How to Write Plots

I'd like to take a minute, as you sit right there, and discuss something from another angle. This post is all for the Storytellers, people wanting to be Storytellers, and those that might find themselves in the position in the future. I've come to realize that there's no real standards or qualifications to being in the position, other than having players that look to you to run the setting and to adjudicate rules. In some games, this leads to poorly constructed plots, or Storytellers that simply come up with something on the drive to the game site.

What is a Plot?

The two most relevant definitions of a "plot" are; "the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story" or "to draw a plan or map of".

A plot is more than just setting material, it is a number of scenes which describe at least one conflict. Without conflict, you simply have a series of events which unfold, regardless of the involvement from the PC's. Conflict doesn't always need to be straight up violence, it could be a contest of valuable resources, or internalized drama.

Purpose

Each plot should have a purpose. Never throw a monster at the PC's simply because you saw it in a movie and thought it would be cool. Everything must have a point of origin, and a purpose for existing. What are you attempting to say with this plot? Is it to give emphasis to the loss of Humanity, or to showcase the ongoing strife between gangs? Are you trying to make players pay attention to an important aspect of the venue? Ask yourself what exactly the purpose of a plot is before developing it.

Layout

To get a fairly good idea on how a plot should be laid out, check out the Storytelling Adventure System format, available free at the following link

In my own plots, I deviate very slightly from the provided format, however, such is to eliminate sections which are irrelevant, contain information that duplicates things already known, or things that are subject to change depending upon the local venue. I do so only after asking myself "Can another member of the Storyteller run this competently without this information, or is it imperative that it is included?"

Scenes

Plots should have a semi-detailed listing of scenes, with a short description of location or actions, and even possible outcomes. All relevant information should be included in the plot write-up, including information that can be gleaned from Investigation draws, or Auspex: Spirit's Touch. If a NPC is involved, their knowledge of a relevant topic should be summarized as well.

A healthy plot has a number of scenes which may occur. These lead from the introductory scene, where a piece of information is found by a PC, or an event happens, to the final climax and conclusion. The scenes may have time frames involved, or they may progress depending upon the interaction with the PC's, or it could have a mixture of both.

The first scene should be designed to hook your audience, to engage your PC's. If none of your players have designed characters to be involved in mortal city politics, a lengthy political scandal that rocks the city government isn't really a plot that should be written about. You can touch upon it in news articles that you come out with during downtime, and if a player becomes interested, further develop the potential plot. Write for your audience by referring to their sheets and backgrounds to determine what would interest them.

Plots that have PC involvement should progress just fast enough to keep players interested, but not too fast to be unbelievable. Judging that is difficult to do, however, a good idea is to run no more than two scenes of a particular plot each evening. Remember, always leave them wanting more.

Mechanics

When writing a plot, you should include at least a synopsis of all relevant mechanics that are not immediately discernible. This includes any modifications due to house rules or lingering effects. The stats for every 'named' NPC should be provided, if they are important to the plot, even if the extent of such is just a list of resistance traits and pools.

If your antagonists have Disciplines, you should provide a short synopsis as well as their calculated pool for such. These should include any errata from house rules. If a Merit or other stat has information that is pertinent to how a scene occurs, it too should be referenced.

All the relevant pools for non-Discipline mechanics should be included as well. For example, if the intention of the scene is combat, then the antagonist's Initiative, Defense, and pools for most common attack form should be included. This speeds up combat and ensures that you are using the correct numbers when things get heated.

A brief synopsis of relevant Anger/Fear Frenzy rules should also be included, especially if combat is the likely outcome of a scene.

Balancing Against Your Player Characters

When I design a plot, I take the average amount of XP on the sheets of the 'target audience', and build the main antagonists with that much XP each. Secondary NPC's only get as much XP as someone that is brand new to the game.

Determining stats, I try to make sure that the NPC doesn't have a higher pool than anyone in the venue, regardless of their role. This is because the game is about the PC's, and NPC's are 'supporting cast'. Do not outshine the PC's, the story is not about how you're capable of pulling out uber NPC's.

NPC's should never be members of the local city court, unless they are filler that are going to pull a "Kowalski". The term refers to a NPC that is only around long enough (a session or three) to make the players used to them, and then the "Kowalski" disappears or perishes for the sake of plot.

The Rule of Three

There are always times when your players simply cannot see the path that you want them to take in order to resolve the plot. Thus, institute the 'Rule of Three', wherein after three honest attempts to solve something, and your players are getting frustrated, the next try works, regardless of if it was what you had originally planned or not. There's nothing worse than having players simply give up on a plot or ignore it because they are incapable of putting the pieces together.

Quick players may figure out the 'Rule of Three' fairly quickly, thus you may wish to change the number of attempts. Also, make sure that such attempts are actually honest and well thought out, not something they are simply throwing at you in hopes that you'll give in and let them have a win.

Darkness

While all plots should have a conclusion, not all plots should have a defined 'win'. The setting is supposed to be grim. The plot should have a chance of the players losing, not necessarily PC death, but loss should be felt.

Stripping Merit dots, from dead Retainers, burnt Havens, Allies that no longer want to associate, are a very valid method of loss. However, these shouldn't be taken without a reason. Make every loss the result of a PC's actions. Never begin a plot with removing something permanently.

Artwork

Lastly, not really overly important, however, artwork in your plot goes the distance. Even if you have to reuse artwork from White Wolf books, they can often make the difference when you cannot accurately describe something. "A Picture Paints a Thousand Words".

If your plot is going to be spread to the masses, artwork does wonders to grab attention.

Props are also a wonderful idea to hand to players, to give them something tangible to work with... however, that is a post for another time.