From apacio@snet.net Tue Jul 27 03:47:03 2004 Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 21:25:00 -0500 From: Adam Pacio Reply-To: wizards@ta-veren.org To: wizards@ta-veren.org Subject: [Wiz] Revised 75-char wide TP Guide Here it is. Enjoy. -BF -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345 TP Guidelines The idea of coming up with an online character in the Wheel of Time milieu is a wonderful, enchanting idea. Once you're through CharGen, however, just having a kickin' concept for your +sheet isn't enough. Eventually, you've got to -do- something, or have something happen. The MUSH depends on something happening on a regular basis, so that players can have their characters react and roleplaying can get pushed to new limits. The Wheel of Time is a world taken from the stories of Robert Jordan. It naturally follows that Tales of Ta'veren is a setting against which some incredible stories can be set. In MUSH parlance, those online stories are made up of Tiny Plots, or TPs for short. What is a Tiny Plot? A Tiny Plot, in its simplest definition, is a planned series of RP sessions to advance a story that takes place on the MUSH. Unlike books, where a single author controls everything that happens, or Tabletop Gaming, where a single Judge or GM devises events and scenes for a single group, the MUSH allows almost anyone to come up with their own concepts for stories and to run them for groups of varying size. While the Wizards of Tales of Ta'veren are actively supporting a single, overarching MetaPlot direction for the MUSH as a whole, there's plenty of room for individual players to devise and run their own TPs. . . . . . so long as they take certain things into account. Consent Tales of Ta'veren is a consent-based MUSH. This means that, with some noted exceptions, a player has the right to refuse to take part in actions going on around them. For more information, check out NEWS RP CONSENT, and NEWS CONSENT online. What this means for TP purposes is that you can lead a player to the plot, but you can't make them play. Players will decide whether their characters participate in any plot, and to what extent. Consent may seem like it's only common sense, but it's actually a philosophy which colors all of the activities that go on inside the MUSH world. Approval Because Tales is set up with plots in the works at all times you need to make sure that what you are running won't interfere with other plots or the world dynamics. If Jane sets up a TP and puts a lot of work into it, and then Mike steps up with a TP that changes things around on Jane, she's going to be very upset, and rightly so. While scenes can be retconned or balefired (made as though they never existed), this is a drastic measure and one to be avoided. Although there are no hard & fast rules, it's always better to check with Area Roleplay Staff than to simply barge ahead and run a TP, or even a scene. As a rule of thumb, you will always need approval for things which: a) change or affect public parts of the Area (a blast of fire knocking out the wall of an inn, or the death of the queen) b) bring the plot into the In-Character public eye (a failed assassination attempt on a magistrate, the birth of an heir to the throne) c) encompass more than one Area (thieves chased out of Tar Valon move to Caemlyn and start harassing the countryside, an Aes Sedai runs through the Ways to get to an Ogier stedding while being chased by Black Ajah) d) involve or affect an area, group, or organization that you don't control/belong to (the daughter of House Sulamaad gets kidnapped while out riding, a Darkfriend character bags one of the Children of Light on patrol) Please note that this also includes using an area or a group in a negative or derogatory manner. Area staff has a right to protect how their group is portrayed by others. e) deal with Restricted matters (Aes Sedai, balefire, shadowspawn, ter'angreal not purchased in CharGen, heron-mark blades, generally the stuff that seems way cool that everyone wants to play with.) The approval process generally consists of +mailing your Area RP Staff or the Wizards and asking for permission to run the plot. Even if your plot doesn't fall into those categories, it's always a good idea to tell the Area Staff about it ^Öbefore^Ö you start running the TP. That way, they'll help you out as you go. Then too, sometimes even the innocent-seeming things may clash with other approval plots, and the admin in question can point it out right away. While the administration tries to never turn plots down flat, there's always the possibility that the TP you propose may be denied, in whole or in part, because the story stretches the realms of the permissible. As with anything MUSH-related, while the administration of the game will work with you at every chance, the ruling of the wizards is final. Styles There are many ways to plan stories and TPs on the MUSH, but in general there are two kinds of Tiny Plots which will take place. True TPs, which are covered here and day-to-day RP, or Daily Plots. A Daily Plot is something that is natural to the day-to-day life of your character. So long as consent rules are followed, you may arbitrarily decide on the daily happenings for your character and RP them accordingly. Here are a couple of examples. Lianna is a Novice in the White Tower and wants to RP in a public room where two Aes Sedai are having a conversation. Lianna enters the room and begins to emit poses about cleaning the floor, or dusting the furniture. This reminds the Aes Sedai that they are in a public room, and gives them a chance to react to Lianna's presence ICly. This also allows Lianna to be present in a perfectly acceptable manner so she can hear the conversation. In another example, Charyls is a Warder Trainee and decides to add a little bit of spice to his RP that day. He approaches a Warder in an appropriate public area and RPs that he has cut his hand open while cleaning his sword and is now bleeding. As the Warder investigates, Charyls' player decides that the Trainee did it because he was ogling an Accepted nearby instead of paying attention. All of this is perfectly within the day-to-day operation of the character, although it may be behavior out of the norm, and it is completely within the rules of consent. This is the stuff of Daily Plots. Click here for more information about day-to-day RP (http://www.ta-veren.org/admin/rpseminars/daily.html). True Tiny Plots usually involve one or more scenes and several characters. They entail events that take the characters into new and unexamined situations, and allow for the most growth. They also tend to last more than one day, and some can actually go on for months at a time, becoming quite convoluted and complex. Tiny Plots are much more planned ^Ö they don't rely on spontaneous ideas based on the people and the situations occurring at the time. Instead, they contrive situations and may involve giving characters involved specific roles to play. Both Daily Plots and TPs are acceptable tools for Roleplay on Tales, but this guide focuses on TPs. REASONS TO RUN A TinyPlot If a TP goes on for months at a time, raises the question of approval, and takes time and extra effort on the players' part, why would anyone want to run a TP in the first place? There are some good answers to that, and some not so good answers. We'll look at both below. Fun First and foremost, running a TP is fun! It's enjoyable for the players involved, and it's good for the person coordinating it, too. Story Idea Another common reason to run a TP is because you've come up with a great story idea for the Tales environment and you'd love to share it with your friends. Groups There are several official player groups and organizations on the MUSH, ranging from the White Tower (which spans an entire Area all of its own) to Noble families, to a guild of criminals, etc. When applying to have a group made, one of the things that the Wizards like to see is that there's something there for the group to actually -do-. Members of the group may take turns scripting TPs for use with their own group, or else a Tiny Plot can be created to give a set of characters an excuse to form a group of their own for a temporary time (lasting the duration of the Tiny Plot). Story Share In any plot, certain characters are active some of the time, while others have minor roles on camera. The amount of time and attention given to a particular character during a plot is called Story Share. Coming up with a TP in order to grab more Story Share for your character is a common source of TP ideas, but it's not the best reason in the book. It's tempting to run a plot in order to make your character look like a Hero, to be center stage & saving the day all the time, but it's an urge you're better off resisting. Scripting large-scale TPs just to grab Story Share for you or a friend is an example of power gaming, and not allowed. The same thing goes with coming up with a TP just to give your character a fun toy to play with (a ter'angreal not bought in CharGen, for example). That's not to say that the TP you've come up with isn't a valid story, but it would probably need to be adjusted so that someone -else- benefitted from it before being approved. Even if you try to 'fly under radar' by grabbing Story Share without running plots that need approval, you'll probably end up losing friends on the MUSH. Using other players' characters just to grab your own Story Share is exactly that -- using someone. No one likes to be used. Manipulation Like grabbing Story Share, manipulation is also a Bad Thing (tm). This is when you write a plot specifically aimed at forcing events or characters to act or behave in a manner you desire. Trying to manipulate someone through a plot is a violation of the spirit of Consent rulings, and therefore not allowed. Another example of manipulation through TPs is running TP after TP after TP just to be in a position where you can call the shots all the time. There's nothing stopping you from contributing as much as you want to the MUSH, but just be sure that you're doing it so that other people can have fun, too. If you find yourself getting upset because characters aren't behaving the way you feel they should in your TPs, you may need to back off a bit to avoid arranging events in the TP -just- to manipulate the result you want. There are acceptable tools for guiding results without resorting to reactionary measures. One of the most important things to remember about Tiny Plots is that they are not plays. A common mistake made at first is to try and script everything, and not take into account the independant reactions of outside characters. If a Tiny Plot is going to include a public event or RP scene, trying to dictate every last response of the characters present can cause resentment from the players who feel they are not being allowed to participate. This is a more subtle form of manipulation, and one that is born from inexperience, not a desire to micromanage RP events. ELEMENTS OF PLOTS Obviously the best way to create good TPs is to create a good plot in general. To do that, we need to understand what, exactly, a plot is. For our purposes, we'll use the definition below. A plot is nothing more than a character's motivation encountering resistance and trying to resolve that conflict. Essentially, a plot exists because what a character wants isn't how the world is, and that character sets about trying to change things. (As in life, when this situation arises, you have two choices... you can change the world, or you can change what you want. One of the two eventually has to give.) This brings us to the secret to making Great Plots: A Great Plot comes about because of a Great Conflict. Without conflict, the plot doesn't exist. Boy wants girl, boy gets girl -- no story. Boy wants girl, girl doesn't want boy, boy tries to get girl -- good story. Boy wants girl, girl wants other girl, boy and other girl fight for girl's attention, after fighting, boy and other girl become best friends ^Ö great story! You get the drift, yes? Motivation So if Great Conflicts make for Great Plots, what's the secret to a Great Conflict? Essentially, all conflicts come about because of motivation. A conflict exists because someone wants something they can't (for the moment) have. When two people want different things, you get an awesome conflict. What does that mean for TPs? Most aborted TP attempts stop because there are no villains. There was no one to fight against, nothing to struggle against. Why not? Because none of the characters' motivations were being blocked. There was no one to push against, and without that, the characters sat around, idle. What else does that mean? It means that your villains need to have motivation, too. Mindless evil is scary in small doses, but it makes for terrible adversaries. That's one of the reasons why the Forsaken characters are so popular. They have motivations and desires, and it's the fact that the Forsaken want things at cross purposes with the good guys that leads to good conflicts. In other works of popular fiction, you can see how true villains are not villains because they are evil, they are villains because they have different desires and motivations that are being attained through paths that the heroes find to be wrong. For example, the aliens in the Alien movies are not hell-bent on the destruction of the human race, they seek only to promote the survival of their own species (which happens to bring about the destruction of humans). The Empire in the Star Wars movies may be lead by evil men, but the soldiers of the Empire believed in a different cause than the Rebellion did. By themselves they were not evil, but they opposed the values of the heroes, and therefore had to be dealt with. Inspiration for Plots Given the above, then, if you're looking for ways to craft excellent, engaging conflicts, look no further than the characters involved. Take a long, hard look at what the characters want, and then come up with a believable reason why they can't get it. Once you come up with those believable reasons, you have the seeds for an excellent Tiny Plot. Of course, this assumes you know who your audience is going to be from the start. If you haven't decided on that yet, you may want to start there. Once you know either the specific characters to be involved, or the general types who will be involved, you can start harvesting conflicts out of their motivations. COMMON CONFLICTS & MOTIVATIONS There are certain categories of conflict patterns and motivations which can help in shaping new TPs. These structures are the essential backbones of most stories we hear, even today. Feel free to take one of these and try to adapt it to the characters to be involved in a Tiny Plot. Return to Normal In this structure, the characters are involved in some event or scene which robs them of their normal life somehow. Space aliens abduct their son and they want to get him back; a dragon moves into the cave near the back of their property and they want the farm back; their best friend turns out to be Ta'veren and yanks them away from their small village and all they want to do is return and take up smithing again. That kind of deal. The character may or may not ever be able to get back to Normal, but the motivation of the character is the return to their 'regular' life, and the conflict comes from the circumstances that prevent it. This can involve getting rid of something new (a novice who doesn't want to be able to channel) or getting back something that was lost (finding the ter'angreal that does laundry which your Aunt Tilly stole). (Side note ^Ö in the writing world, when there's a lost or stolen object to be regained that doesn't really impact the plot at all outside the chase of it, it's called a MacGuffin. The Horn of Valere is Jordan's MacGuffin.) Personal Success Just like in real life, characters have goals and ambitions for themselves. Dreams, if you will. The obstacles which come up in the pursuit of those dreams makes for some very interesting plots. Plots are generated every time a character tries to ascend a ladder of advancement on the road to becoming something, even if the only obstacle that has to be faced is the time involved in attaining the goal. This is the main reason why on Wheel of Time MUSHes across the internet, the White Tower seems to be such a popular place. That's the one place in Jordan's world that the steps to advancement are clear-cut, with an inherent means for measuring success or failure at the end of the road. Curiously enough, there's also a tendency in the White Tower areas for lessons and the road from Novice to Aes Sedai to be the only real source of regular roleplay. The plot of advancement is a strong one, and it easily overrides many of the other possible sources of motivation and conflict. Personal success is a pattern that can be found anywhere, though. Everyone has an agenda for their own lives. If you can figure out what other players want by way of advancement, you'll be able to craft excellent, personally-keyed plots for them by throwing conflicts in their path to overcome. Opposing Forces Enter the villain, or nemesis. This structure introduces a strong foe, with their own motivations and purposes, which conflict with what the characters want. Or, the foe has a purpose which must be thwarted. This is a variant on the Return to Normal structure, but with the focus being the defeat (in some manner or another) of another character or NPC. What makes Opposing Forces a hard structure is that it's difficult to portray quality villains. The bad guys don't always need to be evil, but that feels too much like politics sometimes, and it may make some players uncomfortable (which means, under consent rules, that you may not get spectacular turnout rates for the TP after a while). If done well, though, using the structure of Opposing Forces can yield excellent scenes and plots. Unrequited Love This is a further variant of the Opposing Forces, and also difficult to do. Romance is a necessary part of every healthy lifestyle, but too often the attraction for a person is not returned. The amorous pursuit of unrequited love is the subject of many movies, as the character involved is thwarted by the very thing they seek. To use this structure, it would be best played out with a Consenting player as part of a TP duet, rather than a group scene. However, Unrequited Love can generate RP opportunities if it happens between two members of a group, since the conflict will be felt by those close by the Attracted and the Uninterested parties. Tread with care, though, since this sort of RP can lead to Real Life ickyness since players involved, including those merely watching or exposed to the RP, can easily misconstrue this sort of a structure for stalking or harassment. In fact, it's my recommendation that this level of conflict structure -always- be brought to the awareness of Senior MUSH Staff or the Wizards in order to protect the TP Coordinator and the participating characters. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of lawsuits. Inner Conflict In this pattern of motivation and conflict, the character is torn between two desires, or has not accepted a part of themselves. The plot arises as the character tries to make peace with themselves, or to reconcile the two desires that are at odds. This is included for completeness, but it's very hard to script a TP for something like this, or to even share the TP if it comes to fruition. One excellent example of the Inner Conflict plot from the Wheel of Time books is Perrin trying to walk the line between the world of humans and the world of the wolves. Perrin's storylines all seem to point to resolving the conflict within himself, and the reactions of Faile and the others around him are examples of the way Inner Conflict plots can spill over to affect more than just the tormented character. The key to success with this kind of plot is to already be a well-liked character. If a complete stranger is in the grips of mental anguish, most people will not associate with them. If the loveable, charismatic hero suddenly begins to exhibit the symptoms of an Inner Conflict, those around her will be much more likely to come to her aid, or to be involved. Very advanced players may wish to try and portray this plot in their character actions, coming to resolution at a large turning point in their life. It's difficult in the extreme, but if done properly is extremely rewarding for both the player and those around them. TOOLS FOR RUNNING TINYPLOTS Once the plot ideas start flowing from motivation and conflict, then it's time to think about how to run the TinyPlot. Essentially, ask for approval -before- you do a ton of work on things. Know who your audience is, and who you want to play in the TP. Make sure that there's a good reason WHY things are happening, and you'll get people hooked faster. Try to get a sense of what the end of the TP will be like, and when it's going to occur. Just to be on the safe side, pad the estimate for the ending of the TP by about 2-3 weeks because RL has a way of happening on nights you scheduled scenes that needed to be run. When you know where you think you're headed, and you can see where you are beginning from, you can figure out the major points in between. It's like driving across North America, knowing that you're going to start in NYC and end up in Seattle, and that somewhere along the way you want to stop in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Portland. You have a general idea of what the order of stops will be, and you can plan out the rough route for your trip, but aside from that, you'll go where you need to go, and things may change, but you know you'll end up in Seattle. You hope. There are a number of tools you can use when running a Tiny Plot. Not every tool is needed, and certain ones are better for different purposes. When looking at the Chicago, Las Vegas, and Portland of your plot, you should get an idea of which of the tools below will be needed to get you there and keep you moving. Thematic Motivations/ Canon This tool is used whenever you rely on the players on the MUSH to behave in a certain fashion based on what Theme dictates. For example, if a raven flies into Tar Valon city streets, you can expect that people are going to try and kill it because that's the behavior Jordan has described in his books. When you set up a situation which requires a thematic response or reaction from the characters in the TP, you're using this tool. Drawbacks: Subtle is better with Canon Motivations. If the TP participants detect you doing this, they will feel like you are limiting their RP unfairly. When players don't react how you expect them to, you will most likely accuse them of being unthematic and twinkish. KNOW THIS FOR TRUTH: Players will -ALWAYS- want to be the exception to any stated thematic rule or canon establishment. Plan on it, and use Thematic Motivations sparingly. Appropriate For: quick scenes in public places, minor disputes where the acting characters in the story restrain -themselves- by acting in theme, best used when the characters involved know what you expect ahead of time. Open Events/ Scenes An Open Event is when you have nothing planned, other than the fact that the Event occurs. A while back a strange comet fell on Tales of Ta'veren, and did something to channelers as it fell. The event was broadcast MUSH-wide, and everyone had a chance to interact with it. There was no specifically desired outcome, just that the event happened and players were made aware, while being given the chance to be dramatic IC about the sky falling. There is a rule of etiquette to observe with Open Events, however. Don't steal someone else's thunder by using an Open Event to launch your own TP unless you've cleared that with the organizers of the original event, first. Drawbacks: There is a distinct lack of control in large events where you don't know what the outcome is. Over-reacting can happen, as can under-reacting (ignoring the event). When dealing with large-scale events, Consent issues can come into play, and these always need Area or Wizard approval, as appropriate. IC Parties can be great for RP, but the more people you get in one place, the spammier it gets. Consider using a Pose List (a list of characters present, each taking a turn after the person before them in the list poses) to cut down on spam, or else get a room with +places coded. Appropriate for: kicking off the TP, wide exposure to the plot, the party after the TP is wrapped up, advancing a plot (interrupt the party/scene with a scripted episode, then go back to an open event). Scripted Scenes This is the opposite of the Open Event. A Scripted Scene has been planned out from start to finish, so that everyone involved is performing a role more than they are Roleplaying. The Scripted Scene is an excellent tool for making sure that what needs to happen to advance the TP -does- happen, and exactly as planned. The scenes can be long, and usually they go well with an Audience Chamber that interested players can use to watch the scene without being there or sending puppets in. (Ask a Wizard how to set that kind of chamber up and they'll get you the help you need.) Drawbacks: Scripted Scenes are often viewed as being too rigid. They're fine once in a while, but use them too much and it's boring ^Ö the players don't feel like they're getting anything out of it except practice being a pawn. If a Scripted Scene is going to be held in a place where there are other players who don't know what's going on, they may feel excluded, powerless, or else they may be ornery and really mess things up for you by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Be aware of these drawbacks before you run a full Scripted Scene. Appropriate for: Single-handed combat between major plot characters works REALLY well as a Scripted Scene. Plot-filler scenes, where the episode is held just to show someone On Camera what happened off- stage. In the Avendoraldera sapling plot, for example, Oludra Sedai held a meeting of the Black Ajah which was scripted, and players observed from an Audience Room. The entire meeting could have been held Off Screen and described in a +bbpost, but the meeting was played out to show the flavor of it, and to reveal information to the players that their characters weren't privy to. Use this tool sparingly, and always let ALL participants know that the ending is planned already. Semi-Scripted Scenes This falls somewhere between an Open Event and fully Scripted Event. In this case, certain key characters know that various points need to happen out of the scene, and it's their responsibility to guide the roleplay to reach that point. Not everyone in the scene knows what the outcome will be, but it is polite to tell them that the scene has some pre-ordained elements. It then falls to the players to use their Roleplay skills to do their darndest to get the scene to arrive at the outcome using IC arguments, poses, and emits. Drawbacks: The event you planned may not make logical sense if the arguments and actions taken by the other players in the episode steer things down a different path. At that juncture you need to decide whether the original outcome is still viable, or whether to ask the arguing players to come over to your side of things. This sort of thing needs you to be on hand to guide things, or just to observe when they're taking place. If the scripted portion includes an outcome which needed Wizard approval, then you've -got- to get the scene to that result, and it becomes difficult to keep things "real" if you step in to correct the course of events. Appropriate for: Good when players in the scenes are already motivated and have a strong sense of direction and theme. Excellent tool to balance Open Events with a desired outcome. A great challenge for the players who are in charge of getting to a certain outcome. Coordinated Scene/Agenda-based RP Technically every TP is coordinated, but this tool refers to an increased level of direct activity within the TP. A coordinated scene is one with so many variables and possible outcomes hardwired into the encounter that there absolutely -must- be someone present running things or judging outcomes. In the Avendoraldera sapling TP, there was a 'dungeon' type of setting for the final encounters, with traps and ambushes. A wizard was present during the entire scene to emit how the scenery would respond to different actions, similar to the way a Judge or GM will respond to players in a tabletop setting. ** The Agenda-based RP refers to the tools used when players are not all gathered together in one scene. Each character in the TP is sent a +mail listing information they need to share, or a small scene they need to stage at some time during the next week. It's up to the player when and how to follow the instructions, but it needs to be done so the right people can learn the right things and move on with the action. Each week, the TP Coordinator needs to assess where the plot currently is, and then tweak the information and agendas sent out for the following week. Together, the Agenda-based RP leads to Coordinated scenes, for a high level of involvement from the TP Coordinator. Drawbacks: Free time? What's that? If the cast of characters in the TP is large, this may take two or three people to arrange. The TP Coordinator needs to be highly organized, and keep track of who knows what and when things are supposed to happen. It -can- be done, but it takes effort and practice. Appropriate for: TPs that mirror Tabletop Roleplaying Games, mysteries, anything with lores that need to be learned or skills that need to be checked. The Agenda RP tool can be slotted in with other TP tools so that between Semi-scripted scenes, for example, a single character is asked to drop clues or hints in the guise of 'unplanned' RP to the PCs that need it. Learning to use each of these tools can take some trial and error, and might actually result in the development of TP Coordination Tools of your own. By all means, remember that TPs are meant to be fun, and it's no fun for most people if all of your time is spent trying to organize things, and no time is spent actually playing or having fun. EX MISCELLANEA This is the section with tips and tricks and catch-all considerations that might not have been addressed fully above. Refer here from time to time to see if there are any updates or additions to this TP Guide. Pacing The flow of the action in the TP and the unfolding of the plot are together referred to as 'pacing'. If the pacing is too slow, your players lose interest and wander away. If the pacing is too fast, it can frustrate or overwhelm the players. Aim for somewhere in the middle. As a general rule of thumb, something new should happen in the plot every week it runs. Alternate slow pacing with fast, allow time for information to sink in, but never let someone sit on something too long. Overall, plots work best when something is chased, caught, lost, and then regained. This is just a suggestion, but if you break down movies you'll see where it's quite common. Another rule of thumb with regards to plot pacing is that the loss happens right before the end, and the more devastating the loss that is suffered, the sweeter (and more rewarding) the victory at the end. Coding With the revisions to the CharGen system and the writing of various functions, there are more tools than ever on Tales of Ta'veren which allow for CharGen-based coding to be done. If you need special props or doohickeys for your TP, but you aren't a good enough coder yourself, please ask the Wizards and they'll assign Coding Staff to help you if it's necessary. Even if you are an expert soft-coder, before you add in any special items or doohickeys of power, please get Wizard approval on the thematic nature of said items. Building If you want to build a setting for temporary use with the Tiny Plot, contact the Wizards about increasing your +quota. If you can't build, but know what you're looking for, the Wizards will be able to assist you in getting what you need created, as in coding. If the building is going to be permanent, that will need Area Staff approval and will be handled by the Area Builder Character. Plot Characters Villains are hard to find, and since many plots entail the death or destruction of the super villains, few players are willing to sacrifice their own characters. Ask the Wizards if you feel you need a plot character, one which is created for use in the TP and is destroyed/retired thereafter unless alternate arrangements are made. Forsaken or other characters from the books need express prior authorization from the Wizards, and generally the TP will need approval by that point, too. Don't be surprised if high-powered characters like the Forsaken are denied, or plots which contain them. Forsaken operate on global levels, and as such may interfere with the overarching Tales of Ta'veren MetaPlot. Experience At the end of your adventure, or at the end of each scene, remember to +nominate the players in the TP if their performance or assistance was especially helpful. If you play in someone else's TP, remember to +nominate the TP Coordinator, too, since there is a lot of effort put into running a good TP. Consider +nominating coding help, or +stars for the Staff who assist you. Advertising Sometimes you can fill needed positions with permanent characters by advertising on the Positions +bboard. Other times, you can come up with a TP or a situation which lends itself to TP crafting, and then try to populate it with players. If you need help with this, ask your Area Staff or Wizards for assistance. Plot Weaving An advanced technique is to put the beginnings of a new or second TP into the final stages of the TP you're currently running. Ask around for the other TP Coordinators and the Wizards, to see if they would like to weave in select details so that one TP can dovetail nicely with another. Above all else. . . Remember that TP's are all about having and creating fun. If you get too stressed, take a break. Ask for help when you need it, make sure you get the right approval, and you'll be on your way to a great practice as a TP Coordinator. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Replies to this post will go to the list. If you only want to reply to the sender of this post, please check the To: field of your reply and ensure that only the sender's address appears. -------------------------------------------------------------------------