1.)  What’s the best way to get and keep everyone involved, so the plot doesn’t end up solely gravitating around one individual / group?
If you intend to take part in the stories (as the leader) unfortunately, there is no easy answer. If I have one fear when it comes to our FC's plots, it's just this. My first recommendation is having 1-2 people who are in on the plot, know the whole story and who are comfortable calling out issues (and you) if things seem out of place or they begin to focus too much on certain players/groups. Next, think of your character as a driving force ICly and OOCly. Get a good IC 'chain of command' and use it any and every chance you get.Â
When I have a plot or event planned, I think about Flynt initially as a driving force, he comes in, says "Oh snap ____ happened!" Then I shut up and see if that is enough to get people spinning. If someone is always quiet, I may use Flynt to 'drive' them into involvement. "Hey you, go check this for ____." I only really think about Flynt as someone who can interact with the plot once I know it's just him reacting to what everyone chose to do. "You guys did great!" or (and usually) "WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE."Â
As the DM/Lead /and/ a player, it is really easy for it to become centered around you, even if you try like hell not to. The best thing I can recommend is starting the fire, then backing away and just stoking it where you need to, send tells to officers with prompts or things they may know before hand, maybe that'll be enough to get things going and then bam! it's just rudder corrections.Â
TL;DR - Get people around you who will keep you in check, set up a chain of command and use the hell out of it ICly and OOCly to push all your peeps in the general direction you want the plot to go and put the success of the story over your personal interactions with it.
2.) Â What sort of pitfalls or common / easy mistakes would you guys warn against falling into?
Communication in FC chat amongst the group goes a VERY long way. If everyone is relatively comfortable with one another, it may already exist which is great. For us, we have a lot of asshole rude angry PASSIONATE characters with very different ideas on how to skin the proverbial cat. Over the course of a longer plot, disagreements and fights early on can drastically affect RP at the end, and using FC chat as an OOC place for everyone to kind of joke around about said tensions and feel comfortable helps bring everyone together wanting to see the /Free Company/ plot succeed versus their personal plot/goal.Â
3.) Â Conversely, what are the things that may not be obvious, but I should be doing anyway?
So we break up plots into "Seasons" that are eight weeks long and have Saturday "Episode" events. I have a write up over the direction the overall FC plot continues to drive in, but by chunking it out I think it makes it easier for the players to hop in and out of, and for the DMs to execute. Structuring things in chunks also makes people want to get involved from the get go, and gives them a guideline of what to expect roughly and something to ICly talk about if RL forces them to miss an episode.Â
Also, we created our own combat system for events/boss fights/enemy interactions. It works great for us and our needs, so consider developing your own OR using one of the many others have already made. I have seen a ton of great combat systems that I love, and can easily be used for your FC.Â
4.)  Any other tips, tricks, suggestions, warnings…?
Consistency, consistency, consistency. Set days/times for your RP sessions, put it on the FC boards, and then hold to those times the best you can, even if you can't make it pass it to others to run on their own. If you invest in your plot on a long enough timeline, others will too. My only warning is that when you do this well, you may walk away from some sessions realizing you didn't really RP at all. Having a few Co-DMs who can take care of the details and drive for you occasionally goes a long way in keeping from getting burnt out.Â
Apologies for the long rant, this is honestly just a great series of questions I wish I had asked when I started doing our FC plots. If you have any other questions or just want to spitball stuff, feel free to hit me up any time, plotting and DMing can be the Lord's work sometimesÂ
If you intend to take part in the stories (as the leader) unfortunately, there is no easy answer. If I have one fear when it comes to our FC's plots, it's just this. My first recommendation is having 1-2 people who are in on the plot, know the whole story and who are comfortable calling out issues (and you) if things seem out of place or they begin to focus too much on certain players/groups. Next, think of your character as a driving force ICly and OOCly. Get a good IC 'chain of command' and use it any and every chance you get.Â
When I have a plot or event planned, I think about Flynt initially as a driving force, he comes in, says "Oh snap ____ happened!" Then I shut up and see if that is enough to get people spinning. If someone is always quiet, I may use Flynt to 'drive' them into involvement. "Hey you, go check this for ____." I only really think about Flynt as someone who can interact with the plot once I know it's just him reacting to what everyone chose to do. "You guys did great!" or (and usually) "WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE."Â
As the DM/Lead /and/ a player, it is really easy for it to become centered around you, even if you try like hell not to. The best thing I can recommend is starting the fire, then backing away and just stoking it where you need to, send tells to officers with prompts or things they may know before hand, maybe that'll be enough to get things going and then bam! it's just rudder corrections.Â
TL;DR - Get people around you who will keep you in check, set up a chain of command and use the hell out of it ICly and OOCly to push all your peeps in the general direction you want the plot to go and put the success of the story over your personal interactions with it.
2.) Â What sort of pitfalls or common / easy mistakes would you guys warn against falling into?
Communication in FC chat amongst the group goes a VERY long way. If everyone is relatively comfortable with one another, it may already exist which is great. For us, we have a lot of asshole rude angry PASSIONATE characters with very different ideas on how to skin the proverbial cat. Over the course of a longer plot, disagreements and fights early on can drastically affect RP at the end, and using FC chat as an OOC place for everyone to kind of joke around about said tensions and feel comfortable helps bring everyone together wanting to see the /Free Company/ plot succeed versus their personal plot/goal.Â
3.) Â Conversely, what are the things that may not be obvious, but I should be doing anyway?
So we break up plots into "Seasons" that are eight weeks long and have Saturday "Episode" events. I have a write up over the direction the overall FC plot continues to drive in, but by chunking it out I think it makes it easier for the players to hop in and out of, and for the DMs to execute. Structuring things in chunks also makes people want to get involved from the get go, and gives them a guideline of what to expect roughly and something to ICly talk about if RL forces them to miss an episode.Â
Also, we created our own combat system for events/boss fights/enemy interactions. It works great for us and our needs, so consider developing your own OR using one of the many others have already made. I have seen a ton of great combat systems that I love, and can easily be used for your FC.Â
4.)  Any other tips, tricks, suggestions, warnings…?
Consistency, consistency, consistency. Set days/times for your RP sessions, put it on the FC boards, and then hold to those times the best you can, even if you can't make it pass it to others to run on their own. If you invest in your plot on a long enough timeline, others will too. My only warning is that when you do this well, you may walk away from some sessions realizing you didn't really RP at all. Having a few Co-DMs who can take care of the details and drive for you occasionally goes a long way in keeping from getting burnt out.Â
Apologies for the long rant, this is honestly just a great series of questions I wish I had asked when I started doing our FC plots. If you have any other questions or just want to spitball stuff, feel free to hit me up any time, plotting and DMing can be the Lord's work sometimesÂ
 Sylastair Wolfhart Wiki