Viewpoint RP Preference: Plot-Driven or Character-Driven?

[WINCE]

With plot-driven being stories focused on events and choice, and character-driven being stories focused on character study and interpersonal struggle, which do you favor (and why)?

 

[Jannah]

Character driven, but only because I'm absolute shit at coming up with plots.

 

[Ace Cream]

For RP I prefer plot driven. I'm mostly a group RPer and character driven is really hard to do in group and die fast.

 

[WINCE]

character driven is really hard to do in group and die fast.

Why is that so?

 

[icechilled]

Depends on the character and setting. I find that if romance is the main focus, character-driven stories usually are more fitting. If I like the setting & the cast (more than the single character I'm playing), then I tend to lean toward plot-driven. That being said, I like to mix both when I roleplay/write stories.

 

[Shirokane]

Charactsr driven. I dont like being stuck to a plot. Characters driving it makes it more flexible.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Why is that so?

Why do they die or why is character driven harder?

For character driven stories the benefit from a smaller cast as it lets you really focus on specific arcs and pushing characters from point A to point B.

Groups have many characters and many players. So you have to find the person with the character that you like, Hope their open to plotting with you, hope they stick around long enough for the plotting to be useable, and hope the roleplay doesn’t die in the meantime.

I mean it’s not to say you can’t do character driven roleplays and have them work they just require an extremely dedicated base of multiple people and a organized GM.

 

[Ayama]

Ideally? Plot-driven.
Realistically? Character-driven.

​

 

[SCSaya06]

Ideally? Plot-driven.
Realistically? Character-driven.

​

Same. I prefer plot-driven stories since I like action and the stories I prefer tend to be heavily plot-driven.

In terms of actual experience, character-driven stories I've been part of tend to last longer and get more engagement.

 

[Crayons]

Character-driven, because if the characters are well-made their actions will drive a plot without a plot being imposed upon them from without. Good characters = character-driven and plot-driven rp.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Also to answer the question : neither. Most of my roleplays are slice of life with a focus on the setting not the plot or characters. So the idea is to just use the characters to explore the setting and flesh it out.

Now occasionally I will do plot focused mystery roleplays but those are pretty cool infrequent.

 

[baggysack]

i may be misunderstanding but i don't think any of the rps i've been in have been story- or character-driven from the outset. it mostly depends on the players and their writing style. i think i'm more character-driven, personally.

 

[Venomar]

With stories, I'm definitely more of a fan of character driven arcs. But with RPs, I find it best to start with plot-driven narratives, especially if it's a group RP.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Character-driven, for sure. A bad plot can be fixed, but an RP with bad characters is pretty much unsalvageable.

Of course, it's a lot harder to make a character-driven RP unless everyone collaborates on the whole thing from the get-go.

 

[Kayvan]

I like character driven stories because I'm interested more in people and their potential. In plot driven stories the characters are what the situation asks of them to be which is not quite realistic and these are not real character. I tend to see plots as mirrors which are suppose to reflect who a character really is or could be.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Both. An RP can't survive without both. Plots develop the characters and characters develop plots.

Most "real" people aren't very interesting. If left to their own devices, they'll just screw around, not accomplishing much worth reading or writing about. "Plot" is the force that pushes them out of their comfort zone, revealing aspects of themselves that even they didn't know were within them. And it doesn't have to be some huge, epic, save-the-world struggle. Even slice-of-life RPs have plots, just with lower stakes. Plot is just another way of saying, "shit happens, we respond." The thing that happens can be huuuuge, like "the demon Lord of Azdraguuuul has woken from his thousand-year slumber," or small-scale, like "I think I'm falling in love with my best friend, but how do i tell her." How characters respond, and the effect it has on them, and the other characters, is what I enjoy most about roleplaying, but it can't happen without the force of plot pushing them along... or holding them back.

Where plot becomes problematic is when the GM (or, occasionally, other players,) get too forceful and either railroads them toward a goal or hammers them into submission by throwing impossible obstacles at every turn. The characters' choices lose meaning or the pacing is so quick they don't have time to properly process what they've been through and change. Nothing resonates, so the characters stop being people and just become chesspieces, inelegantly shoveled toward a goal they have no interest in achieving to prop up a "plot" (i'm using that term very loosely now) that has fuck-all to do with them. "Congratulations, [Insert Name Here], you beat the demon lord of Azdraguuuul, whoever you are. And all it cost you was your soul... and the love of your best friend. She's dating Prince Jerkface now, because you were too busy dragon-slaying to notice her. Nice job breaking it, hero. Her heart, that is."

So, to answer your question: both. Gotta have both.

 

[WINCE]

Both. An RP can't survive without both. Plots develop the characters and characters develop plots.

Most "real" people aren't very interesting. If left to their own devices, they'll just screw around, not accomplishing much worth reading or writing about. "Plot" is the force that pushes them out of their comfort zone, revealing aspects of themselves that even they didn't know were within them. And it doesn't have to be some huge, epic, save-the-world struggle. Even slice-of-life RPs have plots, just with lower stakes. Plot is just another way of saying, "shit happens, we respond." The thing that happens can be huuuuge, like "the demon Lord of Azdraguuuul has woken from his thousand-year slumber," or small-scale, like "I think I'm falling in love with my best friend, but how do i tell her." How characters respond, and the effect it has on them, and the other characters, is what I enjoy most about roleplaying, but it can't happen without the force of plot pushing them along... or holding them back.

Where plot becomes problematic is when the GM (or, occasionally, other players,) get too forceful and either railroads them toward a goal or hammers them into submission by throwing impossible obstacles at every turn. The characters' choices lose meaning or the pacing is so quick they don't have time to properly process what they've been through and change. Nothing resonates, so the characters stop being people and just become chesspieces, inelegantly shoveled toward a goal they have no interest in achieving to prop up a "plot" (i'm using that term very loosely now) that has fuck-all to do with them. "Congratulations, [Insert Name Here], you beat the demon lord of Azdraguuuul, whoever you are. And all it cost you was your soul... and the love of your best friend. She's dating Prince Jerkface now, because you were too busy dragon-slaying to notice her. Nice job breaking it, hero. Her heart, that is."

So, to answer your question: both. Gotta have both.

The story is hyper-focused on what internal conflict the character is experiencing, so really as long as something is going on inside of them, you could make it about anyone. And, I think you're mistaking what implies a character-driven story. They do have plot.

Are you, by chance, referring to sand-box RPs in which the characters, left to their own devices, are utterly aimless and do not accomplish much worth reading about?

 

[Crayons]

Both. An RP can't survive without both. Plots develop the characters and characters develop plots.

Most "real" people aren't very interesting.

Welp, I disagree on this point, although I'm not going to die on that hill. Real people are interesting, to me. But the point I want to make here is that real people aren't characters. Characters are people specifically created and chosen because they *are* interesting.

If left to their own devices, they'll just screw around, not accomplishing much worth reading or writing about. "Plot" is the force that pushes them out of their comfort zone, revealing aspects of themselves that even they didn't know were within them. And it doesn't have to be some huge, epic, save-the-world struggle. Even slice-of-life RPs have plots, just with lower stakes. Plot is just another way of saying, "shit happens, we respond."

I'm going to disagree here as well. Characters should have motivation. Motivation is what drives them - it could be a value (e.g. loyalty), a goal (e.g. wanting to be the football captain) or an impulse (e.g. feeling the need to protect others). Essentially, they have something that they want to obtain or achieve. Once they have a motivation, they should be working towards goal that they have or upholding their core values. Because of this motivation, a good character does not need to wait for a plot to be imposed on them before they act. They act, rather than react, or as you put it, respond.

The thing that happens can be huuuuge, like "the demon Lord of Azdraguuuul has woken from his thousand-year slumber," or small-scale, like "I think I'm falling in love with my best friend, but how do i tell her." How characters respond, and the effect it has on them, and the other characters, is what I enjoy most about roleplaying, but it can't happen without the force of plot pushing them along... or holding them back.

Or they can just decide to do something ... and go ahead and try it. "I want money, so I will set myself up as a spy and get information to sell." "I want to restore my country's monarchy, so I will raise an army to fight the parliamentarians."

The idea that characters need an outside force constantly imposed upon them in order to raise them from a zombie-like lethargy is erroneous. Characters should never just be sitting about waiting for something to happen. What is the point of them if they do that?

WINCE

Are you, by chance, referring to sand-box RPs in which the characters, left to their own devices, are utterly aimless and do not accomplish much worth reading about?

Having played in Sandbox RPs a lot, everything I've said above applies to characters in them. In fact, moreso. If a character is aimless in a sandbox RP, then it's a faulty character.

 

[WINCE]

Having played in Sandbox RPs a lot, everything I've said above applies to characters in them. In fact, moreso. If a character is aimless in a sandbox RP, then it's a faulty character.

Yeah, that's true. Some sandbox RPs with... less-experienced writers, or I suppose, those role-playing more for fun than story, can be aimless and come across as "not worth" reading/writing about. I wasn't sure where Anonymouse got their impression of character-driven from, but I thought it could be from that.

 

[Crayons]

Yeah, that's true. Some sandbox RPs with... less-experienced writers, or I suppose, those role-playing more for fun than story, can be aimless and come across as "not worth" reading/writing about. I wasn't sure where Anonymouse got their impression of character-driven from, but I thought it could be from that.

I think you're right. If the characters are aimless, it's not worth reading about. But it's not worth reading about boring characters if they are on a specific quest given to them by a mighty wizard either.

 

[Grey]

I don't consider these mutually exclusive and think an RP is stronger for leveraging both.

 

[Idea]

By sum of parts, I would say character-driven. I definitely always write in a character-driven way unless I’m the GM (and even then I’ll still write character-driven posts for my character, only GM posts being individually plot-driven). That said, I do what I can to intertwine character and plot as much as possible so there’s more of a blurred line there, and the roleplay itself will vary between plot-driven or character driven depending on the premise.

 

[Jannah]

The story is hyper-focused on what internal conflict the character is experiencing, so really as long as something is going on inside of them, you could make it about anyone. And, I think you're mistaking what implies a character-driven story. They do have plot.

Are you, by chance, referring to sand-box RPs in which the characters, left to their own devices, are utterly aimless and do not accomplish much worth reading about?

While character driven stories do have plot they tend to be much simpler plots, usually revolving around pretty basic stuff. Basically the idea is to experiment and see how different characters would react in different scenarios.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Welp, I disagree on this point, although I'm not going to die on that hill. Real people are interesting, to me. But the point I want to make here is that real people aren't characters. Characters are people specifically created and chosen because they *are* interesting.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that. Personally, I write to tell a story, so I choose my characters based on the role they fulfill in that story. Simply being interesting is not enough, though it is definitely a factor. And, despite how that sounds, i certainly don't consider my writing plot-driven. Like I said, "plots develop the characters and characters develop plots." That is how I opened my post, then went on to give an exaggerated example of what it can look like if there is no focus on plot and what it can look like when there is no focus on character development. I notice you did not quote the latter.

I'm going to disagree here as well. Characters should have motivation. Motivation is what drives them - it could be a value (e.g. loyalty), a goal (e.g. wanting to be the football captain) or an impulse (e.g. feeling the need to protect others). Essentially, they have something that they want to obtain or achieve. Once they have a motivation, they should be working towards goal that they have or upholding their core values. Because of this motivation, a good character does not need to wait for a plot to be imposed on them before they act. They act, rather than react, or as you put it, respond.

I disagree with the insinuation that only go-getters or self-motivated individuals make good characters, but that's kind of beside the point and (probably) not the focal point of your argument. Of course, characters should have motivation. But motivation alone does not a story make. I don't care if Billy wants to be football captain. I don't care that he gets up and goes to football practice every day. I want to know what's standing in his way and how he behaves when confronted with those roadblocks. Conflict. That's Billy's story. As a roleplayer, that's what makes stepping into Billy's shoes "interesting." If the GM or other players and/or characters aren't providing that, Billy's story will fall flat, no matter how interesting Billy himself might be.

Or they can just decide to do something ... and go ahead and try it. "I want money, so I will set myself up as a spy and get information to sell." "I want to restore my country's monarchy, so I will raise an army to fight the parliamentarians."

Again, that is one type of character. Not every character conforms to that personality archetype. And, even for those who do, what happened to make them want these things in the first place? A plot is in motion before the RP even begins. Plots develop characters; characters develop plots. There is a chicken-and-the-egg causality going on here. You can't separate them or put this before that without some aspect of the story suffering.

The idea that characters need an outside force constantly imposed upon them in order to raise them from a zombie-like lethargy is erroneous. Characters should never just be sitting about waiting for something to happen. What is the point of them if they do that?

I already acknowledged in my post that the force need not be external. I gave the example of a character falling in love. And I never said characters would do "nothing." I said their actions wouldn't amount to much worth reading/writing about. Because interesting people doing interesting things is not a story. Real life provides plenty of challenges on its own. I tip my hat to whoever is GMing this circus we all live in, LOL, but in an RP, we have to provide that.

Yeah, that's true. Some sandbox RPs with... less-experienced writers, or I suppose, those role-playing more for fun than story, can be aimless and come across as "not worth" reading/writing about. I wasn't sure where Anonymouse got their impression of character-driven from, but I thought it could be from that.

The challenge of writing a sandbox RP is "whose story are we trying to tell?" They tend to be cluttered with a lot of narrative noise if the players don't communicate, collaborate, and plan. And some players flock to them seeking that freedom, because they're just trying out a character or don't have a clear trajectory in mind for that character and want to throw them into the mixing pot and see what bubbles up. I created and GM'd a sandbox for about 3 or 4 years and saw all types. Some players were content with just dropping their character in the local coffeehouse or bar and hanging out, going to work, meeting people. I had no problem with that, and it occasionally made for some interesting moments, but that's not how I prefer to RP.. Meanwhile, others wanted to overthrow the government, rule the city, become a crime boss, etcetera, etcetera. I found supporting those characters more interesting than anything the side characters (i hate to call them that, but can't think of another word) were doing.

So, to clarify, I don't have a negative impression of "character-driven" roleplays. After all, a good plot is character-driven. That's what I started out saying, but it got misconstrued. My style of roleplaying is character-driven in the sense that I choose characters who will drive the plots I want to see and those plots contribute to the development of the characters.

 

[Crayons]

OK you've clarified what you were saying, and mostly I can agree with your clarifications.

I disagree with the insinuation that only go-getters or self-motivated individuals make good characters, but that's kind of beside the point and (probably) not the focal point of your argument. Of course, characters should have motivation. But motivation alone does not a story make. I don't care if Billy wants to be football captain. I don't care that he gets up and goes to football practice every day. I want to know what's standing in his way and how he behaves when confronted with those roadblocks. Conflict. That's Billy's story. As a roleplayer, that's what makes stepping into Billy's shoes "interesting." If the GM or other players and/or characters aren't providing that, Billy's story will fall flat, no matter how interesting Billy himself might be.

Conflict should be provided by other characters who have their own motivations. Billy wants to be the football captain, so does Fred. Fred is the antagonist. That's part of my point about characters creating the plot. I don't think my examples apply to only one type of character at all. They don't have to be "go-getting" they just need something that makes them do stuff. Whatever that stuff is. One of my RP partners played a house servant who was basically just looking after guests and being nice to them. But she had an active inner life, things that she wanted, opinions about what other characters did, etc. etc.

Characters bouncing off each other makes enough plot without outside influence IMO. Therefore it's perfectly possible to have a good RP with no prearranged plot at all and just see what happens, as long as the characters have some kind of motivation to act and react to each other. Plots that have happened before the start of the RP (for example backstory) don't count as plot afaic but as creating a scenario. However, you can't have a good RP with just a plot and a bunch of cardboard cutout characters, no matter how good of a plot that is.