robiswrong
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- May 1, 2017
- Messages
- 646
- Reaction score
- 1,303
Lemme be clear. If you like plot hooks, good on you! Me, I have no use for them, and want nothing to do with them in my games.
So, let's define a plot hook. A plot hook is something interesting but fairly benign to get players interested in a direction. Once they follow the hook, they find themselves whisked away on a magical adventure!
"Hook" is exactly the right word. It's just like a fish - you see the interesting, appealing thing wiggling in the water, you bite on it, and you find yourself pulled along in a direction that may have nothing to do with what you wanted or even the appealing thing itself. The hook was really bait to get you to do something you didn't want to do.
This happens a lot in railroad adventures - you see something interesting and appealing, you do the thing, and then find yourself stuck on a railroad on some grand plot. Now, if that's not how you use the word, I'm not talking about you, so yay.
I think hooks are terribad. Why?
1) They are deceitful to the players. They explicitly promise one thing and deliver another.
2) They are usually used for railroads (or even railroads within sandboxes). YAWN.
3) If you're doing a railroad and your players are in on it, just fucking tell them. No need for a "hook".
4) They breed paranoia in your players... everything is evaluated as a possible thing to suck them in on something they don't give a shit about.
What I do like is plot grenades. A plot grenade is something you lob at the players that demands an immediate response, but doesn't specify a single specific response. They're anti-plot-hooks.
1) They're obvious and up front about the danger, and what they're dealing with
2) They explicitly don't demand the players go in one direction
So, yeah. I hate plot hooks. I love plot grenades.
So, let's define a plot hook. A plot hook is something interesting but fairly benign to get players interested in a direction. Once they follow the hook, they find themselves whisked away on a magical adventure!
"Hook" is exactly the right word. It's just like a fish - you see the interesting, appealing thing wiggling in the water, you bite on it, and you find yourself pulled along in a direction that may have nothing to do with what you wanted or even the appealing thing itself. The hook was really bait to get you to do something you didn't want to do.
This happens a lot in railroad adventures - you see something interesting and appealing, you do the thing, and then find yourself stuck on a railroad on some grand plot. Now, if that's not how you use the word, I'm not talking about you, so yay.
I think hooks are terribad. Why?
1) They are deceitful to the players. They explicitly promise one thing and deliver another.
2) They are usually used for railroads (or even railroads within sandboxes). YAWN.
3) If you're doing a railroad and your players are in on it, just fucking tell them. No need for a "hook".
4) They breed paranoia in your players... everything is evaluated as a possible thing to suck them in on something they don't give a shit about.
What I do like is plot grenades. A plot grenade is something you lob at the players that demands an immediate response, but doesn't specify a single specific response. They're anti-plot-hooks.
1) They're obvious and up front about the danger, and what they're dealing with
2) They explicitly don't demand the players go in one direction
So, yeah. I hate plot hooks. I love plot grenades.