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Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos
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If you need a label for me, then you don't know me
If I have a twist I want to drop, I'll try and build up to it then private message the person I am writing with when I want to do it. Same with your backstreet, it's YOUR backstory 
The Eye of the Storm
One of the things I've learned with Play-By-Post RP is that the person you're trying to surprise shouldn't be your direct RP partner. It's the people reading the thread, the ones keeping up with your character.
The person you're directly RPing with should be in on it. They're basically your co-writer, working with you to plan out the execution.
The person you're directly RPing with should be in on it. They're basically your co-writer, working with you to plan out the execution.
Rik Perris
boommeister
If it's going to have an effect on the narrative of other characters, then it's generally a good idea to not keep them completely in the dark. How much people (or factions, for that matter) welcome things like this varies widely. Some people are pretty chill about taking whatever comes their way, others may struggle to accept a sudden 'new' input that has a significant effect on their narrative.
Fortunately, people can be pretty good at keeping things separate, if you do unveil your intentions to any extent and make it abundantly clear that the circle of awareness of the surprise or secret in-character is very small up to/and including:
Fortunately, people can be pretty good at keeping things separate, if you do unveil your intentions to any extent and make it abundantly clear that the circle of awareness of the surprise or secret in-character is very small up to/and including:
- openly naming any characters outside of your own that are in that circle of awareness/in the know, if any (which means they have implied permission to address/include it in their writing)
- providing parameters by which other people can become aware of the suprise or secret with your explicit permission (you'd likely only allow and unveil the possibility when it become relevant to do so)
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Prex Oda Duun
Prex of Tetron Centrex
One of the most successful surprises I had was having a character's son be possessed by his father's dark side spirit, then revealing it at the end of the story.
This worked in an RP environment, as I consistently (but carefully) dropped hints, had my character act in ways he didn't typically, and other such actions. In the moment, people thought it was strange and uncharacteristic. At the end though, with the benefit of hindsight, the surprise was obvious.
Ultimately, creating a narrative secret that had essentially already happened - they didn't see the spirit take possession, couldn't interrupt it, etc - was key to pulling it off well.
This worked in an RP environment, as I consistently (but carefully) dropped hints, had my character act in ways he didn't typically, and other such actions. In the moment, people thought it was strange and uncharacteristic. At the end though, with the benefit of hindsight, the surprise was obvious.
Ultimately, creating a narrative secret that had essentially already happened - they didn't see the spirit take possession, couldn't interrupt it, etc - was key to pulling it off well.
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Haran’s Shadow
Environmental challenges are an easy throw in.
Psychological ones are harder to set for the individual but a good option.
For a bigger one. usually a misdirect, or I bring back something that happened in a different form. The latter option is harder. For example, in the Rogue's latest heist, I used the memory/emotion locks we just overcame to be projected by their opponents a few posts later as an attack. Doing this gets you close to jumping the shark or repetition if you do it too often. So misdirects are a much easier option—but then you can stray into ho ho ho i'm the bad guy who knows everything before it happens" cliche if you are not careful.
Tension building doesn't often lead to surprise, unless the goal is to subvert the expectation, but it can still lead to a good thread.
Read the character you are writing with carefully, and you can put the surprise/challenge in a way that might engage them. As long as it's hitting their muse then it's going to work, surprise or not. Anytime I've gone wildly off script, the results are much more mixed and usually involve explosions of some kind. Finally I try to leave multiple options when I introduce something new, so I am not limiting people's responses or creativity overly but keeping structure.
Oh and on backstories. I always leave nuggets of important stuff out of their bios.
Hope it helps.
Psychological ones are harder to set for the individual but a good option.
For a bigger one. usually a misdirect, or I bring back something that happened in a different form. The latter option is harder. For example, in the Rogue's latest heist, I used the memory/emotion locks we just overcame to be projected by their opponents a few posts later as an attack. Doing this gets you close to jumping the shark or repetition if you do it too often. So misdirects are a much easier option—but then you can stray into ho ho ho i'm the bad guy who knows everything before it happens" cliche if you are not careful.
Tension building doesn't often lead to surprise, unless the goal is to subvert the expectation, but it can still lead to a good thread.
Read the character you are writing with carefully, and you can put the surprise/challenge in a way that might engage them. As long as it's hitting their muse then it's going to work, surprise or not. Anytime I've gone wildly off script, the results are much more mixed and usually involve explosions of some kind. Finally I try to leave multiple options when I introduce something new, so I am not limiting people's responses or creativity overly but keeping structure.
Oh and on backstories. I always leave nuggets of important stuff out of their bios.
Hope it helps.
Rik Perris
boommeister
On the adhd, I getcha, oh do I ever!
A lot of my insight comes from spending time with the people I'm writing with and remaining aware of the broader circle of, say, the faction (or factions) I'm writing in. I feel like I have a decent sense of what's reasonable within the group. And also from, well, full disclosure: I admin for a Major Faction, currently, but it's far from my first rodeo. Been party to running factions, and been doing RP in general, for a long time. I'm effectively furniture, lol.
So, what I mean by factions in particular, is if a narrative of yours potentially has an effect on things at the greater Faction narrative level, then it's a matter of simply checking with the Faction admins, and running things by them to figure out how it all fits... that is, in every faction admin team I've been apart of, the answer has rarely straight up been no.
A faction's admin team just want to be aware, and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate, if possible, if there's room for it. Not gatekeeping, really; it's more that a faction might have things planned out a month or two ahead of time, and have a faction identity to maintain. It's quite a thing to balance, really, with remaining open to people making an impact, which we try very much to be inclusive, that way, within the aforementioned parameters.
Of course, none of this affects simply writing a thread on any planet on the map, whether it's in a faction's territory or not.
Kitter Bitters
Keeper of Bitter Tales from the Galaxy
Personally I would say let others in on the surprise so they can help you get there. I’ve had stories I really wanted to do and when I opened up about them it really helped them get finished.
Sure some people may lose the surprise but it still looks damn good in written form once it’s done. Plus others had fun too!
Sure some people may lose the surprise but it still looks damn good in written form once it’s done. Plus others had fun too!
Joy
OOC Writer Account
It is extremely difficult, I have found. Most people don't like surprises and prefer to be "warned" or "explained" ahead of time before you write it. There is a culture of approval where if the other party doesn't approve of your characters actions then the expectation is to change the action or alter it so that the other persons character isn't affected too negatively.