For me, the trick in being an "Active RPer" is in determining the balance I want to strike between how much I want to run the plot and how much I want the plot to be about me.
During the series of events I just finished for the Case of the Ransacked Rug, the plot was technically "about" Verad, in that the theft at his office was the driving force behind it. But (and this may not be clear based on the story thread, which was a mutation of the plot brought about by RL concerns), Verad had very little involvement in the actual events I ran. Being incompetent, he had to rely on other people to investigate for him and report back. I was therefore present as an active RPer in the sense that I was driving the plot, providing NPCs, dice challenges, so forth, but not active in the sense that the plot wasn't actually about the character, but about what the players found. In that sense, the story was more like a tabletop game in which Verad was a convenient mouthpiece for myself as DM.
From what you're suggesting, it sounds like you want to be an active player in the sense that Hornet and her story are the central focus of the plot. There are a number of different ways to do this:
1. Run both Hornet and the NPCs and events of the plot yourself. This can sometimes be tricky because including other players means you'll need to strike a similar balance between Hornet's own ability to contribute to resolving the story and allowing other players a chance to shine. There are a number of ways to get around this, like arranging it so Hornet can't resolve the plot due to some complication or ethical dilemma, but others can, or by establishing that she is incapacitated by the plot in some way so that others must be the people to resolve it. This is a useful way to do it if you're comfortable with DMing, but it does mean there's a certain lack of surprise to the plot - you know most of what's happening - unless players do something really unexpected.
2. Collaborate! Have somebody else, a player you trust, run those shadows of the past for you. This puts you in the position of being a player just like everybody else, and puts your reactions to them on equal footing. On the other hand, this gives you less agency if the plot abruptly veers in a direction you don't like. Even players you trust can sometimes miss an important character detail or have a miscommunication about where the plot should go.
3. Make the plot about more than Hornet. Perhaps there's a larger threat that just happens to be related to her, or some bigger issue in which her personal matters are a complicating factor rather than the sole focus. This way you don't look as if the entire purpose of the plot is to spotlight Hornet, but you also risk that aspect of the plot being lost in the larger story.
Apart from that, you'll want to decide how you intend to run the story itself. Do you want to make it into a series of events in which people sign up to participate, or something that happens organically as people can and do get involved? As above, there are pros and cons to each. If you have a specific outcome in mind, then you'll want to make the plot very linear, with scenes having predetermined outcomes. Tabletop DMs will call this railroading, but there are players who are fine with railroading if the destination is Awesome Town, so this can still be a useful storytelling technique, especially in a more literary-minded group like online RPers, where we are used to the linear.
On the other hand, if you don't have a specific outcome in mind, then you will want to draft up a series of plans for the opposition, which you presume to be what happens if nobody interferes (and trust me, they will). Then draft up the NPCs and their personalities, and figure out how they would change their actions in response to player interference. This can lead the plot in very unusual directions, some of which you may not like, but will also help players in your plots feel like they have agency and control over where things go.
This is a big topic, and all of the above can be broken down into even more detail, but those are some of the big concerns. As far as being worried about being made into a special snowflake - eh, forget about it. Everybody has their moment of . . . snowflakiness? Flakishness? Flakesque? You get my point. What determines whether people are annoyed by a character being in the spotlight is execution much more than the mere act of taking center-stage.
So go for it and be active. I'm sure there's already a number of players who trust you and your writing abilities, so the worst that'll happen is you make some mistakes and learn how to be even better at being active in the future.
During the series of events I just finished for the Case of the Ransacked Rug, the plot was technically "about" Verad, in that the theft at his office was the driving force behind it. But (and this may not be clear based on the story thread, which was a mutation of the plot brought about by RL concerns), Verad had very little involvement in the actual events I ran. Being incompetent, he had to rely on other people to investigate for him and report back. I was therefore present as an active RPer in the sense that I was driving the plot, providing NPCs, dice challenges, so forth, but not active in the sense that the plot wasn't actually about the character, but about what the players found. In that sense, the story was more like a tabletop game in which Verad was a convenient mouthpiece for myself as DM.
From what you're suggesting, it sounds like you want to be an active player in the sense that Hornet and her story are the central focus of the plot. There are a number of different ways to do this:
1. Run both Hornet and the NPCs and events of the plot yourself. This can sometimes be tricky because including other players means you'll need to strike a similar balance between Hornet's own ability to contribute to resolving the story and allowing other players a chance to shine. There are a number of ways to get around this, like arranging it so Hornet can't resolve the plot due to some complication or ethical dilemma, but others can, or by establishing that she is incapacitated by the plot in some way so that others must be the people to resolve it. This is a useful way to do it if you're comfortable with DMing, but it does mean there's a certain lack of surprise to the plot - you know most of what's happening - unless players do something really unexpected.
2. Collaborate! Have somebody else, a player you trust, run those shadows of the past for you. This puts you in the position of being a player just like everybody else, and puts your reactions to them on equal footing. On the other hand, this gives you less agency if the plot abruptly veers in a direction you don't like. Even players you trust can sometimes miss an important character detail or have a miscommunication about where the plot should go.
3. Make the plot about more than Hornet. Perhaps there's a larger threat that just happens to be related to her, or some bigger issue in which her personal matters are a complicating factor rather than the sole focus. This way you don't look as if the entire purpose of the plot is to spotlight Hornet, but you also risk that aspect of the plot being lost in the larger story.
Apart from that, you'll want to decide how you intend to run the story itself. Do you want to make it into a series of events in which people sign up to participate, or something that happens organically as people can and do get involved? As above, there are pros and cons to each. If you have a specific outcome in mind, then you'll want to make the plot very linear, with scenes having predetermined outcomes. Tabletop DMs will call this railroading, but there are players who are fine with railroading if the destination is Awesome Town, so this can still be a useful storytelling technique, especially in a more literary-minded group like online RPers, where we are used to the linear.
On the other hand, if you don't have a specific outcome in mind, then you will want to draft up a series of plans for the opposition, which you presume to be what happens if nobody interferes (and trust me, they will). Then draft up the NPCs and their personalities, and figure out how they would change their actions in response to player interference. This can lead the plot in very unusual directions, some of which you may not like, but will also help players in your plots feel like they have agency and control over where things go.
This is a big topic, and all of the above can be broken down into even more detail, but those are some of the big concerns. As far as being worried about being made into a special snowflake - eh, forget about it. Everybody has their moment of . . . snowflakiness? Flakishness? Flakesque? You get my point. What determines whether people are annoyed by a character being in the spotlight is execution much more than the mere act of taking center-stage.
So go for it and be active. I'm sure there's already a number of players who trust you and your writing abilities, so the worst that'll happen is you make some mistakes and learn how to be even better at being active in the future.
Verad Bellveil's Profile | The Case of the Ransacked Rug | Verad's Fate Sheet
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine