Scripted or Random ?

Greetings Narrators ...

Here is a very interesting dillema that I would like to hear your opinions about...

How much of your campaign/episode/event(s) is scripted ?

Let's say players come accross that particual vessel which holds the clue to the future of the mission and the campaign and sure enough they suppose to get that clue, but they screw up and well you get the picture ...

This is not a particular problem I am looking to address in here but rather get a general feeling in regards to how much of a scripted events (events that will happen no matter what) do some of you place in your campaign and how often do you get a feeling that the players may be onto the fact that this is scripted...

'Oh look a Borg scout vessel and we are here in a Talon class, hmn normally we would be screwed but hey I know that the captain is hiding cloacked somewhere around ready to start dealing quantum death ... so we will just wait and let her do the hard work'

Of course scripted events can be handled via cutscenes and personal logs and good Narrator can make scripted elements look like they are almost random thing ... but ...


well your opinion and experiences please ...


The Federation has no past, only the Future filled with harm...
- Commander Alexandra Polanski, Acting Captain USS Avatar

Basically I start with an outline and layout how the PCs should ideally get from point A to B etc until they get to the end of the mission. But nothing is cast in stone...remember PCs have a habit of wrecking the best laid plans of mice and GMs...so you have to be flexible and be ready to change the storyline based on the PCs actions.

If they screw up and miss a vital clue, put the clue at a different place...it takes a bit of experience and the ability to think on your feet...but that's the problem about being GM.

'No plan survives first contact with the enemy ...'

I know ... and I myself have no problems with it ....
I suppose this is just to find out other GM's experiences
and how do their players react to such things ...

Regards

normally I do an outline of the campaign, although this is not very detailed - things can change, but I mke some kind of story arc. Of course the story will change with the players' decisions.
In former times I used a completely written episode, but now I use the concept of the DS9 book, with the plot sheet. Basicly I state the story, the NPCs and their goals so that I can decide how they will react to the PCs actions - the rest is improvisation.

My group is very adept at going off on tangents and not following the original plot. If I'm doing a scripted plot, I'll usually end up strongarming them into the direction they need to be going. (Strongarming usually means a series of events or appearances of people leaving the way they should go as the only viable alternative.) The one key with scripted plots is you have to be ready for anything and everything and have a plan B in place for anything they might do. BSing your way through the details becomes a necessity, especially when players are sticklers for detail.

My best results have come through unscripted scenarios, though. I throw out a basic mission brief or orders from on high, and let the crew run with it. This can be tricky if you're not on the ball, but if you can stay one step ahead, going completely unscripted can be lots of fun. The trick is to make sure that you keep information and details consistant and to have a general idea of how the situation might be resolved, if at all.

I'm planning on running a Tal Shiar-based campaign (actually, it's about as ready to go as it will ever be) which is based on a unique campaign idea one of my group ran in Cyberpunk: not really much of a campaign so much as a series of sort of related mini-missions. Long story made short, in Cyberpunk we played an armed EMT crew (for Punk players, we worked for TTI) and the sessions revolved around assorted rescue jobs with a more general long-arc story in the background. I think that style lends itself well to some types of games.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Hope this helps!!

Basically, I'd say only 10% of my adventures are scripted. Maybe even only 5%. Introduction, conclusion, plus a few waypoints: scenes that I really want or need to happen (because of their dramatic intensity, their necessity for the plot, and so on).
Then I need the other 90 or 95% of the adventures to actually get my players from scripted event X to scripted event Y. In fact, I found out that this was what worked best (with my players at least), since this ensures the shortest time spent planning the adventure (I know, I'm lazy) and the certainty that the players will have a very hard time doing something I wasn't prepared for (since I didn't expect anything specific, I'm prepared for everything :) ).
Then, all the while bringing my players from waypoint X to waypoint Y, I keep waypoint Y in mind so as to make sure it'll always be in front of the players ... well, if I consider that they deserve it of course, otherwise it'd be too easy :D.
I like to consider it as an extremely complex maze: if the PCs have to chose from 3 corridors, whichever corridor they chose, if they had a very good reason (and actually did something) for chosing it or if I want them to feel lucky, it'll be the right one. If it was just random or if I want them to feel doomed, it'll be the one that ends in a pit. A scorpion's one preferably :). All in all, I'd say it's much more fun than having to actually draw all 3 corridors (i.e. plan everything the PCs might do).