Author Topic: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?  (Read 4614 times)

Imosa

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Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« on: October 12, 2013, 09:20:46 AM »
So I am co-DM of a campaign run by a friend of mine and on Sunday I'll be doing a bit of a one off session. I have some basic ideas but I've never run a session before and I was wondering if I could get some help working out my plot/setting.
I dunno... I just imagine sitting down, starting the session and like 15 minutes in someone says "Well, we found this napkin 5 minutes ago so obviously Richard is the murderer. How long did you think this plot would run?". 

So here is a summery of what I've got:

I am playing D20 modern in a setting only slightly more futuristic then our own time.

Our agents are sent to meet a contact who has been keeping an ear to the ground about unrelated events and now has a packet of information to report. The contact's identity is not known but they gave a secret word to identify themselves. In order to place themselves they are offered back stage passes to the show produced in the studio. The show is a magic show, run by Mondo the magician.
Should our agents choose to accept the back stage passes they can watch the show and then go back stage to meet Mondo, where the contact will identify the agents to give them the secret word and the packet. At least one NPC will be watching the stage show, and go to see Mondo.

Mondo has a secret. He is actually only a series of strong suggestions implanted into people via the lighting during his magic show. The shows staff is filled with people who all believe they are Mondo and are helping each other create more Mondos in the audience. Each audience member does not have a 100% chance of turning into Mondo and even then they do, the suggestion is weak. Mondo's primary goal is the create more Mondos and will defend the operation he has thus far set up. He is also a little insane since he is a person who's brain has been tampered with.

Julia is the true contact, and is honestly working the mission given to her by the agency. However, she also has another goal.
Her previous partner and lover was brainwashed by Mondo (although Julia does not know the nature of Mondo's existence) and she is now seeking revenge. However, during that same encounter with Mondo she was given a strong suggestion to not harm Mondo, and her face was also badly burned. Julia has since received enough plastic and reconstructive surgery so that she now looks like a different person (plot-wise this lets Julia think Mondo won't recognize her). She has since been trying to get close enough to Mondo to find a way to kill him (again, Julia doesn't know that killing, who she thinks is, Mondo is actually pointless).
Julia is now attempting to frame Mondo as an enemy of the agency, so that the agency will deem it necessary to kill Mondo. However her suggestion won't allow her to be blatant.

My goal is to get the agents attacked by Mondo, in what Mondo believes, is a good way of keeping his secret safe (even though a more logical option may just be to be more subtle).Once Mondo decided to try and kill the agents, he will mobilize all his resources, including a number of hypnotizers placed through out his studio, to turn the studio into a massive series of lethal illusions and puzzles.

What I need help creating is a plan for Julia that will get the agents to perceptive Mondo as a threat, which will in turn cause Mondo to use his lethal illusions. However, the plan needs to be sly enough that it doesn't seem like Julia wants Mondo dead. Julia can't, for example, ask the agents to kill Mondo. She also can't do something like give the agents an explosive to plant on Mondo.

My original plan was to have the NPC agent brainwashed by Mondo.
Mondo always tries to hypnotize his audience into telling him about suspicious happenings that could effect him. So by the end of the show Mondo would already know about the secret word and packet. Mondo would would then use the word and a fake packet when meeting the Agents. This would quickly cast doubt on the real contact.
Under orders not to tamper with the packet, or to retrieve a fake packet, the agents would have to identify the real contact. I had imagined a climax where Julia holds one of the agents hostage and threatens to kill them unless Mondo is killed.

MaJO

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2013, 12:21:45 PM »
I can tell you from experience that part of being a DM is being able to make shit up on the fly. Actually a lot of the details that players will ask about you wouldn't have even thought of until they mentioned it.  So what I suggest you do is focus on making the overarching plot make sense but also have a few different outcomes because your players may not do what you expect them to do. In fact it is best to assume they will not do what you want them to do at any given point.

If they do something like the example with the napkin be prepared by just winging a boss fight where richard escapes and they now have to hunt him down. Basically what I am trying to say is: get your bullshit cap on and make sure that whatever comes out makes sense to the overarching plot.  Everything happens for a reason and the reason isn't "because it needs to happen". Maybe richard has a spy among the group and was tipped off that they figured out it was him.
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Imosa

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2013, 03:40:27 PM »
I can tell you from experience that part of being a DM is being able to make shit up on the fly. Actually a lot of the details that players will ask about you wouldn't have even thought of until they mentioned it.  So what I suggest you do is focus on making the overarching plot make sense but also have a few different outcomes because your players may not do what you expect them to do. In fact it is best to assume they will not do what you want them to do at any given point.

If they do something like the example with the napkin be prepared by just winging a boss fight where richard escapes and they now have to hunt him down. Basically what I am trying to say is: get your bullshit cap on and make sure that whatever comes out makes sense to the overarching plot.  Everything happens for a reason and the reason isn't "because it needs to happen". Maybe richard has a spy among the group and was tipped off that they figured out it was him.
Right I get that, and I am very bad at it but surely I can come up with a little more then what I have now.

Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2013, 03:47:44 PM »
While RPs do tend to be pretty story-heavy, at its heart it's still a game and thus you'd probably get more help here in RPG.

O4rfish

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2013, 04:58:05 PM »
In general, there are two ways of writing crazy people plots: make sure it makes perfect sense; and don't bother, because they're just crazy. You can just have Mondo attack the PCs because he's crazy. Give the players some clues and have them follow up on them during the performance, but they don't actually have to mean anything.
For Julia, it's even easier. Have her do the "Rin Kaenbyou" thing: she sends the PCs into the theater, gets them to stir up trouble, Mondo attacks them, and they kill Mondo. She can tell them to do certain things which don't seem hostile but which Mondo would perceive as being hostile.
[9:49:09] <Purvis> Generally not, but your mother may be an exception.

Imosa

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2013, 08:28:12 PM »
In general, there are two ways of writing crazy people plots: make sure it makes perfect sense; and don't bother, because they're just crazy. You can just have Mondo attack the PCs because he's crazy. Give the players some clues and have them follow up on them during the performance, but they don't actually have to mean anything.
For Julia, it's even easier. Have her do the "Rin Kaenbyou" thing: she sends the PCs into the theater, gets them to stir up trouble, Mondo attacks them, and they kill Mondo. She can tell them to do certain things which don't seem hostile but which Mondo would perceive as being hostile.
Mondo isn't crazy enough to attack random people. Instead I'd like Julia to make them stir up trouble. The problem is I can't figure out how to do that.
Mondo might think there's a threat if the agents start messing with his equipment. Which is also a thing they might do if they were trying to figure out who the real contact is.

O4rfish

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2013, 08:54:47 PM »
Have her tell them to touch a vaguely-described piece of backstage equipment, in view of a person who doesn't actually exist. The PCs will be unable to find the exact thing, and start messing with everything, in view of lots of people.
[9:49:09] <Purvis> Generally not, but your mother may be an exception.

Imosa

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2013, 12:27:13 AM »
Have her tell them to touch a vaguely-described piece of backstage equipment, in view of a person who doesn't actually exist. The PCs will be unable to find the exact thing, and start messing with everything, in view of lots of people.
Keep in mind that Julia doesn't know about Mondo's true nature. Why would she ask them to mess around back stage?

O4rfish

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2013, 12:46:26 AM »
Julia wants Mondo to attack them so that they kill Mondo. If the PCs go in and start messing around like PCs, she thinks he will attack them.
[9:49:09] <Purvis> Generally not, but your mother may be an exception.

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2013, 12:59:01 AM »
Can Julia plant evidence that suggests Mondo is doing something the agency doesn't like, and then have a kill order place? How shady/ruthless is this agency? Is it a a fully legal one (like police or FBI),or a more fuzzy one (CIA)? Or possibly an independent one altogether (Iranian Revolution Army?) What are it's goals? What goals do top members have that aren't in line with the agency's goals? Could Julia have that kind of knowledge?

O4rfish

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #10 on: October 13, 2013, 01:55:48 AM »
Of course, once they go in, whatever happens is no longer up to Julia. If Mondo casts a hypnosis on one of them, have a note ready to pass to that player. This will inevitably result in the party killing Mondo. If Mondo talks to them, have some mini-speech notes ready. This may or may not result in the party killing Mondo and/or Julia.
Julia is also sort of insane, since she has an implanted suggestion which she is resisting. So you don't need to worry about her side of things making perfect sense. Also, if Julia takes someone hostage, the party will kill her.
[9:49:09] <Purvis> Generally not, but your mother may be an exception.

Imosa

  • Any sufficiently advanced technology
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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #11 on: October 13, 2013, 03:02:24 AM »
Julia wants Mondo to attack them so that they kill Mondo. If the PCs go in and start messing around like PCs, she thinks he will attack them.
I meant that because she doesn't know Mondo's true nature, she wouldn't know that them messing with his stuff would cause Mondo the respond with lethal force.

Can Julia plant evidence that suggests Mondo is doing something the agency doesn't like, and then have a kill order place? How shady/ruthless is this agency? Is it a a fully legal one (like police or FBI),or a more fuzzy one (CIA)? Or possibly an independent one altogether (Iranian Revolution Army?) What are it's goals? What goals do top members have that aren't in line with the agency's goals? Could Julia have that kind of knowledge?
Yes I'm pretty sure Julia can plant evidence incriminating Mondo. The Agency is more fuzzy. Their motives are still largely a mystery and are on a "need to know" basis. Julia does not need to know and the Agency has no issue falling back on lethal force to keep their secrets. I suppose if the PCs could find out that Mondo mucked around in my NPC's brain the agency could just order a hit (not that that would involve Julia).

Of course, once they go in, whatever happens is no longer up to Julia. If Mondo casts a hypnosis on one of them, have a note ready to pass to that player. This will inevitably result in the party killing Mondo. If Mondo talks to them, have some mini-speech notes ready. This may or may not result in the party killing Mondo and/or Julia.
What is this? It sounds useful but I can't quite figure out what you were trying to say.

Hello Purvis

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Re: Running my first RP session. How do I even plot?
« Reply #12 on: October 13, 2013, 03:04:55 AM »
If you need a cause, I suggest that Julia plant evidence that Mondo has been getting too close to the agency's true nature. Thus, the PCs are tasked with dealing with him. This can lead to interesting things later down the road if the PCs find out they were tricked