Advice/Help After nine years in development, I'm still lost.

[Panzer]

Well, I wouldn't call it 9 years; It's more "a few months". That's beside the point. I have tried and tried again to somehow construct this Cartoon RP Vision of mine, A fictional franchise that would be in the same vein as Gravity Falls with a feel to Z-toons. In short, its a sort of wacky-misadventure that would've focused on the Character's stories and their bonds though-out their time in the town. That was the premise: Some cartoony mischief and a type of mystery story to keep peeps interested. Where it all falls apart is just how lost I am on the matter. Good god, where do I start?! My attempts to GM have been a trainwreck. I want to keep it casual and fun- but all this planning and stuff's got me stressed. So, gang, I would like to spark a conversation. If you were GMing an RP inspired by the spirit of Cartoons, how would you go about it and what advice would you give a dunce like me?

 

[Idea]

Well, first things first. I think you need to realize just how tall an order you are placing upon yourself. You want to make something in the spirit of cartoons, and by the examples given, very deep cartoons for that matter (or so I hear). However, what I think you may not be grasping here is the sheer gap between the conditions in which the creators of those cartoons are working and the circumstances that an RP gives you. To make a long story short, while a cartoon is something whose developers work to make into a singular entity with a concrete finish line (to an extent), RPs are multi-story-line endeavors that happen to converge into one thread, but are ultimately independent of each other and rarely have a shared development goal for the narrative as a whole.

A room of scriptwriters will have different ideas, but they will use those different ideas to propose story elements, different methods of progressing the same set of characters, and help to optimize each other's work. They will reinforce the work one another does with an understanding of who the main characters are, what pacing they are trying to achieve and so on and so forth.

Roleplayers on the other hand, will often just be trying to have fun with their own characters. Rarely does a roleplayer actually have a full-blown plan for what's to come and even more rarely do they get to realize it. A roleplayer is trying to benefit their own experience, while a writer for a story outside of it is trying to create a more compelling story.

While this is a huge difference from a writing perspective, it's only the tip of the iceberg. The differences between a visual medium, where visuals can be communicated with description and the pacing is controlled by those making it, whereas in writing you need to bog down your pacing to create visual imagery and the pacing is otherwise controlled by the reader (making slapstick comedy and jumpscares considerably harder to pull off in writing for instance) is another such problematic. Then you have cartoon conventions and tropes which may not be as familiar to RPers. And a mountain of other differences.


Roleplaying is a chaotic medium by it's own nature. To create a certain "feel", you need either dumb luck or a miraculous level of coordination and shared desire to immitate that "feel", specifically. Just the right nuanace in the spectrum. In other words what you are trying to achieve is a grand, near impossible task. And this is without even mentioning the challenging aspects of GMing in itself.


Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for you to quit trying. Being difficult is no reason to stop something. All I want is to make the scale of the endeavor clear. You're trying to clim Everest barehanded here, it's natural to fail. Aknowleging the true nature of the challenge is important to have the right expectations. And whether you end up giving up or you steel your resolve, I'd say it's better than to suffer due to false hopes.



Now, after that depressing little rain, let's talk some tips, shall we? Truth be told, I don't have a lot of them since this is kind of out of area of expertize (if I have one at all), but here are my thoughts:

1. Be honest about the actual goal here. If your goal is to make an RP in the spirit of cartoons, your best odds are to find people who are trying to create that as well. If you boil it down with side stuff you'll attract an audience that may not be interested in the cartoon side of things, and make it harder for yourself to coordenate things.

2. Make cartoon tropes and typical imagery into a reality of the world you're making. Don't be afraid to seem cliché, embrace the tropes and call them out, promote them even!

3.If you want a character-focused story, make a plot that lets the characters explore each other. No, I don't mean that in a lewd sense.

4.GMing is exhausting is stressful. Failure is a lot of times, an inevitability. It's rarely your fault though. Make sure you can handle it, and expect to fail. It will make it easier to take the fall and get back up again.


That is all I have to say. I hope you find this useful to read. Best of luck and happy Rping!

 

[Panzer]

Well, first things first. I think you need to realize just how tall an order you are placing upon yourself. You want to make something in the spirit of cartoons, and by the examples given, very deep cartoons for that matter (or so I hear). However, what I think you may not be grasping here is the sheer gap between the conditions in which the creators of those cartoons are working and the circumstances that an RP gives you. To make a long story short, while a cartoon is something whose developers work to make into a singular entity with a concrete finish line (to an extent), RPs are multi-story-line endeavors that happen to converge into one thread, but are ultimately independent of each other and rarely have a shared development goal for the narrative as a whole.

A room of scriptwriters will have different ideas, but they will use those different ideas to propose story elements, different methods of progressing the same set of characters, and help to optimize each other's work. They will reinforce the work one another does with an understanding of who the main characters are, what pacing they are trying to achieve and so on and so forth.

Roleplayers on the other hand, will often just be trying to have fun with their own characters. Rarely does a roleplayer actually have a full-blown plan for what's to come and even more rarely do they get to realize it. A roleplayer is trying to benefit their own experience, while a writer for a story outside of it is trying to create a more compelling story.

While this is a huge difference from a writing perspective, it's only the tip of the iceberg. The differences between a visual medium, where visuals can be communicated with description and the pacing is controlled by those making it, whereas in writing you need to bog down your pacing to create visual imagery and the pacing is otherwise controlled by the reader (making slapstick comedy and jumpscares considerably harder to pull off in writing for instance) is another such problematic. Then you have cartoon conventions and tropes which may not be as familiar to RPers. And a mountain of other differences.


Roleplaying is a chaotic medium by it's own nature. To create a certain "feel", you need either dumb luck or a miraculous level of coordination and shared desire to immitate that "feel", specifically. Just the right nuanace in the spectrum. In other words what you are trying to achieve is a grand, near impossible task. And this is without even mentioning the challenging aspects of GMing in itself.


Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for you to quit trying. Being difficult is no reason to stop something. All I want is to make the scale of the endeavor clear. You're trying to clim Everest barehanded here, it's natural to fail. Aknowleging the true nature of the challenge is important to have the right expectations. And whether you end up giving up or you steel your resolve, I'd say it's better than to suffer due to false hopes.



Now, after that depressing little rain, let's talk some tips, shall we? Truth be told, I don't have a lot of them since this is kind of out of area of expertize (if I have one at all), but here are my thoughts:

1. Be honest about the actual goal here. If your goal is to make an RP in the spirit of cartoons, your best odds are to find people who are trying to create that as well. If you boil it down with side stuff you'll attract an audience that may not be interested in the cartoon side of things, and make it harder for yourself to coordenate things.

2. Make cartoon tropes and typical imagery into a reality of the world you're making. Don't be afraid to seem cliché, embrace the tropes and call them out, promote them even!

3.If you want a character-focused story, make a plot that lets the characters explore each other. No, I don't mean that in a lewd sense.

4.GMing is exhausting is stressful. Failure is a lot of times, an inevitability. It's rarely your fault though. Make sure you can handle it, and expect to fail. It will make it easier to take the fall and get back up again.


That is all I have to say. I hope you find this useful to read. Best of luck and happy Rping!

And thus, the Idea has come in with a Whammy! Excellent, my friend! Simply excellent! I have been trying my hand at communicating along, and my lack of experience has led to 3 different iterations that have all failed VIA that AND planning. Keeping your post in mind, I may just finally pull this off.
Thanks so much!

 

[Idea]

And thus, the Idea has come in with a Whammy! Excellent, my friend! Simply excellent! I have been trying my hand at communicating along, and my lack of experience has led to 3 different iterations that have all failed VIA that AND planning. Keeping your post in mind, I may just finally pull this off.
Thanks so much!

"A whammy"...I'm getting mixed signals here are you upset or are you genuinely thanking me?

 

[Panzer]

"A whammy"...I'm getting mixed signals here are you upset or are you genuinely thanking me?

I'm thanking you, of course! I'm not upset, and I don't see why I would be.

 

[Panzer]

I must be using "Whammy" incorrectly. I thought it could be used as a cheesy punch, but I appear to be mistaken.

 

[Idea]

I'm thanking you, of course! I'm not upset, and I don't see why I would be.

Phew...that's a relief. I did say some pretty harsh things. Plus when I looked up "A whammy" I only found negative meanings...

 

[Panzer]

Phew, that sounds like a doozy. Glad to have cleared that up, my friend! Uh, one more in-depth question- this is brought up by your post but I would want to expand on this a little: What would be better? A small focus on one cast - or a town population comprised of players. I've run into this problem- I've tried to have the players discuss with other small groups of players and work out their relationships in a normal manner- it didn't go too well, and I ended up with everyone joining one giant friend group into what could be a battalion of teenagers... I would want to kinda expand on the premise; since I have observed that players may bandwagon onto one kind of character- how does one kinda encourage players to make character's relationships *without* ending up with one giant blob? Should I just assemble a small group and have that as the main cast while having the rest as NPC's? How do I separate players organically or encourage this relationship making behavior without forcefully pushing them upon each other into small groups?

Another thing; paranormal stuff. While it's great 'n all, what could I do to kinda balance the interest levels of being a vampire to a normal human?

 

[Panzer]

Well, not "one more" question, it seems more like 4... But it's open to anyone answering, folks!

 

[Idea]

What would be better? A small focus on one cast - or a town population comprised of players. I've run into this problem- I've tried to have the players discuss with other small groups of players and work out their relationships in a normal manner- it didn't go too well, and I ended up with everyone joining one giant friend group into what could be a battalion of teenagers... I would want to kinda expand on the premise; since I have observed that players may bandwagon onto one kind of character- how does one kinda encourage players to make character's relationships *without* ending up with one giant blob?

Generally speaking, a smaller group is better. It's easier to manage and coordinate, plus to have everyone act as more of a group without anyone being excluded. The disadvantages are that this means you'll have to figure out who you want to not allow into the roleplay, and tell them as much, and that if a player leaves it's a bigger mess to try to cover for it. My current solution to the latter problem is to have it in the rules that by joining one of my roleplays, all characters submitted are subject to becoming NPCs is the player ghosts, leaves or is absent for too long, thus allowing me the GM to get them out of the picture when necessary without infringing on the player's right to their own character.


PS: If you want to make italics, then the code is as follows:

[i]text here[/i]

And you end up with text here

As for the second question there, I'll probably need you to clarify what you mean by "a giant blob" .

Should I just assemble a small group and have that as the main cast while having the rest as NPC's?

That or the players themselves can have multiple characters. Depends on what you can handle better. Know your own strengths, weaknesses and limits. It will make it easier to have a more fulfilling roleplay life.

How do I separate players organically or encourage this relationship making behavior without forcefully pushing them upon each other into small groups?

1. Promote characters having pre-established relaitonships. Having characters who are siblings, friends, rivals or anything else from the getgo helps players have a foot in the roleplay and can latter help set a line in the sand for who they already adressed and who they didn't

2. Take a hint. Look at player CSs see what situations would call the characters together. Look at relationshops and interactions the players form themselves. Basically look at player-generated content and craft situations that use that information to your advantage in getting the characters to interact with each other.

3.Use plot to get the characters to have to communicate with each other. Maybe throw in the suspicion that one of them is a murderer. Or say that there will be some group competition with smaller groups, but the players must arrange themselves for it.

4. bring up somehting interesting about a character that you feel needs more interaction. If you want two specific characters to interact, try seeing if you can make that reveal have something related to the other character you want to interact with them.

Do take these hints with a grain fo salt though. Honeslty, how characters act is a very personal player matter, and you can hardly get characters to interact more unless the players themselves want to make it happen as well. I'm not fantastic at it either, getting players to interact in non-plot scenarios is very hard for me and rarely do I succeed really.

Another thing; paranormal stuff. While it's great 'n all, what could I do to kinda balance the interest levels of being a vampire to a normal human?

Oh you'd be surprised, most people actually tend to prefer playing a human over anything supernatural, by my experience anyway. I suppose it is more familiar or simpler.