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Melody · **12-15-2014, 02:58 PM**

Here's something I've been wondering about for quite a while now. I've been lurking around here for a few months and I'm always seeing people mention their characters going through plot lines and what not.

My question (or questions) to the community is, how do you guys come up with plot lines for your own characters? Where do you start? Â Do you have any strategies? Are your characters built with a ready-to-go story idea?

I want to start coming up with things to do with Melody, but I'm having a very hard time figuring out where to start.

Huh

*sounds the noobie alarm*

(If there's already been a thread about this...I'm sorry!)

Gegenji · **12-15-2014, 03:02 PM**

I find just having an overarching goal helps a lot to direct a character's plot line.

For example, Chachanji wants to become a Paladin to protect and "halp" people. A good number of his RPs revolve around that. It's how he met Warren and Roen and Crofte and many others. And, in doing so, he's gotten embroiled in a lot of other situations as a ancillary or even supporting character.

So, I'll turn the question back onto you. How do you imagine Melody turning out? What would you like her to accomplish?

Warren Castille · **12-15-2014, 03:07 PM**

Like Chachanji said, it helps to have an arc in mind for your character. Are you an adventurer? What sorts of adventures do you go on? Meet any dangerous characters? Maybe you're a craftsman by trade, or work for one of the many many trade companies in the game. What sorts of things do you get swept up in?

It helps to have people to bounce ideas off of: Prior to running into Chachanji's thread, Warren never intended on taking up a pupil of any sort. However, the role's sort of coming to them both naturally, and it's been a lot of unplanned fun!

Most of Warren's plots have been interpersonal, with lots of tense emotional investment and stuff. Having people to crash into helps. Not everything should be honky-dory pleasant all the time, and it helps to have an impetus to a plot.

Once you get that part down, it's just a matter of playing pretend in a satisfying way. To continue talking about myself (something I'm great at), my current thread in the Town Square came about with me reading comic books and thinking "I want to be involved in a mystery." Then I just started writing.

Divisor · **12-15-2014, 03:14 PM**

(12-15-2014, 02:58 PM)Melody Wrote: Here's something I've been wondering about for quite a while now. I've been lurking around here for a few months and I'm always seeing people mention their characters going through plot lines and what not.

My question (or questions) to the community is, how do you guys come up with plot lines for your own characters? Where do you start? Â Do you have any strategies? Are your characters built with a ready-to-go story idea?

I want to start coming up with things to do with Melody, but I'm having a very hard time figuring out where to start.

*sounds the noobie alarm*

(If there's already been a thread about this...I'm sorry!)

One of the most important things I feel a good character should have is a solid, long-term goal to drive them to do what they do. It can be anything: being rich, finding a lost family member, becoming the greatest knight they can be... whatever. The point is to have something that gives them the motivation to do whatever work it is that they do.

A treasure hunter might be looking for the most valuable artifact they can to secure their wealth for the foreseeable future, or maybe they're trying to find an old trinket that might lead them to the truth about who they are and where they really came from. A mercenary could be looking for a way to make a name for themself in the real world, establish connections with like-minded people, or even find true happiness through adventure. Really, honestly, it can be anything.

If you give one of these to your character, you immediately open yourself up to a plethora of figurative doors that can lead your character just about anywhere. An aspiring paladin might feel that he needs to prove himself as a fighter first, so how might he do that? An amnesiac is looking for some kind of sign to point her in the direction of the truth, so where could she look?

This is where character plot lines come in. Your character needs somethingâ€”anythingâ€”and because this goal of theirs is such a central motivation in everything they do, prompting them to go out and get it one way or another is actually pretty simple. The fun is working out the twists and turns along the way to make things interesting. That's what adventure is about.

Erik Mynhier · **12-15-2014, 03:14 PM**

Have some long term goals in mind as said here, and know your character enough to make logical reactions to events, metaRP community, MSQ, and others alike. RP is like sailing, you know where you ultimately want to go, but there are winds, waves, and other things that sway you this way and that. You have to be able to go with that flow while not letting your own story spin out of control. Just stay true to your character.

Steel Wolf · **12-15-2014, 03:18 PM**

Steel started out no deeper than "widowed armorsmith". She eventually needed to have something a little more to give her some spice. She had started off as someone who was trying to follow the noble ideals that her husband had died for--I even saw her becoming a legitimate Sultansworn or coat-wearing member of the Maelstrom.

What happened instead was that Paladin was boring as hell and I hated the class so hard.

So...what to do? I took the distaste for the class and turned it inward. I wasn't going to play a class I hated, and the idea came that something should happen to change her mind about how good and noble things were. First I came to the idea that the Amal'jaa would show her the benefits of brutality and unflinching power, using the then-newly introduced Beast Tribe Dailies as inspiration. Turns out the dailies were awful too, but it was a good first step.

The final push for Steel was an event that I chronicled in her journal. This was an event that felt like the right way to change her mind and to fit her in to a new class and a new direction. Ultimately, this has ballooned in to a final personal goal--to use her might to wipe Garlemald from the realm. By any means necessary. That means murder, sabotage, outright destruction, and funding those things has seen her take some paths that are less than legitimate.

This will lead her, as I have in my head, down the path of the Dark Knight and see her become a reaver.

Now, while this might not be very interesting to people nearby, it's a fun character to write...and even if she is becoming something of a juggernaut, she still does so with a smirk, ideally to make her still approachable to people in the street.

The TL;DR here being that you never really know where the inspiration will strike. For me, it came from the fact that the Paladin class turned out not what I had hoped, and it all just sort of snowballed from there.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **12-15-2014, 03:18 PM**

I go all over the place.

Internally, there's this plot like I set up for Franz. Will he ever get it (or all of it?) probably not.Â

I tend to like latching onto other people's storiesÂ if there's going to be some long, extended, thought-out storyline. Becuase I think my ability to plan things is terrible in the long-run.

Coordination with other people helps! If there's a plot line you'd like to plan/start/continue/etc, don't hesitate to look for people who would be interested. That said, not all storylines are for everyone. Some are great for open-world stuff, whereas others are best done in a smaller group, either for coordination, or because of things that may not be malleable in the open-RP world.

side note: I STILL NEED TO FIND YOU IN-GAME! WHEN ARE YOU ON FOR STALK-....I mean friendship?

Melkire · **12-15-2014, 03:23 PM**

For me, external stimuli leads to internalized conflict, and the conclusions that characters reach then determineÂ how they react to aÂ particular stimulus as well as their general behavior at the time.

There has to be some sort of external stimulus on the character. Not because there needs to be, but because there always is: a character doesn't just exist in a bubble. If they did, they'd never grow or develop. Instead, their environment influences them, and they in turn influence their environment.

I find that this approach works best when you've already decided on what kind of person your character already is as a baseplate/template/foundation for said growth and development. Here's an example.

What kind of person is my character? A tired soldier out for a drink.
What happened? A bar fight broke out at the tavern he's at.
What goes through my character's head? He's had a long day, and he'd just like some peace and quiet. He's also friends with the proprietor and the staff, so he doesn't like how rowdy the fighters are being, especially as how they're damaging the furniture all of a sudden.
What does my character decide to do? He leaves his drink to go break up the fight, of course.
What's the result? It turns out one of the fighters is a highwayman who mugged the other fighter a few days ago.
What kind of person is my character? A once-crooked-but-now-honest man who despises bandits.
What goes through my character's head? The mugged man ought to get his money back.
What does my character decide to do? He drags the highwayman outside to a poorly lit alley and beats him until the man makes good on reparations.
What's the result? The mugged man gets his money back, and shows his gratitude and appreciation by offering to hire on the soldier once the soldier retires.

You take this sort of thing far enough and you end up involved in, or coming up with your own, plot lines before you know it.

Of course, this is a very reactionary way of going about it.Â You could also sit down andÂ script a story for yourself, and thenÂ gradually ease your way into it whileÂ throwing out plotÂ hooks to get other people involved, but that's never felt natural enough for me to enjoy doing so.

Inessa Hara · **12-15-2014, 03:24 PM**

Rather than making a personal plot, I find that going along with an outside plot then attaching a personal aspect to it has been the best thing. Here is a good and quite long winded example I will give.

So RP character named Jhon had all his friend's killed by an RP character named Dirk. Well Dirk apparently is a high ranking Garlean official and can hide himself very well. So in order to go find Dirk, Jhon must venture out and seek out people who know where to point him and follow the breadcrumbs of information to his target. Through trial and error and his involvement with many people on the path of his search, he grows as a character, making new friends and learning many different thing's on his path to fight Dirk, but he learns that there are more issues then his issues to deal with Dirk that need to be resolved such as having to fight corruption within the sultansworn and dealing with monetarists and having to choose to either fight with new friends or attempt to kill his current one's. Through trial and tribulation, he grows as a character and learns that thing's such as white or black no longer matter. Nobody will win in the end. Everyone will lose something and it becomes a generally painful experience to deal with the lose of friends and the fighting of foe's. He might even die as well but that's all part of the development.

Really though, it's all up to the choice of the RPer and their method's or what they want out of RP. I tend to take a "Game of Thrones" Approach to my RP, where everyone is plotting and planning something behind everyone back, lots of politics and people die as a result of choice's and action's. It is fun for me, though to most people, having characters die doesn't sound very fun at all but when it comes down to it, someone got's to bite the big one in the end if they mess up.Â Â Tongue

Aaron · **12-15-2014, 03:58 PM**

Aarons goal is to be able to go toe to toe with Odin in a one on one brawl.

We ALL know, and even Aaron himself knows he will never come close to Odins level in combat, but it's one of those goals where you can Never cap your ability and you strive to get as close to it as you can.

That in itself is a plot arc, that will never end and it allows me to always have something to do whether it be accomplishing besting a stronger person or extensive training against dangerous beasts out in the wild etc etc.

It always catches an eye too when Aaron mentions this goal around people.

Melody · **12-15-2014, 04:07 PM**

Thank you all for so much input!

I feel like the main point being made (having an over-arching goal) should have been blatantly obvious. Â Guess I was really over-thinking things.

Blush

You've all been a great help!

Melody · **12-15-2014, 04:10 PM**

(12-15-2014, 03:18 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: side note: I STILL NEED TO FIND YOU IN-GAME! WHEN ARE YOU ON FOR STALK-....I mean friendship?

AH! NOT ANOTHER STALK-...friend?

Tongue

I'm on usually by 8pm EST until some ungodly hour of the night. Â Will look you up tonight!

Gegenji · **12-15-2014, 04:17 PM**

(12-15-2014, 04:07 PM)Melody Wrote: Thank you all for so much input!

I feel like the main point being made (having an over-arching goal) should have been blatantly obvious. Â Guess I was really over-thinking things.

You've all been a great help!

Sometimes in thinking about all the details, you miss the more obvious things. I know I've done it a few times myself. Best of luck in your RP adventures, and I hope Melody reaches whatever goal you set for her!

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **12-15-2014, 05:27 PM**

(12-15-2014, 04:10 PM)Melody Wrote:
(12-15-2014, 03:18 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: side note: I STILL NEED TO FIND YOU IN-GAME! WHEN ARE YOU ON FOR STALK-....I mean friendship?

AH! NOT ANOTHER STALK-...friend?

I'm on usually by 8pm EST until some ungodly hour of the night. Â Will look you up tonight!

That I can work with (possibly). Today is packed, but now I know when to do my searching XD

Ilwe'ran · **12-15-2014, 11:46 PM**

(12-15-2014, 02:58 PM)Melody Wrote: My question (or questions) to the community is, how do you guys come up with plot lines for your own characters? Where do you start? Â Do you have any strategies? Are your characters built with a ready-to-go story idea?

I want to start coming up with things to do with Melody, but I'm having a very hard time figuring out where to start.

*sounds the noobie alarm*

Questions to ask to yourself :
Who is Melody ? Who is her family ?
Where does she come from ?
What is her past story ?
What is her work ? Why it is her work ?
What is dear to her ?
What could be her goal ?

Most of the base plots you will set for your character will be based on her past, and all those questions above. Then other plots will naturally follow, often a consequence of what already happened (and also because while you will RP your arc, you will naturaly have some more idea coming).

Something else you wanna take onto account : Who are the people you will RP with ? What is their goal ? Fear ? etc.

Once you have this, you should have some idea of what could or could not happen.

Example :
Z'retha Tia is a 23 yers old Miqo'te who has been banish 2 years from his Tribe because he killed one of the female for some personnal raison. Since then he's living in Ul'dah, taking some small mercenary jobs and sometimes stealing for living.
Since a few months Z'retha has some new friends :
- A Roe pirate named Plotria who gives Z'retha a few jobs which consist to make fraudulously enter in the town some illegal merchandise.
- Velera he doesn't know much about beside the fact that she heals the poor. What he knows is he begins to really love her more than liking her.
- Some Shaddy Lalafell who even hide his name. Z'retha doesn't really like him, but he's good at finding him some work.

Out of this, you can already imagine many plots :
- Someone from his Tribe will come claiming revenge.
- We will know more about the reason why he killed this female (hence why you can remain vague with his background).
- He can be caught for some of the job he made.
- Plotria could be a traitor which is trying to set a rebellion inside Ul'dah's walls. At the same time, Z'retha could be implicated.
- Velera could be a spy who will side with Z'retha.. Or not.. Who knows with spies ?
- Velera could be kidnapped by by the Lalafell and sold as a Courtisan. The goal would be to get her back with Plotria's help.

If Plotria, Velera and the Lalafell where some Player Character, you might want to adapt your plots with their own goals to support them or strike directly into their fear (I think I traumatise enough Nebbs with that =x) the goal is to maintain a group cohesion and some interest which will keep the group together.

Well that message might be a bit long, I hope it will help you a bit, feel free to ask any question here, in pm or in game.

PS : Those chars don't exist as far as I know, I just invented them for the solely purpose of this topic.

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