OOC - Modding, Shire Style

I write my games and characters in a certain way and it isn't for everyone. In fact I know that the way I run my games puts some people off, but let's not worry about that, because I don't. There are other games out there and its not going to change my formula anytime soon because for the most part it works.

Firstly, setting. You need to break it. World building is fun, we can create anything, anywhere, anyhow, but if you want people to enjoy writing in it, your world needs to be profoundly broken. Why? Because your players are going to spend their time and energy fixing it. If you want your setting to be more than just a wooden genre backdrop, make it flawed, this is your Meta Plot.

Meta Plot, or the story of your game world. Let's be clear this is a tool, it is not your game. The "game" is the successful meshing all the various player narratives with your setting. You are the conductor, the plot is your stick and where and when you use it should be driven by the ebb and flow of the writing. Get too rigid and you stifle creativity get to loose and the game flounder and loses pace. Oh and you will get this wrong, I do all the time, and sometime very helpful people will tell you, you have gotten in wrong. Which is... helpful. So just thank them and move on with that precious little life lesson under your belt.

Which brings me to skin. Yours to be exact. It needs to be thick. Think Rino meshed with Kevlar. You will have to take criticism, you will need to be flexible and hand over what is "your baby" for other people to write on and in. You sometime need to be the baddie and kick people from your game, for the good of the game. Real life drama in game is absolute poison. Kill it quick and take it by the roots or it keeps coming back. I would say in a given two week period if you spend more time communicating due to the behaviour of one player than you do actually running and writing in your game it is time to press the eject button.

Mod NPCs. Alas one of the sacrifices you make as a mod are your characters. Again they are tools. At need you can jump down from the front, go sit in the orchestra and play the lead, or perhaps just a minor supporting role. Why? Again to pace the game, drive the narrative and support your players. I would say Mod NPCs are one of your most important tools, create and use them wisely.

Player updates are vital. When players get confused or fall behind they stop writing. Enough of them stop writing and your game is at an end. Find creative and accessible ways to keep player up to date with what's going on and who is doing what in-game. The bigger your game the more you need this. They aren't always fun posts to write but you can change that with a little creativity.

Embrace the darkness. Drama is built on conflict and the most interesting characters are flawed, perhaps even tragic. Throw wrenches, make things go wrong and always, I mean always exact a price for power. As a rule power should cost more than the character would be willing to pay, should he or she have known the full price/implications up front. Sure occasionally give away the free trinket for the sake of the story, but make that the exception not the rule.

So this is just some of the stuff I ponder over and hold onto while modding and writing. There is more and there is a hell of a lot of stuff I have learned from my writers and co-mods. Probably enough for another post in fact ;)