Story Design

Designing your story is the central objective for most TP writers. Stories are what make the MUSH so fun. So, this aspect of the TP process is the most important. Shoddy NPCs might be over looked but a poorly told story wont. So the following are some things you should consider when designing your TPs story.

A good story has a lot of conflict and drama. NPCs must have strong motives to be of interest. If your story has no definable NPCs the story itself must provide the motives and conflict. Conflict is an absolute neccesity and can come in many different forms. Make sure your plot has enough of it to keep the players interested without the conflict becoming over bearing. You don't want to make the players feel as though the conflict is completely insurmountable.

Your players want to be the heros in the story, so you have to work very hard to make sure your NPCs or the plot itself allows them to shine. If they do something cool in the scene reward them in some story related way right away. It works wonders for morale and adds life to your story.

If you have read and followed the suggestions in the Tiny Plot Format section you should have a rough idea of what your story is, as well as its NPCs and the rewards your plot offers to the players if any. The format is offered so you can organize your ideas more clearly for yourself and the RPA if they are to give approval. Once you have completed the format the following will be of much more use to you in fine tuning your TP.

The number one thing you want to accomplish here is for the players to have fun. Keep that in mind as you design your story. Would you have fun as a player in your TP? If you have designed a vanity plot (one that exists solely for you to have fun or to make your character look super awesome) you must rethink it. No one will have fun and you will likely lose participants for future plots.

When designing your story you want to have a well thought out chain of events. You must not be too rigid however as players will often surprise you. Make a logical flow chart (in your head, on paper, wherever) that covers important points in your TP and that you can aim the RP at. You should set up several check points based on this chart and do your best to keep things flowing along, hitting these points.

This can be as simple as setting goals to be accomplished by a certain time, such as "By 6:00 my players should have the information they need to track down Zool Darkbe at Chalmun's Cantina." or "By 8:00 the characters should be attacked by the Brotherhood of the Fallen Stars."

If you set up a sort of timeline like this you will be able to keep your story on track. It will give you deadlines to meet and save your plot from becoming stagnant.

Making Interesting NPCs
The NPCs are the beings that populate our world. There are millions of them. The bartender, the cafe cooks, spacecab drivers. These are the everyday people in our characters lives that generally don't garner more then a sentance or two in a pose. However, in a TP these can be some very important beings.

If your plot calls for a criminal mastermind you will not want someone that is of no interest to anyone. This is supposed to be THE MASTERMIND. You must give this character life. They do not have to have stats like we have on our +sheets but they will need motives, allies and enemies, personalities and history. You must create their entire world, or at least as much of their world as you plan to focus on.

First off you may want to give this NPC a name. A good name can do wonders for figuring out what your NPC is all about. Think of a name that is reminiscent of the characters personality or motives. They do not need to be named MAD DOG BILL to get your point across. For bad guys a sinister name is perfect. The name should give a feeling of the character. Lucas did well in naming his characters based on their personalities.

After you have a name you might want to come up with the characters immediate goals for your TP. What do they NEED to accomplish. Everyone has needs and the stronger the need, the more interesting. NEED is stronger than want and plays more dramaticly. So a character wants a ship, that is not very interesting, but if they NEED a ship to escape the encroaching troopers, so much the better.

Your NPCs need to have strong goals and motives. Narrow their motives down to one sentance or less if you can, then build around that. Then you can put together a more interesting background. What led up to this characters motives and goals? Once these steps are complete you have a very nice foundation for an excellent and memorable NPC.

Remember CONFLICT is interesting. Apathy is not.