Plot, Part 4

I got a basic plot for my book that I can start fleshing out. But I've also said I would like to make a Neverwinter Nights world based on Shadows & Silver. I'm going to work some on the plot for the game this time, and I'll begin shifting my focus here from writing fiction to designing a game world.

Writing a plot for a multiplayer game is both similar to and different from writing one for a novel. For one thing, you've got many more characters the story has got to focus on, not just one or two, so the story has got to be flexible enough to account for players of many backgrounds, abilities, and personalities. Secondly, it has to be a conflict that will not be resolved in the book. This has been the downfall of many settings (notably Dark Sun), and is particularly dangerous since it makes it so the players' accomplishments mean nothing. Third, it has to be something the players cannot resolve in a few gaming sessions, but something that they can make progress with so they don't feel useless.

The similarities are still there, though. Even multiplayer plots center around a conflict and the complications that get in the way of solving it. The more difficult the complications are to overcome, the longer the plot is able to last without coming to a conclusion. Often, the resolution of one conflict will reveal a new conflict (e.g., the players topple an evil king only to have the local nobles start warring to determine the successor). One of the best ways to have an ongoing plot is to show a conflict that is too big for the players to do something about on a large scale but is still one they can manage on a small scale. For example, you can't expect the players to do much to end a world war, but they might infiltrate key enemy positions and thus help one side or another.

In this case, I'm going to use the primary conflicts I laid out a couple of posts ago, since they're all things the player can work to change on his own end without a realistic chance of him drastically changing the face of the setting. It also means the story will be flexible enough to account for many players participating in it. I doubt I will have to worry about characters in my book overshadowing players in my world since, for my first book, I settled on a main character who's out to bring in an age of science to trample the age of magic. This implies that it's earlier in the chronology than my world was intended to be, since I had intended a world where technology had displaced magic. This means, then, that whatever happens in my novels sets the stage for the world the players will inherit.

Considering that, what sort of world do I expect to come out of the actions of the characters in my novels? For one, I expect that my main character's goal of toppling the mage-kings will come to fruition, and that the religious and technological orders he supports will come into power. The Church of the Archons, as I've been calling it, has been waging a silent war against the mages for thousands of years, and, after the actions of this character, they are final able to wrest control from them. They have, in the years since, conducted extensive witch-hunts to destroy both mages and magical creatures. In turn, they support the development of machines which, while non-magical, can accomplish wondrous feats and placate a public thirsty for wonder. Over the years, they've managed to convince the public that the mages were either pretenders who simply harnessed the power of science, cruel men who played on their superstitions, or demon-worshippers who obtained power through horrid means. Unfortunately, in its years (I'm thinking maybe a few centuries) of endless witch-hunting, the Church has so thoroughly rid the land of significant presences of magic that most people don't believe in witches and think the Church serves no useful function except perpetuating superstition. In order to solidify its place in the new world, the Church has begun expanding its definition of witch to include undesirable members of society.

So how does the player fit into all of this? I'm thinking that the player is arrested by the Church when he is found without identification papers (or much else, for that matter), and he is being held until he can prove he is not a mage. Just prior to the arrest, though, he discovered that he may be a target for mages and other creatures of magic. If he chooses to divulge this information, the Church will likely give him a job, since he would be excellent bait in catching mages. If not, then he'll be on his own and in need of money in a land that is still suffering the effects of the magical warfare of centuries past: parched land, poisoned water, and rampant plague.

In addition to all this, there will always be wars and conflicts going on as the country tries to maintain its position amidst many lesser lands, and the high tensions means the racial integration in unacceptable in all but the most liberal of places. There should be plenty of plot hooks and quests to show these aspects of the world to the player, and the conflict of the struggle to survive is inherent in all of them, as well as in the day-to-day life of the player character.

I think this is a good start, and something I can flesh out as time goes on. It also begins my shift towards talking about game design, which will start to become the focus of this blog now.

Plot, Part 3

Most external conflicts involve a clearly defined antagonist. This may range from an individual or monster to an organization to the world itself. Your choice of an antagonist will often define the conflict and, thus, the story. In Shadows & Silver, I know I want a world in which black and white morality is not present, so I should pick a person or organization which is neither inherently good or evil. Conversely, the protagonist should be neither good nor evil. Both serve their own ends, and both think they are right.

I have held in my mind for quite a while now the idea of having a society of mages be the primary antagonist of my first book. Mages, by their nature, are powerful people, and the idea that power corrupts is one that fits into my world. The protagonist, then, is fighting against this corruption. Is this black and white? It doesn't have to be. The corruption of power doesn't require that you be a moustache-twirling eeeevil villain. It simply means you are using your power for your own good and not for the good of society in general. When you look at it that way, everyone does that, right? The protagonist, then, is fighting their corruption not out of some idealistic crusade to rid the world of selfishness but because the mages' use of power has come into conflict with his own interests.

How specific do I want to get here? Well, I don't want to go into too many details, since I haven't settled fully on the storyline and don't want to commit to something that won't be in the story. On the other hand, this blog is here for getting my thoughts out in the open. Consider this part a brainstorm, then, rather than an actual plot synopsis.

The protagonist, I think, should be a normal guy. I see him as a peasant in a kingdom run by mages. Our fellow has seen the abuses of magic and is determined to put a stop to their rule once and for all. He falls in with a society of alchemists, scientists, and what have you and, deciding that their way is superior to rule by mages, tries to bring down the mage-kings and replace it with the enlightenment of science. His position, then, is that power should be harnessed by mundane means so it is employable by every man equally, allowing no one to control another without his consent. This is in direct opposition to the position of the mages, which is that the powers of the universe are too precious to be squandered on lesser mortals, and that those with magical power deserve to be rulers.

Our hero seems like a pretty noble guy, yes? Let's dampen that a bit. There's always not-so-noble reasons for doing noble things. For instance, it's quite nice to patiently listen to the stories your ninety year-old Aunt Sally tells, but if your only reason for doing so is to make sure you are written into her will... I suppose we can all agree it's more noble to simply not listen to her. Similarly, our fellow here is not on this crusade because he wants justice for all humanity; he's doing it because he hates the mages and can see nothing more fitting than to have power equally distributed among commoners. Why he hates them I can decide later (I have several ideas I am sifting through), but this works for a basic conflict.

Plot, Part 2

Whenever you have opposing interests, you have a conflict. The more diverse the opinions of people in your world, the more conflicts you are likely to have. Shadows & Silver is specifically designed not to conform to the typical black and white method of thinking so common to fantasy today, so there should be plenty of places where conflict can be found. I'm going to establish five core conflicts for the world. These will be conflicts that drive the actions of most people in the world and around which my stories will usually center.

1. The struggle to survive. Shadows & Silver is a gritty world, one in which survival is hard and in which things can always get worse. Three things come to mind that make survival difficult for the common person: famine, economic disaster, and plague.


2. Owners versus workers. Ah, the essential class struggle. This has been one of the primary conflicts we have seen throughout the modern age, especially with the advent of industry. In a time where the common people cannot afford food, they are forced to work for however little the owners want in order to survive. Of course, some people decide to fight the system...


3. Old versus new. Industry, being a relatively new thing, is hailed by many as the savior of mankind (note: this implies that whatever order came before industry was disastrous). Proponents of the old orders fight against it, trying to keep things as they were so they don't lose their place in society. I'm seeing agriculture versus industry here as well as other things: faith versus cynicism, magic versus science, and chaos versus order.


4. Civilization versus savages. Those who have discovered industry always see those who have not as savages. Either they lord their knowledge over them or they try to help them out of well-meaning but unwanted paternalism. Either way, it makes the "savages" resentful; they're proud of their ways and don't think they should change. Often, those who do are seen as traitors. Many accept just enough help from their educators to fight them off with their own weapons, leaving the civilized country to conclude that the savages are just not worth the effort. (Note: could be modelled after America's struggle with its natives, British colonization of Africa, etc.)


5. Racial hatred. Scientific learning gives people more excuses to hate each other. I see humans in Shadows & Silver as the dominant race, and theories of evolution they posit likely give them excuses to look down on other races, if not persecute them entirely. Of course, the attacks are usually aimed at age-old racial enemies, not friends who happen to be less "evolved."

Plot, Part 1

Whether you have a theme you wish to communicate in your work or not, all stories have some sort of conflict at their center. Such conflict can be external or internal. External conflict is the most common and usually takes the form of the protagonist versus an antagonist. For example, the novel Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett, pits Commander Sam Vimes against the insane criminal Carcer Dun. Internal conflicts deal with the protagonist versus himself. A good example is Anakin Skywalker's internal struggle between the Light Side and the Dark Side in Star Wars. Often, stories have both internal and external conflicts. In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago battles with the marlin (external) as well as with his own desire to give up his chase and rest (internal). Regardless of the type of conflict, stories always contain them.

Stories also frequently contain complications. If the story had no complications, the protagonist could waltz right through it, easily solving the conflicts. Night Watch has Commander Vimes vaulted back into the past and has to be careful not to cause paradox when he meets his younger self. To top it off, Carcer (who has also been transported back) allies himself with those who are plotting to overthrow the government, a conflict that, historically, caused much bloodshed in Ankh-Morpork. In Star Wars, Anakin has premonitions of Padmé's death and believes that giving in to the power of the Dark Side is the only way to save her. Frequently, good stories have many complications keeping the protagonist from solving a relatively simple problem. In effect, complications are subconflicts which the protagonist must resolve before dealing with the primary conflict. Sometimes, as with Anakin Skyalker, complications are simply paradoxes pulling the protagonist between extremes (Anakin wants to follow what he knows is right, so he leans towards the Light Side; he also wants to save those close to him, so he leans toward the Dark).

After overcoming complications, the protagonist can then deal with the main conflict. This is called the resolution. The resolution of Night Watch results in Vimes successfully capturing Carcer and averting much of the bloodshed of the revolution. Resolutions are not always happy endings, however. Santiago successfully wins the battles against himself and the marlin, only to lose his catch to sharks and nearly die at sea. Anakin falls to the Dark Side and still loses Padmé, only to be redeemed in the last few moments of his life an ending that, while it could have been worse, was still far from happy.

We'll start working on some plot next time following the formula laid out here: conflict (external or internal) → complications → resolution.