Plots are hard. Wicked difficult. There are tons of player run plots at Paradisa, and they've all succeeded and failed in one aspect or another. But as long as there are players in Paradisa, there will be bright people who will suddenly come up with with fantastic ideas that everyone would like to get in on! But it's hard to get started. If you aren't the nitpicky type, the scope of your plot can be impossible to predict, and no one wants to participate in a plot that will eventually fall flat on its face, right?

But you have this GREAT IDEA, and you REALLY WANT THIS PLOT TO HAPPEN, and it will be HUGE and GRAND and characters will talk about it for years to come. You definitely don't want it to fail, right?

Don't worry. We're here to help.

THINGS YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT IF YOU'RE PLOTTING A BIG THING AT PARA:

I like to group the flow of a plot in three stages that overlap at some points: pre-plot preparation, ooc preparation (the part where you're actually contacting muns over the ooc comm), and plot implementation (basically, the days where your plot is actually moving.) There is a lot of planning involved at all stages of plot, so you will be doing a lot of typing no matter how much you plan ahead. That being said!

PART 1: PRE-PLOT PREPARATION.
You've got a great idea! Cool. Let's do this shit.

1. PLAN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AHEAD OF TIME. If you've got a great idea for a plot, create a time frame for what will be going down and who will be involved at all points in the plot before you send anything to be approved, or at least have an idea of who will be doing what, when, where, and why. Also, get permission from as many muns as you can think of who will be directly affected by this plot. Trust me, this cuts down on a lot of headaches later.

PROTIP: If you think something will take X amount of hours/days, add one hour/day. It's human nature to underestimate the amount of time we need to do things, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

1b. Come to a plot with a game plan; DO NOT confuse the muns and irritate the mods by suddenly deciding you want to do things a different way. Come on, that's just not cool. If your plan is good, you should be able to stick with it all the way through.

"Also important: if you need the castle to do something for the plot, ask the mods about that, too." ~ Jenn, the Modly One.

2. If you're going to have a day where a lot of messy, complicated things are going down, like a huge battle log or another massive confrontation of some kind, do not expect to sleep or rest for at least 10-15 hours straight the day of. We mean this in the kindest way possible. Plan ahead, stick the ultimate showdown on a holiday or a weekend, and plan enough time for you to crash afterwards. You will be exhausted.

3. GET HELP. If there is a lot of said messy, complicated things going down, you will need help to keep track of everything there is. There are tons (and I mean TONS) of people willing to lend a hand in planning and carrying out a plot here at Paradisa; just stick your head in chat during peak hours and ask for volunteers. You'll get at least two or three warm bodies willing to volunteer. We're friendly like that. :)

4. Try to keep a wide variety of people involved. Also, try to keep various slots and roles open in your plot for different kinds of characters. The best kinds of plots are the kind that can get all kinds characters involved, whether they're superpowered or the normalest of the normal. Take a look at the Census Report Page for a better look at people willing to get involved!

5. The more complicated your plot is, the easier it is just to plot out conclusions. Don't try to make things open ended if there are four or five different plot events going on at the same time; if you've got that much to keep track of, it's better to know where things should naturally reach their conclusion so you can whisk off your plot-ees to the next part of the plot. (However, if you really want to make something like that open ended, please please please know what you're getting into first - do your homework!)

6. Deaths: Hoo boy. For your sanity's sake, plan for no more than five deaths a day. And no more than 25 deaths total, unless you've done deaths before and you want to take on a challenge. Trust me. It ages you.

7. No rape. Don't go there. You cannot do rape right. No exceptions.

8. Fallout: If you're planning for consequences that will stretch beyond the bounds of the plot, it's best to think about those now too. If you're not planning for consequences that will stretch beyond the bounds of the plot, it's best to think about those now too. If bad thing X is gonna happen to character Y, they'll have to deal with these things in a Z manner. This is inevitable. You can't predict the future, but you should try.

PART TWO: OOC PREPARATION.
You've planned and planned, gotten your plot approved by the mods, and now you simply cannot go on without telling the rest of us so we can really make this thing happen. THIS IS PART TWO, BITCHES.

9. OOC posts. Basic rule of thumb - one OOC post for every two days of plot; two ooc posts if there will only be one day of plot. Most people tend to have an intro to the plot, various planning posts, and posts throughout the plot with updates on the current situation. Space them out however you like, but always always write as much information you can think of as you can. Be clear and direct. Tell people how long the plot will last, dates and days. Be considerate. Don't assume that we know anything about what will happen. Hold our hands. They are warm and pleasantly dry.

10. Observe:

< textarea > Take out the spaces and put your form here! < /textarea >

textarea is now your best friend. Have at least one ooc post dedicated to putting characters into roles. In that post, clearly spell out what capabilities characters in each role should have, and make sure they can be around for the specific dates they'll be needed on. Have a form prepared so people can fill out their names, contact information, character information, etc etc etc. THE MORE INFORMATION YOU HAVE, THE BETTER.

10a. CONTACT INFO. Get everyone's names, characters involved, e-mail addresses, AIM sns, and preferably a run-down of their abilities/role in the plot. E-mail everyone involved a copy of this sheet so people know who to contact about particular things. (More on this later)

10b. PLAN AROUND RL SCHEDULES, NOT IC SCHEDULES.

"Billy Jean may constantly murder in canon but sorry the muns have to sleep and see their families sometimes" ~ Yuff, ancient Chinese philosopher at work

"SCHEDULE SHOULD BE FOR REAL LIFE. CHARACTER LIFE IS SILLY. JACKIIIEEEEE" ~ Dolly, a Yuff knock-off

If it means that you have to get volunteers for roles the day before plot related shenanigans go down, so be it. Just make sure that every single mun can make it.

11. Deaths. This bears repeating: no more than five deaths a day, and no more than 25 deaths total, unless you've done deaths before and you want to take on a challenge. We aren't trying to make your plot less dramatic. We are trying to save you a headache.

If you must incorporate death into a plot, require every single mun contact all of their CR for that character before they confirm that their character will die. No exceptions. We don't want any character meltdowns… Unless, of course, you want a particular character to have a meltdown. THEN PLAN THAT SHIT, OKAY. You're still planning, right?

"Always get your crew's and close CR's permission before handling a death or breakdown, because it's just darned polite. What you do to your character affects them." ~ Jesse, kung-fu master

11a. If you have more than enough characters volunteering to die than the slots you have available, give priority to characters who haven't died/nearly died yet. Do not attempt first-come first-serve.

"Yeah. Some people are too dramatic and like killing their characters a lot. Which is counter-productive because that just makes people think they're a wanker." ~ Jesse, still a kung-fu master

11b. Same rules apply to torture. Yes, the exact same. All kinds of torture. Torture is just as bad as death in a place like Para, if not worse. Permission, do you dig?

12. Be flexible! If someone can't participate at the very last second because they've been in a massive earthquake, have a back-up plan. (Because you're still planning, right?) For this reason, it's best to keep OOC planning down to only a few days before the plot starts; you can still plan while the plot's happening. I'd actually encourage it, since there will be a better chance that the people you're speaking to will be around on the right days to fulfill their roles in the plot.

13. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF EMAIL. Use e-mail functions to sort people into groups so you can send mass emails with reams and reams of plot info to everyone involved. Of course, you should tell people to pay attention to their e-mail beforehand, but a lack of a character limit on your plans is a wonderful thing.


BONUS POINT: MAPS! Make 'em if you have time. Here's a link with maps/graphics for Dolly's Riful plot. They made battle, infiltration, and rescue a hell of a lot easier for all of us.

PART THREE: PLOT IMPLEMENTATION.
You're ready! It's the beginning of the plot, and you're ready to knock down that first domino. Oh, and you're still planning. =D

14. Get permission from the mods to make a special tag for your plot if necessary. We've had like… a zillion characters at Para. They'll most likely need to make room for your plot.

15. Have a running timeline going throughout the plot. Make OOC posts dedicated to summing up what is going on. Try to pick up and summarize major events in a few sentences and provide links people can click through if they want to catch up. Tag events with exact IC times if at all possible.

16. Try to keep events happening at the same time in the same post. Section off areas in plot posts if necessary.

"OH another good thing--put links to important threads in the entry; it makes things easier to follow and react to. that saved me so much loading time" ~ Dolly, Chinese as chop suey, DO AS THE LADY SAYS

17. AIM chats are godly. Use them. If you have characters in certain groups doing different things, have multiple chats open, one for each group. It will get crazy, but you will be thankful you have them. It makes events a lot easier to orchestrate.

18. If you're doing open-ended portions of plot where characters all come together and to speculate their next step in the plot, try to time it in the evening, when the most people can make it. Keep scanning the post. Remember those open chat windows you have? If you see them come up with any key information relevant to the plot, copy-paste a link to the thread to all relevant parties. Also, try to keep a time limit on the speculation. Three or four hours should be the maximum. They should come up with a plan of action by then, or just have them agree not to do anything.

19. BE PREPARED TO BE MEAN. Even though spur of the moment ideas can often be good, you also have to know when to put your foot down. You will not have room for all the best ideas in to world in your plot, so please don't try to squish them all in. Try to keep additions down to minor ideas while the plot is actually running so you don't have to change everything while people are trying to run with the original plan. It's for your sanity's sake.

20. DON'T BE AFRAID TO DELEGATE. Remember those people helping you with the plot? If you need to eat/pee/sleep/pay attention to something else/go crazy, let them plan shit. That is what they're there for.

And with any luck… that should be it! You'll be able to glide into your ending (which you planned and typed up beforehand… right? YOU PLANNED THIS, so end it with a bang!) That just leaves one last thing…

21. OOC WRAP-UP POST. Thank everyone, tell us what they should be doing in the aftermath of the plot, put up one last timeline of the whole shebang, and tell us the exact time the plot should have ended ICly. This allows the rest of us to thread things out to their natural conclusions.

No wait, one more thing.

22. SLEEP FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

(and don't forget that back-tagging is not evil =D)

IT'S OVER!
Thanks to Dolly, Yuff, Jesse, Kayla, and Jenn for their suggestions and contributions to this guide. wlu all ♥




BONUS! Our lovely mods have come up with SUPER STUFF in this handy addendum when it comes to VILLAINS and PARADISA. Jenn, Kayla, Fudgey? May endless cake bless you all. ♥

Villain Plots
Paradisa likes having villains. Really, it does. But here are the FIVE MAIN THINGS you may want to keep in mind:

1) Any submitted plot that ends with "and then the villain got away" is most likely going to be instantly rejected.
We aren't saying you MUST let your villain get caught –– we're saying that if your villain escapes, it has to be because of their own intelligence, creativity, skill, ability, etc, NOT because of some plot armor. You don't know how the heroes are going to act until it goes down. Losing sucks, but if your villain didn't prepare everything in-game, it's their fault for acting too hastily.

2) Unless it's invite-only, murder/villain/whatever plots are castle-wide, not "opt-in."
"A murderer is loose, killing freely! Opt-in!" This is a bit of a lie. Plots like these are generally better described as "a murderer is loose, killing freely; everyone who would care gets involved!" These plots can be very, very frustrating for the player base, because it pretty much demands their attention. Anyone heroic is expected to act, and anyone non-heroic is forced to hide in the kitchen. That's not fun.

If you say it's opt-in, it has to be for real, as in "So and so kills such and such. and then dynamic duo secretly solves it!"

3) If you tell the mods you're doing one thing, and then do the opposite or diverge from the plan without telling them, you're in trouble.
This really upsets the balance of the game, because mods try to balance plots around each other. We need to know what's going to happen, and we will halt plots if they're spiraling out of control.

4) Get creative!
Unfortunately, some bad guys are as boring/simple as [in]discriminately murdering people, but come on. We have a lot of these plots and they get silly. We like to see innovation, and creativity, and bold new ideas. Make it an event, not filler. We're not interested in any more Cabots.

5) Brains over brawn.
We don't really like characters that exist solely to torture, kill and maim, especially if they aren't very creative about it, or are godmodes that inspire a lot of eye-rolling. You'll run out of things to do with them when we say no, we can't handle more bloodshed. On the flip side, smart villains are more likely to find things to do outside of senseless violence, and set up interesting scenarios that are more than just "FIND THE CULPRIT, BEAT THE SNOT OUTTA THEM." Think about it before you pick up villains.







If you have any addendums/revisions to add to this guide, go ahead and put it in! If you're not a formatting wizard, ask someone in chat to help you with it! 8D

P.S. World plots follow this basic planning structure but, uh, more, but I have never run a world plot and I can't even imagine trying to write a guide for it. WE'LL SAVE THAT FOR ANOTHER DAY, THEN. ♥