Sometimes you must take firm hold of the reins of PLOT... even if that means somebody gets thrown off of the carriage in the resulting ride.

Because we're going nowhere! Move this ♥♥♥♥ forward!


Observe, stuff....

I have no plot.
I have plots they can pursue, but I'm not going to force them into one unless they run into it to begin with, and even then I'll only do so much.

You have something I don't have - patience.

I could never be content to let players mess around all day, grinding stats and such. I would be thinking, "I made these damn plans for you, and I'm going to toss you into them whether you like it or not!"

That's part of the reason I'm going to implement that novel idea - you are not your character. Part of it is to push the plot along, part of it is to keep people from doing inconceivably horrible things, and part of it is to force players to wrestle with their own character's emotions along with all the conflicts that pop up. It's gonna be a fun time if I can ever convince anyone that it's worth the trouble to play the game.

I ended up making RtD2 be very linear and narrow, with set pitched battles and a few planned encounters, but I did allow for the players to fill in the details, more or less. Now with Ethersphere, other than the very beginning, I have nothing planned, and I'm going to do random encounters and let players explore the universe at will. They're definitely different experiences to run, but I think letting a fictional universe grow organically based on player input has its own unique rewards versus just telling your story.

>Take a nap.

Oh, believe me, I'll be having ♥♥♥♥ go down. It's almost certain you guys will go do Plot, but until you FIND IT IN THE FIRST PLACE, well...

I'm a firm believer in the same design philosophy as Rag.

Some times I will have a plot taking place at the same time as the players doing whatever they want. Things like a war waging between a losing faction and a conquering empire. As the players go round playing, they'll hear, through bar and news, that the plot will move along without them.

Or, I won't have any plot at all

But this is more a discussion for the RtD Design Bureau FG Lounge.

Very true!
Damn too much actions and thread-reliant stuff to move into the Lounge.
Uh.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THIS SHALL BE VETOED.

♥♥♥♥ off HK, I'm throwing my two cents in. Those two cents are that if you try and railroad me into a plot, I'm not going to be happy. Unless by some miracle you make it entirely organic and natural. Aside from that, with a story that revolves around exploring the sky-world, I feel like it should be the player's decisions (or Captain, at the very least) where they go next, and whether or not they want to do what you have in store for us.

Also, isn't it roll time?

TOMASTER FAIL FLAIL MIGGLES.