 ongoing plots in the Wardens Chronicles campaign.

[Nolgroth]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I introduce hooks to plotlines all the time. Sometimes, things I didn't intend to become hooks end up being the biggest draws. Other times, I couldn't put enough tasty bait on the hook to get even a nibble. As a result, I have a Main Story Arc and several Character Arcs.

 

The Main Story Arc tends to be the least flexible. That's not to say that I railroad the plot, but it does mean that I have a certain timetable of events. If the characters intervene, it changes the timetable; sometimes drastically. There are many sub-arcs that trail off the MSA, but these tend to be more fluid.

 

Character Arcs tell the story of a particular character. These tend to be very flexible, with breaks between major points. I try to tie them in somehow to the MSA, but it isn't necessary for me to do so. Character Arcs are important, but can often be slow going to get anywhere substantial with them. They also tend to evolve as the campaign does.

 

I would say at any given time, there is the MSA, one or two Character Arcs, and any number of random plotlines. I think I have about six sub-arcs branching off the MSA.

[Sean Waters]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

One. I'm not bright enough to get into multiple plots.

 

I mean there are character oriented bits, and whatnot, but I wouldn't call them plots.

 

My approach tends to be:

 

1. Think up a nice simple plot that is obvious when you have enough information.

 

2. Hide a lot of the information that is needed.

 

3. Add shoals of Red Herring.

 

4. Listen carefully to the players chatting and incorporate any really good ideas that you can pass of as being part of the plot right from the start.

[mojo_bones]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I usually start with just 1 or 2 plots now. I used to do a lot more, but some would get lost in the shuffle. Also, sometimes (frequently, actually) the players decide to investigate something that was not intended to be a plot, at which point it becomes one. So I usually end up with 4 or 5 running at any one time.

[teh bunneh]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I have three plots:

 

1. Kick down the door;

2. Kill the monsters;

3. Steal their stuff.

 

 

Bill.

(Wait... does "Level-up" count as a plot? If so, I have four plots!)

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

I usually have one plotline prominently up front any given time (the 'adventure'). Several percolating that players may see glimpses of or be involved in peripherally, and various minor incidents and subplots.

[Lord Zod]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

My first time GMing a campaign, I had the PCs start a prison break on a ship and run off to become space pirates. I came up with the "brilliant" idea of giving each of the 40 or so NPC prison inmates a name, backstory, and plot hook. And I had 10 PCs, (we have a low gm-player ratio in my area and I couldn't say no) many of whom had multiple plothooks prepared in the their backstory. Between 50 and 60 plotlines starting from day one!

 

As a first time GM, it was a terrible mistake. Only a tiny fraction of those plotlines went anywhere over the course of an year long campaign.

 

For the next campaign I ran I had exactly 2 very straightforward plotlines at any given time; the sidemission of the day and the ongoing arc. It ran alot smoother.

 

Of course the plot was really the least of my problems in the first campaign. The point of the second campaign was really for me to experiment and learn so I could be a better gm. I mostly focused on learning to make balanced encounters and scenarios that are fun for everyone. And learning to say "no" the the players every once in a while. And to not have more than 6 of them.

 

The campaign I'm currently planning will also be a learning experience. I'm going to work on developing more atmosphere and more involved plots and deeper characters. So I'm thinking 4-ish plotlines at once at first and more like 6 -8 when the campaign is in full swing.

 

In some of the campaigns in which I've been a player, the plots threads are so seemlessly interwoven that its hard to say how many "plotlines" there are.

[Greywind]

Re: How many plots do you have going?

 

Too many. I try to keep an idea going for every villain, minor or otherwise, on a back burner. I keep calendars of events related to plots, so I have a reference point if, for some reason, the plotlines cross.