MUSHy Musings

As I've said in multiple articles on MUSHing, directly or inferred, running a scene or a plot in a MUSH is not the same as writing one in a story. You should not know the outcome of a scene or a plot on entry. The outcome should be a result of player decisions with perhaps a small amount of behind-the-scenes guidance to ensure that the central conflict is front and centre and gets resolved.

Set pieces

But this conflicts with a core piece of a good MUSH scene or plot: a set piece. A set piece is a major scene or plot element that gives the scene or plot something unique and memorable to differentiate it from what would otherwise be just another conflict. For example:

• Two people shooting each other: boring.
  
• Two people shooting each other from cars driving at full speed on a crowded highway: better.
• Two people shooting at each other from construction equipment that's driving over top of traffic on a crowded highway: BINGO!

All three of these are basically the same scene: gun play is being used to resolve a conflict. Where they differ is in the setting and circumstances in which the guns are resolving things.

That is the set piece.

So how do we do them when we can't force plots?

The problem with a set piece is that it requires preparation. And the problem with that is that it means you're forcing players down a certain path to reach your set piece.

Or ... are you?

OK, let's say that in a plot you have a picture in your head of characters getting involved in a gunfight in a toy store. You just like the pictures this puts into your head as bullets zip through stuffed animals, ejecting puffs of filling, or G.I. Joes getting blown to smithereens by small arms fire. It sounds like a fun time.

The bad way

A bad plot runner will lay down rails and force players into, say, this sequence:

1. New drug is found on the body of an overdose victim.
2. The drug is, oddly, concealed in a teddy bear.
3. Another body is found with the same place of concealment.
4. Questioning a dealer leads to a shocking discovery that children's toys are being used to smuggle drugs.
5. The player characters go to the toy shop where the shipment has been smuggled.
6. FIREFIGHT IN A TOY SHOP!

The good way

What's a better way to do this?

1. New drug is found concealed in a teddy bear.
2. Players do what players do best and derail the plot because they decided the real plot is helping Father O'Brien regain his lost faith.
3. GM grits their teeth together and goes along with that, expanding on the Hat (minor, throw-away NPC) that was Father O'Brien and turning him into a Face (recurring NPC) that drives a story of loss and recovery.
4. At some point, a street gang assaults the good Father who was out trying to save souls in their recruiting grounds.
5. The player characters chase the gang into a toy store.
6. FIREFIGHT IN A TOY SHOP!

Why the good way is good

You kept your set piece and had your fun, but you didn't make the players feel like they'd been forced into it. Playing your cards right they may not even figure out that you'd planned for that scene because you liked the idea so much.