Created by Rodney
List of 20: Standard Plot Devices in Fantasy RPGs
A Gnome walks into an Inn. A good adventure usually starts something like this, and for good reason. Describing the intricate back-story of the half-gnome bard that lost his home to flooding and was forced to sing to make ends meet for his 8 sons and daughters after his wife died, you may lose your audience before you start. It is a social contract between the game players and game designers that plot devices, though trite, are accepted to start the story/game. In my years of interactive storytelling, I have noticed some things that seem to stand out. Here are 20 Standard Plot Devices in Fantasy RPGs. These are not all inclusive or are in every game, but they do occur often enough to be on this list. Enjoy!
A Gnome walks into an Inn. A good adventure usually starts something like this, and for good reason. Describing the intricate back-story of the half-gnome bard that lost his home to flooding and was forced to sing to make ends meet for his 8 sons and daughters after his wife died, you may lose your audience before you start. It is a social contract between the game players and game designers that plot devices, though trite, are accepted to start the story/game. In my years of interactive storytelling, I have noticed some things that seem to stand out. Here are 20 Standard Plot Devices in Fantasy RPGs. These are not all inclusive or are in every game, but they do occur often enough to be on this list. Enjoy!
20 Standard Plot Devices in Fantasy RPGs
- Every town has an Inn.
- Never trust the royal advisers... at first.
- Night attacks are unavoidable.
- There are convenient road blocks everywhere.
- There is always more than one entrance into a castle.
- All the guards have a life outside of work that you don't care about.
- Royal family members hang out the "Kidnap me" sign every night.
- There is the easy way and then there is the way you end up doing it.
- Paranoia doesn’t mean your wrong.
- Monologs are inevitable.
- The fate of the world often hinges on what you did without thinking.
- The most insignificant character will come back when you least suspect it ( for good or bad).
- The most important character can turn into a red herring... sometimes literately.
- Fantasy Racial traits add to resentment and hate.
- Never underestimate the small in large quantities.
- The longer lived races always look down at the shorter lived races.
- Traps are located when and where you don't look for them.
- Bored Wizards are dangerous.
- Someone a bad guy is holding prisoner isn't guaranteed to be good.
- The ultimate weapon is the experience you get trying to get the ultimate weapon.
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