Monkey-Wrenches and Wheels Within Wheels
(or, how players can totally wreck a GM's careful plotting, and how to deal with it)
Many GMs, novice or experienced, in whatever system, have experienced a common phenomenon: after hours or days of intricate scheming, involved maneuvering or flat-out manipulation, their empire of assertions about the players' actions comes tumbling down as the PCs go entirely off in left field. I would like to address some of the ways this can happen, and how a GM can reduce the impact of this issue.
There are three leading causes of "plot malfunction"; they will be addressed in no particular order.
1. THE GM SUPPLIES TOO MUCH
PROBLEM: This can be many things -- too much information, too many resources, or too many conflicting options without a clear means of differentiation. To use an example from the Birthright game, the characters are faced with a knotty problem: how to travel to the capitol of the kingdom on the meager budget they have available? One of the characters (my own, in the interest of full disclosure) has an established past history as a caravan guard. Another is a venture capitalist and all-around financial professional. During a "solo" side-adventure, the caravan guard encounters a group of fellow-guardsman who have been let go from a caravan passing the direction opposite their preferred one. So what does this play group decide to do? Start their own caravan. While unexpected, the GM enjoyed this change of plan and proceeded forward with it. However, it did bypass a few story elements that had been planned.
CAUSE: Players, by nature, are problem solvers. They will fit together any and every component of the game - be it an idea, an NPC, an event, or an item - into their schemes. No GM can anticipate every combination of elements that they let fall into the players' hands.
2. THE GM SUPPLIES TOO LITTLE
PROBLEM: The Gamemaster, when preparing a world or a scene or anything in between, necessarily has at least some of the elements in mind. When it comes time to deal with the players' reaction to the scene, or some vital clue, or elements of the story which may be important, even the most skilled or best-intentioned GM can neglect to mention some vital bit of information. It is a common human practice to neglect some information already in mind, on the assumption that this information has already been shared or deduced, and roleplaying is no different.
CAUSE: GM misjudgement, or a tendency to hoard information. There are also very well-meaning GMs with good judgement, who will present a clue that will not be followed up on by the players, either because it doesn't seem like a clue or because the PCs would not do so.
3. THE GM EXPECTS TOO MUCH
PROBLEM: An unfortunate number of gamemasters get very defensive when players veer away from their established plotlines. One GM I am aware of would introduce NPCs for the purpose of acting out the GM's requirements for a scenario, should the PCs not do their "assigned" parts - and the players, being aware of this by degrees, grew so resentful that none of them would willingly follow any part of a plot so presented.
CAUSE: GM-created plotlines and situations can be created inflexibly, where the GM invests too much value in his own creation and not enough in the needs and wishes of his players.
Now that the basic problems, and their root causes (or some sampling of them), have been identified, I would like to suggest three general solutions to each of the above problems. No solution stands on its own; each must complement the other, and likewise no single solution will deal with any one of the aforementioned problems.
1. KNOW YOUR PLAYERS' CHARACTERS
More than anything else, a GM in full command of the essentials of the play groups' various PCs will avoid the common pitfalls in over-plotting and mis-plotting. Unfortunately, such knowledge can only be derived from game play itself. A GM who understands what a character wants, and structures the scenario to account specifically for each PC in the game, will be able to cope with plot skew in a fashion that's most rewarding to the play group.
2. PRIORITIZE THE GOALS OF THE GROUP
Simply put, what a GM wants to tell as a story and what the players want to assist in creating as a story will rarely mesh well. The players can realize this and act accordingly, but fully half of the burden for this must fall on the GM's shoulders. GMs who believe that their role as storyteller eclipses the players' right to self-direction may sabotage the enjoyment of the whole group.
3. THINK AHEAD
Many GMs are also players, or have once been players. Based on their experience as players, they will be able to anticipate some of the clever tricks their own players may attempt. While it is important to review their own scenarios to ensure that neither too little nor too much is provided, GMs can also try to foresee what divergent paths the play group will most likely take, and plan for those as well. Most professionally-written modules already include such "side-roads" as part of the adventure design.
To conclude, the best way a GM can avoid having their carefully-crafted storylines mangled is to know his players, respect them, and - most importantly - let them hold the reins at intervals. A GM who crafts a scenario incorporating clues and elements the characters will WANT to seek out will have a much easier time than one who makes a game session where the characters are either forced to dig up a clue, or who miss it because there was no incentive to seek it out.
Many GMs, novice or experienced, in whatever system, have experienced a common phenomenon: after hours or days of intricate scheming, involved maneuvering or flat-out manipulation, their empire of assertions about the players' actions comes tumbling down as the PCs go entirely off in left field. I would like to address some of the ways this can happen, and how a GM can reduce the impact of this issue.
There are three leading causes of "plot malfunction"; they will be addressed in no particular order.
1. THE GM SUPPLIES TOO MUCH
PROBLEM: This can be many things -- too much information, too many resources, or too many conflicting options without a clear means of differentiation. To use an example from the Birthright game, the characters are faced with a knotty problem: how to travel to the capitol of the kingdom on the meager budget they have available? One of the characters (my own, in the interest of full disclosure) has an established past history as a caravan guard. Another is a venture capitalist and all-around financial professional. During a "solo" side-adventure, the caravan guard encounters a group of fellow-guardsman who have been let go from a caravan passing the direction opposite their preferred one. So what does this play group decide to do? Start their own caravan. While unexpected, the GM enjoyed this change of plan and proceeded forward with it. However, it did bypass a few story elements that had been planned.
CAUSE: Players, by nature, are problem solvers. They will fit together any and every component of the game - be it an idea, an NPC, an event, or an item - into their schemes. No GM can anticipate every combination of elements that they let fall into the players' hands.
2. THE GM SUPPLIES TOO LITTLE
PROBLEM: The Gamemaster, when preparing a world or a scene or anything in between, necessarily has at least some of the elements in mind. When it comes time to deal with the players' reaction to the scene, or some vital clue, or elements of the story which may be important, even the most skilled or best-intentioned GM can neglect to mention some vital bit of information. It is a common human practice to neglect some information already in mind, on the assumption that this information has already been shared or deduced, and roleplaying is no different.
CAUSE: GM misjudgement, or a tendency to hoard information. There are also very well-meaning GMs with good judgement, who will present a clue that will not be followed up on by the players, either because it doesn't seem like a clue or because the PCs would not do so.
3. THE GM EXPECTS TOO MUCH
PROBLEM: An unfortunate number of gamemasters get very defensive when players veer away from their established plotlines. One GM I am aware of would introduce NPCs for the purpose of acting out the GM's requirements for a scenario, should the PCs not do their "assigned" parts - and the players, being aware of this by degrees, grew so resentful that none of them would willingly follow any part of a plot so presented.
CAUSE: GM-created plotlines and situations can be created inflexibly, where the GM invests too much value in his own creation and not enough in the needs and wishes of his players.
Now that the basic problems, and their root causes (or some sampling of them), have been identified, I would like to suggest three general solutions to each of the above problems. No solution stands on its own; each must complement the other, and likewise no single solution will deal with any one of the aforementioned problems.
1. KNOW YOUR PLAYERS' CHARACTERS
More than anything else, a GM in full command of the essentials of the play groups' various PCs will avoid the common pitfalls in over-plotting and mis-plotting. Unfortunately, such knowledge can only be derived from game play itself. A GM who understands what a character wants, and structures the scenario to account specifically for each PC in the game, will be able to cope with plot skew in a fashion that's most rewarding to the play group.
2. PRIORITIZE THE GOALS OF THE GROUP
Simply put, what a GM wants to tell as a story and what the players want to assist in creating as a story will rarely mesh well. The players can realize this and act accordingly, but fully half of the burden for this must fall on the GM's shoulders. GMs who believe that their role as storyteller eclipses the players' right to self-direction may sabotage the enjoyment of the whole group.
3. THINK AHEAD
Many GMs are also players, or have once been players. Based on their experience as players, they will be able to anticipate some of the clever tricks their own players may attempt. While it is important to review their own scenarios to ensure that neither too little nor too much is provided, GMs can also try to foresee what divergent paths the play group will most likely take, and plan for those as well. Most professionally-written modules already include such "side-roads" as part of the adventure design.
To conclude, the best way a GM can avoid having their carefully-crafted storylines mangled is to know his players, respect them, and - most importantly - let them hold the reins at intervals. A GM who crafts a scenario incorporating clues and elements the characters will WANT to seek out will have a much easier time than one who makes a game session where the characters are either forced to dig up a clue, or who miss it because there was no incentive to seek it out.
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