How to plan a TinyPlot

So you want to plan a TinyPlot at Ista Weyr! Fabulous - and thank you in advance! We love it when folks want to step up and promote play in and around Ista. :) Because TinyPlots often involve lots of people, multiple areas, or have permanent impacts on an area, we do require that planned TPs be approved before they run.

To get you started, here are some steps you'll want to take as you plan out your TP!

1. Is your idea a TP or an event?

A roleplay event is different from a TP in the following ways: generally, an event lasts for one RP session (which might have more than one part) and is 'done' at the end of the session. If your idea is more like an event, use this checklist instead.

By comparison, TPs often span multiple days and multiple RP sessions and may have lasting, planned impacts on characters and even whole areas. The TP's coordinator(s) (that's you!) typically coordinate or at least plan most, if not all, of these sessions. The final outcomes may be pre-determined or unknown, but there is often a goal in mind - some sort of IC outcome (find the stolen objects, identify the thief, accomplish a change in leadership...).

Some common examples of TPs include major area environmental effects (large-scale volcanic explosions, earthquakes, floods); political upheavals (a wingleader falls ill and while he's out of commission another rider schemes to take his place); IC creation of new areas or destruction of old ones (a group of people get together to work on a new storeroom). Many TPs are designed to offer a greater depth of character development or political interplay than is available in day-to-day RP. However, many TPs are also designed just to accomplish something. The draconic search cycle, candidacy and weyrlinghood could be considered a TP designed mostly to welcome new rider characters to the Weyr!

When you plan your TP, make sure it has room for lots of interactivity and that it's flexible enough to allow people to pursue their own RP within its structure. TPs often have spin-off miniplots. If, for example, while cleaning out the new storeroom cavern two people RP stumbling over a jeweled box, there may be future RP about whether the box can be opened, what is inside, who it belongs to, etc. The TP coordinator may or may not take responsibility for facilitating this sort of spin-off, pretty much at their personal discretion.

Does this mean every RP I do that has a political or developmental impact on my/my friends' characters needs to be planned out as a TP? Noooo! :D Not at all. Lots of the best TPs happen because a few people get together and have some promising RP that grows into something big. But if you're planning to +bbpost about your TP to get more people involved - then it's time to plan it out in greater detail and get the plan approved! The rest of the items on this list are designed to help you do just that.

2. Outline your TP!

Start simple. Answer a few quick questions and you'll have a rough outline already in place:

• What event or roleplay will instigate the conflict of your tinyplot? (Conflict can be anything from 'we need a new storage cavern' to 'J'ohn wants to fill a power void left by the sick wingleader and needs to win his mates' confidence to do it'. It is the problem the TP will address.)

• How will the conflict be addressed? (Don't worry about nailing this down too firmly - remember, you want the RP to be interactive! You may not always know all of the ideas players might come up with to RP at the conflict, but it will help you if you have a few ideas in mind - and you'll be prepared to get the ball rolling if none of the players have anything to offer!)

• What will the outcome be? (You might not always know how the TP will finally end - maybe the thief-catchers get the wrong man! - but you should know what the IC goals will be and have a rough idea as to how to wrap the TP up.)

Look at your answers to these questions and try to figure out a few RP sessions that could address them. You probably need RP to introduce the conflict (sometimes a bbpost will do - 'The headwoman says we need more storage space!'); RP to progress the characters' efforts to address the conflict (often you won't have to guide all of this RP, but you do want to keep aware of what people are playing); and RP to finalize the outcome, whatever it may be. Celebrate the new storage cavern with an informal party among the shelves - or have the thief-catchers dressed down in public for having humiliated someone who's not a thief at all!

Any RP that you know will have to happen, try to set some rough dates for. Imagine RPing the introduction of the conflict at the beginning, the resolution at the end, and fitting all of the other stuff in between. Will it take a week? Two weeks? TPs of greater length than a month or two can easily get lost; for anything on that grand a scale you might consider taking on a partner to help just in case RL gets the better of you partway through. Nothing is more frustrating than getting great RP from an ongoing plot only to have it stall because no one knows what should happen next! ;)

It's easy to lose track of the purpose and scale of a TP while planning it. As you prepare your outline, keep in mind the five W's of storytelling: What, Where, When, Who and Why. What covers the RP you'll plan to have. When and Where are pretty self-explanatory. Who is your target audience and your key players. Why is the TP's eventual outcome:catching the thief or arranging a change in leadership or what have you.

3. Define resources needed.

Will you need some coded objects to accomplish your plot? A temporary room or a special desc on the Weyr's plot room? A temporary character or a player for a major NPC? Anything that's out of the ordinary needs to be listed so you and the Weyrleaders can make sure you have everything you need before you begin!

4. Run your plan by the Weyr admin.

Now that you have an outline, +mail your plan to the Weyrleaders. Include a rough timeframe - if your TP will last a week, let us know what week you're hoping to do it in. If you know when you want to schedule the kickoff RP (introduction of conflict) include that too! Try to allow us at least two weeks before you want to begin - we'll get back to you in a few days, but if we notice that your plot might have wide-reaching effects, needs code or building, or requires help/approval from other sources (other admin, wizards, etc.) it may take a bit longer for everything to be done. We might also have ideas for how you can coordinate your plot in the smoothest way possible - and if there are likely to be schedule conflicts with other plots or events we'll let you know about that, too!

5. Get your ducks in a row!

Do you need a coder to make stuff? A builder to build stuff? Key players to handle plot points with their PCs or NPCs? Contact people and line up all the help you need ahead of time. Let them know what your plot is about and let them get excited about the RP - this usually makes folks more excited about helping, too!

6. Advertise!

Once the admin have given a thumbs-up to your plot plan and someone is lined up to take care of all resources you need (code, building, etc.), write up a +bbpost for ISW and post it about a week ahead of your first RP session. You might also want to advertise on the general board (if your event is open to the whole game) and you'll probably want to post a reminder a day or two before the session.

If your plot involves a lot of 'backstory' buildup - an increasing clutteredness of the storage cavern or the slow downturn in the wingleader's health - take advantage of the +bb system and rumors system (+lhelp rumors) to spread the word ahead of time! Posting rumors or bbposts every few days is a great way to keep people wondering until your first RP session. :)

7. RP!

Go out there and guide the RP! This is especially key in the session that introduces the conflict and the session that resolves it. Use NPCs (within game guidlines - no Lord/Lady Holders, Weyrleaders or Craftmasters without permission, etc.) and emits to accomplish your missions if appropriate.

If your plot includes lots of people, it can sometimes be helpful to set 'regular plot sessions' one or two times a week for the duration of the plot. You don't have to do anything at these sessions except show up and RP with the plot players and other interested parties - but you might find that they're ideal for making things happen that need to happen to keep the gears turning. This is especially well-suited to TPs that allow anyone to get involved or that have a lot of people coming and going. Building a storage cavern is work for the masses - and while you have all those people there is a great time to spring something like a ceiling cave-in or a discovered corpse on them! ;)

For more politically charged or small-scale plots you might want to schedule RP around the needs of key players or just have sessions whenever it works for the people involved. If you need to schedule private scenes with particular players in the plot, do so by +mail or page.

And if your TP is something that people can RP about all the time - gossiping about that power-hungry wingrider or speculating as to why exactly the Weyr has such a surplus of junk - go out and RP about it with people to keep their minds on the plot!

8. Post results, thanks, and logs.

People who RPed in or read about your plot will be interested in knowing how it all turned out - so once it's done, don't keep them in suspense! BBpost and let us all know what happened. This is also a great opportunity to hand out thanks to people who helped you, either in coordinating or in RPing and to point people to the location of logs. We have a handy LJ community where you can post scenes as they happen!

9. Rest, relax - and roleplay!

So now your plot is over... or is it? Chances are there will still be characters and players thinking about it for a few weeks after it's finished. Go out and RP with them about it! Who knows - maybe you'll glean material for another great plot!