Campaign Styles : Plot-driven versus Character-driven

[SolitonMan]

Hello,

I've been agitating lately in our Shackled City game to have more time to do character-specific development stuff, and it got me to thinking about D&D campaigns in a kind of general way. A lot of the games I've played have been guided by specific adventures, mostly published but sometimes crafted by the DM. Some of the games, though, have been more about the characters and the choices they make; although the world is dynamic, the focus is on the characters.

For me, the feel of the campaign tends to be linked to the type of campaign that's being run: character-driven or plot-driven. Now, all campaigns (should) have some elements of both, but an AP is going to be more plot-driven than character-driven (unless the DM has copious time in which to create alternatives based on character actions - kind of defeating the purpose of using a published adventure) - the bad guys, their long term motives, their strategies and their ultimate goal(s) are largely predetermined, and the characters are the ones who are basically intended to stop the bad guys. Character-driven games do have these elements, but the focus tends to be more on the consequences of character actions than on that of the bad guys, who may end up being more reactive than proactive over the longer term.

What I'm wondering is what experiences and preferences people have for a campaign type. Do you like "plugging in" to an existing story, and having your focus on that storyline, or do you prefer to "wing it", evolving your character (and the world) by the choices you make, and thus changing the story as you proceed?

 

[El Mahdi]

I prefer "Plot Driven" and "Character Driven" (but there isn't an option for this).

In my games, "Plot" drives the "Characters", and "Characters" drive the "Plot". RPG circle of life.

Hakuna Matata, dude.

 

[jensun]

I like plot driven games which are about the characters.

It requires quite a lot of discussion before you play but has provided us with the most satisfying games.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I voted not playing but prefer plot driven. But... once the plot gets going I expect the character's actions to have consequences. (And I GM as often as I play, so its easier to get things started that way. For me, anyway.)

 

[Umbran]

In my experience, character-driven/plot-driven is a false dichotomy. It isn't even really a sliding scale from one end to the other. I've played in and run games that were simultaneously strongly character driven and strongly plot driven.

 

[SolitonMan]

Hmmm, it wasn't my intention to present a dichotomy at all, just an emphasis on what drives the action - player choice or existing story elements. I've played in games where the characters decide something and the action proceeds from there, as well as games in which the characters have to be lead around by the nose. I understand the inference, though. I guess I could have thought of a better way to phrase the discussion... :/

 

[Rechan]

I've only been in two games where the Characters' goals drove the campaign. One being a nation-building, improve-the-world Exalted game, and the other being a con-artist game.

Every other game I've been in, it's like herding cats to get the PCs to pursue goals/character based plot. So I find it easier to just to present plot, and say "Follow", because they don't seem motivated for character stuff.

 

[LostSoul]

In my experience, character-driven/plot-driven is a false dichotomy. It isn't even really a sliding scale from one end to the other. I've played in and run games that were simultaneously strongly character driven and strongly plot driven.

How so? What did your games play like?

 

[RFisher]

I prefer character driven games.

I can’t vote, though, because I’m not sure which category the campaign I’m currently playing in belongs to.

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

I prefer "Plot Driven" and "Character Driven" (but there isn't an option for this).

In my games, "Plot" drives the "Characters", and "Characters" drive the "Plot". RPG circle of life.

Hakuna Matata, dude.

This.

And more specifically, I'm running the H1-3, P1-3, E1-3 series of adventures from WotC. Much of the action is driven by the "plot" of those specific modules, but I don't run them straight out of the book. I've done my best to modify hooks and such to get the characters more directly involved in the activities/events available in those modules. Also, I try to treat the modules as locations/events that the PCs can investigate at their leisure when they desire to do so.

It's worked pretty good so far.