Forums » RP Discussion » Relatable?

Does anyone else ever have the barest premise of a game or scene, and nowhere to take it if you were able to actualize it? Yeah, that's me right now. I've got a few things, but no real direction. Frussssstratinggg.

I know that players and characters can drive the game to a large extent, but I feel like for some RPs, you've gotta give 'em something to frame around. Sort of like one of those blank paint thingies that they can slather their creativity all over. I need something for the slathering! Arrgh

Edit: Forget it

Well, I can usually get the setting pretty richly detailed. It's the actual plot and what to do to move everyone forward that I have trouble with. Like "Yeah, it's Dragonriders of Pern, but they have too many queens and they aren't training any of the riders like they should be" or "Yeah, it's a sort of magic school for juvenile magical delinquents and they have to do all this stuff to get let back into society". I can write histories and backgrounds, but toss characters in there and actually start something up and I've got like, nothing for them to do after an initial flurry of fun and excitement at the beginning.

But I've definitely been there, at the "So what exactly is going on here? Where are we?" as well, and that definitely plays into the whole "What are we doing?" dilemma.

Sounds like the story of my life regarding my tabletop gaming days.

Right now? I feel very much like this xD. I'm going to attempt to run a roleplay and at this point while I do have an idea and set up, I have no idea where I want it to go. At first I felt like I'd get ideas as people started roleplaying and interacting with other characters but just like you said - I feel like I need to give them more than just - a'kay here's setting, here's premise, have fun.

I admit I have a terrible tendency to start with a simple concept and expand from there. Though when I do it well I expand a world that starts to feel something. I rarely approach other barebone prompts though, because I fear taking things over when it's their setting to begin with.

In recent years though, my first genuine OC and OS has expanded in such a way that I'm never without a place to set a play in. Sometimes that's all you need. A larger world with disconnected settings. After all, even in this day and age, does a person in the Midwest have much activity or connection to a villager in the middle of Africa?