Story Structure?

[Natasha]

Isn't a campaign an ongoing plot?

But I agree that having short-term goals and missions keeps things fresh. However, I also think that having medium- and long-terms goals gives the players something to look forward to, something to try for.

[Sentinel]

I like to vary between the long-running meta-arc and the short duration scenario.
My campaign world has been on-going since 1983, but the situations and characters change over time.

[Noon]

Hi Kal,

I think that's a model for solo storywriting, something that's certainly fit novel writing.

I'd suggest this -
A: All the villains aren't completely evil (or for every completely evil villain, there are ten not completely evil ones). These villains might be dealt with in other ways, which appeal to their not so villainous side. You know, like a bunch of orcs who come in taking over lands - but just because their own lands were taken. See how various new avenues of dealing with them open up?

B: When players aren't doing much, play out the villains plans (as much as the villain can) in real time. So every ten minutes something happens. And make it that the PC's know it - don't have the villain do a million things unknown then just pop out. So after ten minutes (real time) of the players arguing how they should be nice to the orc, but not actually doing anything, a messenger comes into town, telling how a local farmer fought back against the orcs invasion and was cut down. Ten minutes after that, report the villains next move. And so on.

C: Don't decide the ending - when the players are on the move, ask them if the thing they are going to takle is the final problem to solve. If it is, then the players have told you this last plan is the end. Even if they forget about/ignore something, like a undead rising in the east, if engaging the orcs is the end, then that is THE end of the campaign. Dress up this last engagement, giving it the big fanfare and fireworks that you think a big ending should have.

just some ideas.

[Spinachcat]

You have three options with story structure for RPGs

1) Episodic - a single adventure has its own beginning / middle / end that takes place over one or two sessions.

2) Short Arc - a combination of adventures that focus on a single theme or problem, short arcs can go from four to ten sessions.

3) Long Arc - this is the trickiest because your beginning / middle / end can stretch for a year or more in real time and involve 20+ game sessions. The better Long Arc campaigns will have multiple Short Arcs within the storyline that build to the final conclusion of the Long Arc.

The most important piece you can bring from story structure into RPGs is a clear understanding of the Three Act Structure. Remember that your beginning / middle / end are not 1/3 each. Your beginning and end are only 1/4 each while your middle is half the story. It is the middle where things bog down so you must be most careful to make these middle sessions be very dynamic.

The key to engaging middle sessions is a strong setup in Act One that drives the players forward with definitive and clear cut goals based on strong personal motivations. The meat of the Act Two should be focused on driving toward Act Three and the inevitable conclusion of your Arc.

But as Noon said, don't define the ending. The ending is the culmination of the choices made in Act One and Two by both the heroes and villains.

[Sentinel]

It also helps to decide on the Passage of Time and how it impacts the characters.
I find that I tend toward a 3-1 or even 5-1 ratio (Real Years-to-Game Years), so that characters don't age too quickly (especially if your play time suffers frequent interuptions).

[jade von delioch]

i like to think that the longer plots are the most juicy. I like what you have here though, you should think about writing something up for the rifter along the same lines.

As to the greater plot line i would like to use the Dresden files as An example:
In the first Book, "Storm Front", Dresden finds a average joe guy who ends up using magic to murder people who he believes are evil- in the long run trying to make the world a better place by killing the bad people off. But when a young couple's hearts burst from their chest for no reason people tend to notice and get concerned. Towards the end of the book there is a throw away line where Dresden wonders where this average person could have learn magic (dark dark magic on top of it). It not until book 7, dead beat, that you begin to see who may have done this and that dresden figures out that there is a secret group working against the white council and at cross purposes. Now keep in mind, everything that our hero has to do does not involve the major plot line; that most of what he will encounter will be just standard jobs and situations.

A large plot line is like that where at first its a very small unnoticeable clue that after awhile will turn into a huge monster of a beast. But most of the time, as the clue grows, the heroes will be doing and fight other things that have nothing to do with the major plot line. Which is where your formula will come in.

[tobefrnk]

You could also add what are generically called the "Five Elements of Story" to your original outline. I teach imrpov and we try to have these elements defined each scene.

1. Location(s)
Where is this taking place. The location can inform the story.

2. Characters
The player group is a given. What NPCs would naturally compliment, enhance, and/or bring out player character strengths and weaknesses.

3. Problem
This is the initial meat of the scene. It could be a conflict or overall goal.

4. Heightening
This is the element that makes us want to watch/play this scene. Why is this scene important? You've got mecha fighting, great. We always have mecha fighting. Why is THIS fight so improtant.

5. Resolution
The final resolve of the previous elements using what has been establish. Basically, we try to avoid money and power. We can't just fix the problem with unlimited resources unless those resources have been previously established and we can't have an outside power fix it for us.

[Beatmeclever]

Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads is GREAT!!!

Tend to write like a television series. It works like this:
•Seasons are all 24 episodes long with a mid-season break between episodes 12 and 13.
•The year is 2015 and drastic changes have occurred and continue to occur.
•Chara are a former international Special Operations Counter Terrorism (SOCT) Team that operates world-wide to investigate and pursue lost treasures while stopping terrorist organizations along the way.
•Each season will have one overriding lost treasure, one overriding terror group, and several smaller actions during the course of the season.
•Each season will contain at least one humorous episode.
•Episodes 3 and 15 will always be titled “Project: ?”. These are episodes where the players must develop a technology.
•Episodes 6 and 18 will always be “Codename: ?”. These are episodes where the main objective is a person or piece of equipment that will help out with the finale.
•Episodes 9 and 21 will always be “Objective: ?”. These are location-based episodes.

So far I am in the mid-season break of season 3. I am planning on the series running for 7 seasons then it will be cancelled by the network, but not before the plans for a spin-off are leaked to the public.