As someone who loves to plan out plots ahead of time, I suppose I should weigh in here. I'll try to keep it short, but I may not succeed.
First, scenes are, as the others have said, just ways that we describe an interaction between characters, like chapters in your character's story. You can imagine characters as actors in a play but it's an impromptu play, with no script. You decide the setting and the characters and maybe a prompt or topic and then just let things happen. But the phrase "all the world's a stage"? It totally applies to RP.
Now, when it comes to designing plots, there are different kinds. Let me give you a few examples.
1. A Group event. A festival. A birthday party. A Story Circle. These things are often scripted in that a group organizes them. They can be more or less structured, but there's definitely some OOC behind the scenes planning to make it work. Once the event starts, however, the characters that come will make it unique. Think of it like a Murder Mystery Dinner that you might host at your house. You set up the game, invite the attendees, design the rules, even prepare the meal. But every person brings their own flare to the event and in the end you never know quite how it will turn out.
2. A Group Plot. A lot of times, groups such as Free Companies and Linkshells may organize plots. This also can require a fair bit of OOC planning, but you should think of it as more of a framework. You build the framework of the house, then let everyone else paint the walls. Let me give you an example. I spoke with Teardrop in an earlier thread in which she said her character sometimes works with large businesses on behalf of her employer. One of my characters is a member of a merchant LS, so I suggested to her that we arrange a plot where her character comes to 'investigate' our merchant company for some reason. No further discussion has yet happened, but if something like that were to happen, we'd probably want to plan out a few landmark mileposts for the plot to follow (if any), and if there is going to be a conflict, I prefer to know the result of the conflict - it minimizes the temptation to godmod. If this were an RP between two large groups (say, if Teardrop and I both were members of large LS's and everyone was encouraged to participate in the interaction between them), then we might not share all of our OOC plans ahead of time. But those plans would be there. It drives the plot.
3. Character Development Plot. Personally, this is my favorite type of plot. I'm a writer at my core, and I believe 100% that whatever doesn't kill (or maim) my character will make her stronger. So, if I don't have a plot going to help my character grow, I feel listless. That said, these plots can have a variable amount of structure depending. Typically, if it is a plot based on interactions between characters, I usually minimize the structure and let the characters be free to interact naturally, so long as I have an open line of communciation with the other player or players. I've found that OOC communication is important in instilling trust in other players. For example:
Okay. I babbled. Sorry! Did that answer any of your questions?
First, scenes are, as the others have said, just ways that we describe an interaction between characters, like chapters in your character's story. You can imagine characters as actors in a play but it's an impromptu play, with no script. You decide the setting and the characters and maybe a prompt or topic and then just let things happen. But the phrase "all the world's a stage"? It totally applies to RP.
Now, when it comes to designing plots, there are different kinds. Let me give you a few examples.
1. A Group event. A festival. A birthday party. A Story Circle. These things are often scripted in that a group organizes them. They can be more or less structured, but there's definitely some OOC behind the scenes planning to make it work. Once the event starts, however, the characters that come will make it unique. Think of it like a Murder Mystery Dinner that you might host at your house. You set up the game, invite the attendees, design the rules, even prepare the meal. But every person brings their own flare to the event and in the end you never know quite how it will turn out.
2. A Group Plot. A lot of times, groups such as Free Companies and Linkshells may organize plots. This also can require a fair bit of OOC planning, but you should think of it as more of a framework. You build the framework of the house, then let everyone else paint the walls. Let me give you an example. I spoke with Teardrop in an earlier thread in which she said her character sometimes works with large businesses on behalf of her employer. One of my characters is a member of a merchant LS, so I suggested to her that we arrange a plot where her character comes to 'investigate' our merchant company for some reason. No further discussion has yet happened, but if something like that were to happen, we'd probably want to plan out a few landmark mileposts for the plot to follow (if any), and if there is going to be a conflict, I prefer to know the result of the conflict - it minimizes the temptation to godmod. If this were an RP between two large groups (say, if Teardrop and I both were members of large LS's and everyone was encouraged to participate in the interaction between them), then we might not share all of our OOC plans ahead of time. But those plans would be there. It drives the plot.
3. Character Development Plot. Personally, this is my favorite type of plot. I'm a writer at my core, and I believe 100% that whatever doesn't kill (or maim) my character will make her stronger. So, if I don't have a plot going to help my character grow, I feel listless. That said, these plots can have a variable amount of structure depending. Typically, if it is a plot based on interactions between characters, I usually minimize the structure and let the characters be free to interact naturally, so long as I have an open line of communciation with the other player or players. I've found that OOC communication is important in instilling trust in other players. For example:
- If there is a physical altercation, I will almost always ask before doing something. Yes, I could just say "Runa would give Josette a pat on the shoulder if Josette allows it," or and some people do that. But I prefer to communicate with Josette's player instead, so that I understand what Josette would allow Runa to do, and explaining what Runa has in mind. This way, Josette's player a) knows what my intentions are, b) is assured that I have no intention of powerplaying against her character, and c) is knows that she can ask me to tweak a post if I do something she doesn't like. Meanwhile we both have the freedom to post in a way that the scene reads more smoothly.
- In a conversation, my characters can often be abrasive, sarcastic and generally smart asses. I like to toss a quick OOC comment of appology every once in a while so the players are reassured that I am not as mean as my character is. I find it opens them up and gives them the freedom to RP without worrying that I am attacking them OOCly. I also let them know that any reaction on their part is perfectly acceptable and I will not take it personally. When I am interacting with the player OOCly, there is less of a risk that we will confuse the line betwen IC and OOC.
- When a possible plot has arisen ICly, I will often take the time to chat with the other player (or players) OOCly. If it is a relationship, for example, I want to make sure that it's okay with them and get a feel for where they see it going. There's nothing as frustrating as having two people with different outcomes in mind for the same event. That said, I don't write it all down in stone or anything. It's usually enough to have an idea as to where our characters will end up and then let them get there on their own.
Okay. I babbled. Sorry! Did that answer any of your questions?
![[Image: yrs3Rwh.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yrs3Rwh.png)
