Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #15 _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com CONTENTS: --> A Brief Word From Johnn --> Guest Article: Campaign Structure Part I by Peter Maranci --> Privacy Policy, Sub/Unsub & Contact Information --> Feel free to forward this issue to a friend who would --> enjoy it and find the information useful. Just hit your --> Forward button. Thanks! _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN Hello and welcome to all new subscribers. Your feedback is always appreciated and issue archives can be found at: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/archives.html A reader requested a topic a while ago and I would like to post some tips to help him in an upcoming issue. But it has me a little stumped. So I'm asking for your help, tips and advice. Here's his question: "I wanted to request a topic. I would like to know how you handle keeping a journal. Do you have any tips? I'm terrible at it, and yet I really treasure even the bits that I've managed to write down as they help remind me of the adventure years after I've played it. What techniques allow you to both keep a journal and play at the same time? I hate it when the journal interferes with the gameplay." Any help you can give would be fantastic! Email me directly at: mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com This week we have a super article by one of our readers, Peter Maranci. It's a longer article so I have divided it up into two parts with Part II coming next week. Submission guidelines are available now too. Your tips and articles are always welcome. mailto:submissions@roleplayingtips.com Enjoy. _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE PART I Written by Peter Maranci, Copyright 1996 mailto:pmaranci@sunspot.tiac.net http://www.tiac.net/users/maranci/rq.htm Fundamental to any roleplaying campaign is the conceptual structure which controls it. That structure is the basic frame upon which the gamemaster creates the framework of the campaign, like a tapestry on a loom; as the initial pattern is set, so the goes the game. And yet the creation of campaign structure is rarely considered as a subject in itself. The basic building block of all plot structure is the story; a flow of events containing a beginning, a middle, and an end. This essential unit can be used in three ways. There are few unalloyed examples of these forms in the real world, of course; many stories combine different elements from various forms, with one type predominating. I. The Stand-Alone A to B to C A stand-alone story is self-contained; the point of the story is the telling or playing of it, and once the end is reached there is nothing more to be said. In roleplaying, the one-shot scenario is an example of a stand-alone structure. Made-for-TV movies follow this pattern; so do many short stories. Anthology shows such as The Twilight Zone are an excellent example of collections of unrelated stand-alone plots. This structure offers the advantage of extreme clarity and comparatively little commitment of time. It is limited in effectiveness, however. Compared to other, longer forms it doesn't give the creator enough time to develop sub-themes and character development. Participants have less time to build a strong attachment to characters. On the other hand, a series of unconnected stand-alones allows treatment of many widely differing stories and settings. II. A Never-Ending Cycle A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, C... (repeat until failure) Take a set of characters and produce a string of stories about them and you have a cyclical plot structure. This is the most common form on television; almost every drama and sitcom falls into this pattern. So do most comic books. Early roleplaying campaigns used this form almost exclusively, and I suspect that it is still the most popular type of campaign. The advantages of this form are several. In a way, it provides the greatest quantity of material for the effort expended by the creator; once the characters and setting are created, new stories may be plugged into the formula with ease. Characters and setting are unlikely to change, and so require little or no upkeep. The formula can be repeated indefinitely; participants will have a chance to become familiar with the characters and develop attachments. Individual characters and settings can be more richly developed over time, as they accrue incidental details -- though the creator(s) must be careful not to alter the basic structure, lest the cycle be disrupted and disaffect participants/consumers. The cyclical form offers advantages from a sociological/economic perspective, too. As the only form which has the potential to continue indefinitely, it is ideally suited to a medium such as television in which the ultimate point is marketing. Obviously once a successful structure has been developed those who profit by it are unwilling to allow it to end... ...which is itself a disadvantage, of course. In television in particular the purpose of the cyclical story is not to tell a story, but to protect a profit-making entity. Thus a disadvantage of the cyclical form is its inherently static quality. Successors to the original Star Trek series are an excellent example of this; corporate executives have made no secret of the fact that their only purpose in producing the show is to "protect the franchise" and thereby their profits. Absolute changelessness is the law. Thus far this approach seems to have been successful from a financial viewpoint, though it is arguable that the Star Trek story and universe have been diminished by it. One interesting aspect of the cyclical story pattern is the means by which it ends. The point of such a pattern is to continue indefinitely; as with all things, however, the story eventually must come to an end. Since there is no provision for winding the cycle up, however, the result is that cyclical stories often end abruptly, with little or no sense of closure. In the case of television, this means either no ending at all or a hasty wrap-up episode with no meaningful connection to the preceding body of work. Next Week: Campaign Structure continues, introducing you to The Meta-Cycle, a surprise conclusion and an excellent bit of advice for your own campaign structure. Don't forget to send me your campaign journal advice, it would really help: mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com Have more fun at every game! Johnn Four _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ MY PRIVACY POLICY & HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ "Roleplaying Tips Weekly" is provided to you free of charge by RoleplayingTips.com. It is sent only to those who have specifically requested to receive it. My subscriber list has never been and never will be available to any third party. EVER! Your privacy is very important to me, therefore it receives the respect it deserves. SUBSCRIBE TO "ROLEPLAYING TIPS WEEKLY" mailto:subscribe@roleplayingtips.com?subject=subscribe%20tips UNSUBSCRIBE FROM "ROLEPLAYING TIPS WEEKLY" mailto:unsubscribe@roleplayingtips.com?subject=unsubscribe%20tips SUBMISSIONS Submissions & Articles may be sent to: mailto:submissions@roleplayingtips.com FEEDBACK Feedback of all kinds is welcome! mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com?subject=Issue%2015 Copyright İ 2000, Johnn Four, RoleplayingTips.com. All Rights Reserved. email: mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com web site: http://www.roleplayingtips.com