Advice/Help Does Plotting Ahead Kill Your Roleplay?

[Jewel]

Hey RPN!

I've been thinking lately about all of the enthusiastic plotting I've done with past partners which never came to fruition. I feel very often that a potential writing partner and I will hit it off great and lots of awesome ideas will be flowing between the two of us, ideas that we both seem super psyched about. And yet, often despite the initial bursting chemistry, these roleplays still fall off after only a couple weeks.

Maybe it's unrelated, but I worry that planning everything out in advance takes away a bit of the fun of the adventure and negatively affects the longevity of a roleplay. With everything plotted out, everything our characters will be doing for the next 100 scenes, what's left to discover? Does anyone else feel this way?

I feel like of all of the roleplays I've had that lasted the longest, it was the ones without a discussed intentional direction that lasted the longest. Perhaps it could be because the plots in these instances developed more organically? Or at least, in a way that kept current with the feelings of both writers?

Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

 

[Inno]

Hey RPN!

I've been thinking lately about all of the enthusiastic plotting I've done with past partners which never came to fruition. I feel very often that a potential writing partner and I will hit it off great and lots of awesome ideas will be flowing between the two of us, ideas that we both seem super psyched about. And yet, often despite the initial bursting chemistry, these roleplays still fall off after only a couple weeks.

Maybe it's unrelated, but I worry that planning everything out in advance takes away a bit of the fun of the adventure and negatively affects the longevity of a roleplay. With everything plotted out, everything our characters will be doing for the next 100 scenes, what's left to discover? Does anyone else feel this way?

I feel like of all of the roleplays I've had that lasted the longest, it was the ones I without a discussed intentional direction that lasted the longest. Perhaps it could be because the plots in these instances developed more organically? Or at least, in a way that kept current with the feelings of both writers?

Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

Whenever you plot out everything that you want/plan to happen, it leaves no room to actually write out the roleplay. You've psyched yourself up in the planning stage that at the point of writing you don't want to do it anymore.

That's how I felt in my earlier years of roleplay. Partners and I would plot out scenes, dialogue, things we wanted to happen then get stuck later on. Now, I enjoy not too much planning. Take an idea, have a good start-something basic, and let everything develop on its own.

It's fun not knowing how my partner will respond and challenging for me to respond to something unexpected. This is also a way for me to not feel the pressure of unnecessary plotting only for things to fall apart.

 

[Syntra]

Eh, that really depends.

I have had a lot of success with improvisation, but there were also instances where improvisation was exactly what killed an rp. Mostly, it was about my partners not knowing how to proceed, me doing too much to offset that, and then catching the good ol' burnout. I think you really need a specific type of person for a hands-off approach to work (and you also need to be a specific type of person).

I have been plotting ahead more recently and it genuinely feels better, tbh. Very often, it's not about what happens, but how to get there, and building up to it together with foreshadowing etc. can be very rewarding. But, again, it depends on what you want from an rp. If it's a coherent story with fleshed out arcs/NPCs, then I don't think planning detracts from the experience.

That said, if you're worried about plans no longer fitting a partner's vision, that doesn't necessarily have to be a big obstacle. Plans can change as well, the unhappy party just needs to communicate their discontent. Tbh that's kind of the crux of this; you need to say in no uncertain terms what you want/expect re: planning, and both parties need to be comfortable with it.

 

[Syntra]

Whenever you plot out everything that you want/plan to happen, it leaves no room to actually write out the roleplay. You've psyched yourself up in the planning stage that at the point of writing you don't want to do it anymore.

That's how I felt in my earlier years of roleplay. Partners and I would plot out scenes, dialogue, things we wanted to happen then get stuck later on. Now, I enjoy not too much planning. Take an idea, have a good start-something basic, and let everything develop on its own.

It's fun not knowing how my partner will respond and challenging for me to respond to something unexpected. This is also a way for me to not feel the pressure of unnecessary plotting only for things to fall apart.

Oh, planning out dialogue as well definitely feels like too much planning, haha. For myself, I like to know where we are heading in broad strokes, but that doesn't mean something unexpected cannot happen along the way. After all, not all interactions can - or should - be foreseen. So, balance?

 

[Inno]

Oh, planning out dialogue as well definitely feels like too much planning, haha. For myself, I like to know where we are heading in broad strokes, but that doesn't mean something unexpected cannot happen along the way. After all, not all interactions can - or should - be foreseen. So, balance?

Just utter and complete cringe now that I'm thinking about it. Luckily those are many years long gone! But yeah, we would put in what we wanted our characters to say....good grief...so disgusting.

There's nothing like expecting the unexpected especially when it comes to dialogue and other parts of the roleplay.

 

[GojiBean]

Over more than 20 years of role-playing, I've never been able to attribute planning ahead to the death of an RP.

The single most common reason is people leaving due to school, work, or any other life circumstances or choices that draw them away from the RP.

The second biggest reason is that the excitement overdrives expectations. So when an RP doesn't move as fast as individuals feel their creativity is flowing, they lose interest. It's natural, unfortunately. It's like a rush of adrenaline. It's around for a short while during something exciting, then it's gone because our bodies acclimate to the surprise and everything settles.

However... What planning ahead does is set expectations. And it's up to you to live up to them. So, while planning ahead does not directly affect the RP, it can indirectly lead to other issues. So, if your RP doesn't set the proper expectations, you should expect people to drop off within the honeymoon phase (the first month or so of the RP's life).

So manage your expectations appropriately when you bring others into the RP such as the expected posting speed and what your overall vision is for the RP's future in the short term more so than the long term, and your RP's should be just fine.

Cheers!

 

[Idea]

Not really, not unless planning isn’t up the alley for for one of you, but… We’ll if you don’t like panning why are you planning, I guess would be the question then.

However assuming you do like planning ahead and having stuff set up beforehand does fit your writing styles, then planning would help a roleplay work out, not the other way around. Most people do not as far as I can tell, like to plan though. The advantages that planning gives you are not on the immediate gratification as you write, and most people seek that gratification more than any other aspect, the enjoyment they seek out of writing is the one of writing in that moment. By contrast I myself can still enjoy myself as I write of course but I'm mainly looking at enjoying the finished product that I made. Like someone who happily decorates a table and seeing how it all comes together, without really pondering about how they are going to have to take it all off right after cause they no longer have room for food, versus someone who evaluates the space and makes a more constrained design, carefully adjusting things along the way to make sure they can eat with the decorations around for ambience. Furthermore, I enjoy and think about things like the structure of posts, set up and foreshadowing integrating the showing of characters and worldbuilding, etc... It's long term thinking versus short term thinking, applied to enjoyment. It's the side of roleplay that is making a narrative, as opposed to the one that is in a sense living through a character. They are two approaches, two ways to enjoy the hobby, but ultimately the important point I want to underline is that they are in fact distinct. Planning is helpful if you're willing to commit to what planning entails, both advantages it brings and compromises it requires. Planning is not helpful if you don't like what planning entails. On my part, the first thing I do before making any post is map it out, and then I flesh out around that initial skeleton of the post. It helps keep organized, know where I’m going and run less into walls trying to come up with stuff, not to mention being good to set up the content of the post and across posts. To me structure helps, and a major part of my objective is being to look back proudly at what I've made. I'm sure the way I roleplay would be very different if I found it boring to spend time thinking about how to best frame the post's wording into the character's mindset, how to set up potential plot hooks and foreshadowing or try to order things in the most effective way.

One thing that bears mentioning as well though, is that like with anything there is such a thing as excessive time spent on the planning phase, but this is something that will depend on person to person. A good rule of thumb is to work out the main details of the roleplay within a few days at most, enough to be able to at least start (not counting the making of character sheets here). Usually from my experience if it takes longer than this, either one of the players is absent before you even actually began or both players are dragging their feet with the planning. Now this at times isn't bad if the two people are excited about what they are planning and having fun with it, but more often than not is a sign of disinterest or poor time management.

Oh and one more thing, naturally planning should always remain somewhat flexible. After all, you never know what thoughts you might have in the future when it comes time to write that future stuff.

 

[Inferno111]

But new to the site but I'd like to add my two cents to the pile here. I've been RPing for a good while, since middle school and constantly improving. Starting out, ros we're usually impulsive. 'wouldnt be cool if' kinds of ideas that were way out there and didn't have much though put into them.

Nowadays, when searching for rps, I'm try to make a story. Planning things out come natural as in the past people didn't really seem to have any idea of what to do or just wanting that quick fix. So planning has become essential. Some people seem to be put off by it, I can understand but for me, at least, it's needed. Usually I only plan major events, the journey to them is all left in the air. I might want certain events to occur but the rp ain't just about me so of course I want to hear my partners side or ideas.

In short, I don't believe they can be bad. It's all depends on the end.

 

[Genii]

Hey RPN!

I've been thinking lately about all of the enthusiastic plotting I've done with past partners which never came to fruition. I feel very often that a potential writing partner and I will hit it off great and lots of awesome ideas will be flowing between the two of us, ideas that we both seem super psyched about. And yet, often despite the initial bursting chemistry, these roleplays still fall off after only a couple weeks.

Maybe it's unrelated, but I worry that planning everything out in advance takes away a bit of the fun of the adventure and negatively affects the longevity of a roleplay. With everything plotted out, everything our characters will be doing for the next 100 scenes, what's left to discover? Does anyone else feel this way?

I feel like of all of the roleplays I've had that lasted the longest, it was the ones without a discussed intentional direction that lasted the longest. Perhaps it could be because the plots in these instances developed more organically? Or at least, in a way that kept current with the feelings of both writers?

Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

Perhaps it’s a kind of burn-out?

A lot of the RP’s I’ve been a part of had a starting point, but we just worked on the story and events as we went. Pantster style I guess.

 

[Myu]

I don't like planning too far ahead primarily because I'll wind up with situations where even though I planned to do one thing, something else makes more sense in the moment. If I stick to my original idea out of a misguided sense of obligation, it comes out hollow. IMO, the most magical RP moments are the organic moments you never planned for but that make perfect sense in context, that build on previous events, character details, or even little throwaway details.

In chat RP, I used to think I needed to have things planned out beforehand and it would make me anxious when something came up that I hadn't planned any details for yet, or if I was worried that I wouldn't pull it off as well as I'd planned it. So planning too much can also create pressure if someone has anxiety issues. Reading about improv helped me get past this.

But of course you need to start with shared expectations for the RP. So like...a fuzzy plan that you expect to evolve along the way?

 

[Waterbelon]

I've seen a lot of cases where too much plotting stops roleplay in its tracks.

I guess if I wanted to describe it there's two kinds of plotting?

Plotting for the past, where you hash out char backstories and the setting of the rp, is pretty much fine.

Plotting for the future is where it's easier to get bogged down - how certain characters interact, what x character plans to do to y character. In the end, future-oriented plotting is nice but it's less fun to discuss "How would x character react to y character doing z," and much more fun to make a post of Y character doing Z, then actually see how Z reacts through roleplay.

It's also possible to get bogged down with past-oriented plotting, but idk, some people find it fun to hash out worldbuilding for weeks or months before actually starting threads. I used to, but it's not that fun anymore, and by that point it seems more like a worldbuilding project and less like a roleplay. Which isn't a bad thing - worldbuilding projects can be fun and cool. But if you're looking for a roleplay, it can be a bummer.

Ultimately it really is up to communication - roleplay creators can say whether they want their rps to be plotting-centric or more improv-heavy, and roleplayers can ask what their partners are more comfy with.

 

[SophiaWilliams677]

Isn’t this literally the job of a DM in dnd? To adapt a story for a players needs.

 

[Inferno111]

Isn’t this literally the job of a DM in dnd? To adapt a story for a players needs.

Not everyone is going to want to DM an RP.

 

[Waterbelon]

Isn’t this literally the job of a DM in dnd? To adapt a story for a players needs.

Yeah, some roleplays have a DM, some have everyone contributing to the plot. Some of the best threads I've written are the former, where everyone's helping push the story forward.

I also wanna add that sometimes OOC micro-plotting is very helpful! Like if it's your turn to post and you want a bit of extra detail from the environment or the NPC you're dealing with, you can just chat your partner(s) OOC to ask. It's useful for situations where I'm stumped on how to write my response, so prompts from fellow players really help. For example, the last post writes a sea beast suddenly crashing into our pirate ship. When it's my turn, I can ask the group if they're up for a pages-long kaiju fight or if they want the sea beast encounter to be a short one - and I write my post accordingly.

 

[SophiaWilliams677]

Not everyone is going to want to DM an RP.

That is true. Pretty weak point I made.

 

[SophiaWilliams677]

Yeah, some roleplays have a DM, some have everyone contributing to the plot. Some of the best threads I've written are the former, where everyone's helping push the story forward.

I also wanna add that sometimes OOC micro-plotting is very helpful! Like if it's your turn to post and you want a bit of extra detail from the environment or the NPC you're dealing with, you can just chat your partner(s) OOC to ask. It's useful for situations where I'm stumped on how to write my response, so prompts from fellow players really help. For example, the last post writes a sea beast suddenly crashing into our pirate ship. When it's my turn, I can ask the group if they're up for a pages-long kaiju fight or if they want the sea beast encounter to be a short one - and I write my post accordingly.

Ehhhh, this is why I prefer 1x1 rp’s. I can’t handle trying to contribute to a group without thinking that someone is better than me.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Putting my two cents based off what experience I've gotten off of this site and other places I've been in *coughcoughFeralfrontcough*

Plotting every little detail of an RP out can be like reading the Synopsis of a movie before watching it; it can either enhance your experience through anticipation of the event happening and not knowing how exactly it will go down, but 90% of the time it'll just kill your muse entirely because you already know what's going to happen.

I always make it a personal policy to make the plotting as vague as humanly possible whenever I'm trying an RP; only have the big story beats and leave everything else to happen organically between myself and my partner(s). Whenever I do OOC discussion/plotting with a partner, I keep it strictly to general worldbuilding, character creation, or addendums if something about the RP's setting or characters aren't understood

 

[halcyon_tales]

Definitely depends on you and your partner, I think! I have spontaneous bursts and also sections of roleplay that are planned out pretty intensely, and then obviously posts in-between. I find making a super rough outline of an arc can help with flow, though I don't give it a second thought if we end up not getting to all of it / skipping out on some of it.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

I'm not one for 1x1 rp's at all, prefer group rp's and I find that planning is vital, however it should be in the way of being a D&D Session, be ready for at least one person that will try and jump the train off the tracks, or your players missing so and so hints and clues, thus bypassing your planning. A totally plotted out course is to put it mildly not fun for the players and will end up having people screwing off away from the RP inside of two weeks to two months. If you have to railroad hard and hit all of the stops along the way you are going to be in for a bad time.

On the flip side an RP *must* have story arcs or some sort of general objective, a principle bad guy or source of conflict. But this path should be flexible enough so that you can still conduct the train to the station, even if it detours and goes off a cliff or into a swamp. You as the GM need some form of plan as while railroading tends to not work well, pure sandbox does not either. Well just my takes and experiences over the years.

 

[Edric Blight]

Short answer is: it definitely depends.

 

[Battlemaid]

Its often a hit and miss afair in my experience. Its very dependent on you and your rp partner(s) at the time as well as the nature of the specific rp.
If its entirely freeform it can frustrate those who seek structure and potentially stall progress due to tangents constantly cropping up. But vice versa, those who prefer a chance to flex their creative muscles can feel stifled if the framework is too water tight to allow any kind of non pigeon-holed character develoment.

Its like the difference between an open world multi ending video game and one on rails where any choices you make mean nothing as the destination will always be the same.


I find the best thing to do is talk with rp partner's before about what they want in the rp. Then do some framework planning but leave the fleshing out for the rp itself.

In my personal preference for example; Locations, general setting or whatever needs to be pre-established can be, so that you're all on the same page at the start. Things like personalities, character relations, interactions and moment to moment events are best left freeform.

It allows natural progression towards intended goals (like the isekai classic "defeat the demon king") but allows for off the cuff things like unrequitted love between party members, or allowing an unexpected rivalry to form between characters who are supposed to work together for the sake of the plot. They can still do so and progress the plot as intended, but the bickering and oneupmanship could make for great comedy or some deep reconciliation arcs later on.

Thinking of ways to dynamically react to my rp partner's throwing a sudden curveball while maintaining character is something i love as an rp'er myself.

You just need to try to strike the right balance for your partner(s)

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Planning or improvising I think just depends on the players involved. There are going to be two camps just as there are in novel writing. As long as a person is upfront about their preference, they should be able to find players with a similar mindset.

Personally, I think GojiBean got the closest to the truth about roleplay death. Real life gets in the way and excitement dies off. It's not possible to control for the former. Sometimes hyping about the roleplay as it goes can help with the latter but it might not be a guarantee.

There is also the fact that writing with new people means that there is a period of discovering chemistry. I feel like planning chemistry does not necessarily equate to writing chemistry. One person might find out that they do not like the way the other ends their posts or describes the scene, or they aren't as big on the other's character as they thought they would be, or something doesn't go quite the way they envisioned and it makes them less interested. None of this is necessarily bad. Everyone has preferences that can't always be revealed upfront and it's just something we kinda have to accept. A willingness to communicate and compromise can help, though - more so for the person taking issue.

And, well, planning and musing over an idea is much easier than writing it, especially if you're dealing with longer posts. There are going to be people who may fizzle out when it comes to the actual implementation because of the effort/stresses involved, but I think it kinda ties into excitement dying out.

 

[pavlikovsky]

honestly, it depends on who my partner is! i feel like you do have to have some sort of blueprint and goal to work toward, but sometimes if it’s too laid out then it becomes boring and repetitive. but it also depends on how into the plot you are, and that comes back to your partner feeling the same.

 

[TaperedNightjar]

I feel like it can sometimes, but not always. I have had folks in my roleplays plot things out ooc and then hold fast to those plots and deny the rp of it’s natural flow. Or they would refuse an interaction with another writer because it “didn’t go along with” or “got in the way of” their plots.

 

[Jules8008]

For me, no. Most of the time plotting doesn't kill any of my RPs.