Advice/Help Character Driven or Story Driven?

[Topless]

Hewwo, I'm thinking of making an RP. I've got a lot experience participating in various RPs and I think I want to put these experiences to good use. But I want to know which can drive the RP. Will it be the characters (more emphasis on character development)? Or the story (more about making the story interesting and impactful)? Thoughty thoughts pweash? UwU

 

[Wandering Fae]

That's a tough one I kind of try to do both buts if I had to say probably character-driven for me.

 

[Dartwind]

I think it can depend! It's important to have a good story to keep people interested, but also focus on characters, too. Worldbuilding and figuring out a premise for both characters and setting beforehand is really vital to an RP, though. With good stories, I've seen good character development follow, and vice versa - the characters can drive the story, or the story can drive the characters, but you need a good premise and know what you are doing first-hand!

 

[Nightwisher]

It honestly all depends on the type of RP you want to run.

RPs that have a set storyline and lore to follow depend a lot on world building for the characters to even have development in. If you have a half baked idea on a setting, or a plot line, then the characters shoulder all the weight of the role play and they tend to be stifled.

RPs that are meant to have a loose or flexible story line are great for character development because roleplayers get more or less free reign over what their stories will be but then you run into the issue of everyone wanting to do their one things and ideas clashing especially if you want a linear plot. That kind of stuff is good for smaller groups or people who have a good history together.

It's really a balancing act of the two. You need to have a set enough story line for people to follow along with and also enough roleplay freedom that people don't feel like their actions hold no weight.

In the end, though, character development -- in my experience -- has been the best way to go to create positive and memorable character interactions. Even if the interactions were hostile between the characters, or something along those lines. With the freedom to develop a character both inside and outside of a linear story line, people have the ability to really engage in a lot of different things.

Overall, some of the most fun I've ever had in role plays have been the "here is a really in depth description of the setting, now it's basically a free for all." And then it's up to the role players to play their characters in mind of the setting and keeping to the guidelines the description sets up with the group working together to build the story from their interactions and the preexisting known lore/history/story the setting describes.

 

[Psyche]

Varries on the type of roleplay in my opinion, if it's something such as a group of heroes are trying to slay a mythical beast, or solve some other world-ending problem. I'd say it would be more story-driven (although, any decent story should also have a good amount of character development, so don't lean too hard on the story and forget the other parts).

Or if it's something such as slice of life, two characters trying to rekindle a flame, or something among those lines it would focus more on the characters themselves.

But both stories should have a bit of both, you don't want a story to grow stale, even if it is more of a slice of life one, and you want to throw in some plot/story, while in the "World-Ending" ones, you can't just completely ignore the characters, and make it constantly about bloodshed, and focus fully on the story, and nothing on the characters. Since feel like both would get old pretty quick, but regardless there has to be a mix. Is the mix balanced? Probably not, but which way it leans depends on the story

And before anyone says, yes, there are definitely exceptions and what I said isn't always true, but noticed they have a high correlations with each other

 

[SamanthaCloud]

Check this video out! She talks about just that. That it needs to be a balance. You're welcome! The YouTuber is amazing. She has many more videos about writing.

 

[natsukashii]

Both come with their pros and cons. Of course Character-driven is great because the players feel more included and feel like they have a voice in the overall happenings of the roleplay/story. But on the other end of the spectrum, because it is character-driven, players who don't interact, communicate, and talk with each other, they will be the ones left out. As a result, their characters will also be left out of plotting.

For story-driven, this is a bit of a double-edged sword because, yeah the GM comes up with plot threads for players to tug at, but if these plot treads don't jive with them or there's some OOC drama that happened because of it (sadly it does happen), that'll cause some strife within the player base and it'll likely stress out the GM, too (in addition to the general stress of being the GM).

Finding that sweet spot between character-driven that allows players to communicate and the GM using some concept or pre-established storyline to push the roleplay forward is the best way to go imo.

 

[Franklin]

It depends on what audience you are writing for. I would certainly say that they are not completely balanced depending on what situation you are looking at. I'm going to say character trumps plot line.
My reasons being, a person always starts with a character before they come up with a story. You can say, you thought of it by a world, by an old story, but all of those worlds are effected by the people that live in them. The people and characters are what influence the culture and politics. It is the human characters and personalities and choices that make the plot.

You find this a lot in novel building. After you have solid characters. Then you make a road map. A horrible one at that because a good plot line never has your characters succeed and almost anything. This is the road map of growth and adventure.

You can start an idea with a plot and a world. However, it's going to be hard to insert a character into them without knowing their driving passion first. Most worlds and plots are built around character challenges to enhance story experience.

 

[Franklin]

I will add. A story should never appease the character. I think this is where people get confused with plot or character driven. A plot should never be too easy on a character. It shouldn't be giving your character what they want all the time.

 

[Blemmigan]

I like this thread, but I'd also say that the world itself is an important third pillar alongside these two.

Though I'm almost definitely biased because I'm very much a world-driven writer, rather than plot- or character-driven.
...I think almost everyone naturally favours one of the three.

Which means that if you're role playing with just one other person and they're in the same category as you, you can probably get away with focusing on just the third that you enjoy, and only add to the other two when necessary. With more people, though, it's more important to flesh out all of them- same if you're writing a story that you want others to read. Otherwise it can very easily fall flat.

Should probably add that by "world" I don't just mean fictional worlds and the insane amount of background that can be put into them (even if... that's what I like). It can be something as simple as the infrastructure of a school or neighbourhood. The laws of the country the story takes place in. The season and weather. And the world needs to have limits just as much as the characters need to have flaws and the plot needs to have challenges. Even if it's something as simple as a rainstorm to change the plans for the day or inconvenience a character.

All of which means: if you're stuck for ideas, you've potentially got three ways of introducing something. "How can this character change their course?", "How can the intended plot go wrong?" and "How can the world be a barrier?".

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

The way I see it, story development also includes character development. Though the gm focuses more on developing the story, while the participants make and develop their characters. In my eyes, a gm should work on developing the story in a way that promotes character development. A gm should make sure people and their characters feel important to the story, and that can't happen without a bit of focus on the story.

So I think it really boils down to a good mixture of things.

 

[Squid]

The way I see it, story development also includes character development. Though the gm focuses more on developing the story, while the participants make and develop their characters. In my eyes, a gm should work on developing the story in a way that promotes character development. A gm should make sure people and their characters feel important to the story, and that can't happen without a bit of focus on the story.

So I think it really boils down to a good mixture of things.

Was going to say basically this. I think a story should be informed by its characters and vice versa. As someone who plays a lot of DnD, the most fun experiences are when one affects the other: Like when a character makes a big decision that changes the story, or when a story event changes a character and the way they look at things. A world that doesn't change with the characters and a character that doesn't change with the world around them are both pretty boring in my eyes.

 

[Gowi]

why not both

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

why not both

I didn't read every post, but that's basically what at least me and Squid said already. I think it's the way to go.