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Any D&D/D20

Shadowrun

World of Darkness

Palladium

Other (feel free to post about it)

[wierd]

I have never hosted a game, so let that be a big, bolded caveat here--  But personally, I would create a sourcebook type DM material guide that has all the "Interesting, but essentially meaningless shit" about the environment currently in play in it, and have a general overall end goal, and a small handfull of "cutscene" type events that are major plot events, that happen weather or not the players are present.

A bank robber is going to rob the bank, weather or not they are there to deposit their gold. 

THe necromancer is going to raise his army and assault the city jail to get his witch lover out of magical lockup, weather or not the players catch wind of it and decide to try to stop him.

Etc.

EVERYTHING is connected, even if only really REALLY tangentally.  The actions of the players in the city is itself a source of action that causes ripples through all other possible events. 

I would keep tabs on a handful of "important" activities going on, and then work the consequences into the current setting.  "Plot bait" if you will.

[NullForceOmega]

Yes, mostly like that, but without any big over-arching goal, just events like in the real world.  I've run a few plot based games, and they mostly just fall flat for me, the badguy I envisioned just isn't enough for the story, the events don't have the impact I need, the people are too artificial, so I stopped doing it fifteen years ago, and have never looked back.

[Neonivek]

Ok just to give an idea of what I mean... Here are some thoughts I had and wanted to put into my games

1) A sort of area where only animals could go... so to go through it, the PCs would be transformed into animals
2) A land made completely out of candy and sugar where they would have to survive... but "create food and water" has been tainted and only give candy and syrup
3) And entire dungeon that is just a giant hot tub owned by a Red Dragon
4) A Warrior who rides a mechanical horse with a pole in its back, who can wield this mechanical horse as a hammer.
5) An orb that can grant the players powers but slowly transforms them into dragons each time they use it
6) An adventure where the players shrink down and go inside someone's body as it is invaded by a magical virus where they have to fight it!
7) A shadow creature who creates evil versions of all the PCs, each of whom become big bads in it of themselves.
Actually I would love to have a dungeon that is just the subconscious manifestations of the players
9) A paladin whose armor is flat out blinding to everyone around him
10) A Whip user who uses a whip covered in roses and casts spells that way.

I am WAY too weird...

Yes, mostly like that, but without any big over-arching goal, just events like in the real world.  I've run a few plot based games, and they mostly just fall flat for me, the badguy I envisioned just isn't enough for the story, the events don't have the impact I need, the people are too artificial, so I stopped doing it fifteen years ago, and have never looked back.

It is just important to be flexible in your original plans.

I havn't developed the skills for it but what someone told me still holds true... The players don't have the ability to look at the plot... so... Just rewrite it as you go along.

That is what kept my last game going as long as it did

I still prefer story... but my difficulty is translating the story in a way the players can see, notice, and appreciate.

I used to make up things on the spot... but I kind of learned I shouldn't.

[NullForceOmega]

My games run for years Neo, unless I am specifically doing a 'cannonball' adventure, my games invariably last between two and four years.  I have on occasion had as many as five games with overlapping groups running at once in up to three different rulesets (i.e. D&D, Whitewolf, and Palladium.)

[Neonivek]

My games run for years Neo, unless I am specifically doing a 'cannonball' adventure, my games invariably last between two and four years.  I have on occasion had as many as five games with overlapping groups running at once.

It isn't a criticism. It is how you run a game with a grand story.

[wierd]

A lot of those are too contrived for casual deployment.

Willfull suspension of disbelief is a requirement for good story telling and immersive role play.  The blatantly silly needs to be kept to tolerable levels, unless the whole session is intended to be a farce, or the environmental setting gets changed through an event such that "OMG! BATSHIT CRAZY!" is now the "expected norm."

[Neonivek]

Which is why I curb my sort of... more... whimsy desires.

Hence why in one dungeon my only whimsy was a giant octopus monster in the toilets.

While another was itching powder bomb in a chest.

Running a great game still seems insurmountable to me... even if I did it successfully once.

[wierd]

I would say, BE VERY WARY of creating "The magical realm of the whizzard".

Fetishes take many forms, and need not be sexual.  They are all equally annoying to players.  A role playing game gives players a role in which they can interact with a world.  Not a casual seat on a fun-ride, that forces them where the rails demand they go.

A good scenario with an overarching plot device makes allowances for the players to completely ignore that device, and allow the bad outcome to happen.  WHo knows, the aftermath of the bad outcome may be a very interesting setting, filled with lots of additional conflicts, and would deeply embroil the players in trying to fix the fuckup they could have averted if they hadnt been playing Tavern Hero 3, Drunken barmaid edition instead.

[NullForceOmega]

Back on the subject of NPCs, does anyone here encourage or get involved in romance, sex, and family obligations in their games?  (I do, but I don't consider my style to be normal.)

[Sirus]

None of the tabletop games I've been a part of have lasted long enough for that sort of thing to happen. Not with the NPCs, anyway. I remember one D&D 3.5 game I was in where two of the PCs were in a relationship and had a family in the epilogue.

[Neonivek]

Back on the subject of NPCs, does anyone here encourage or get involved in romance, sex, and family obligations in their games?  (I do, but I don't consider my style to be normal.)

I've had that happen in my non-dnd games.

They tend to work out.

[NullForceOmega]

As I said above, my games tend to run long, and eventually things just tend to happen, sometimes I or my players go out of their way to ensure that romances blossom, families are founded, etc., just wondering if anyone else had experience with that kind of thing.

[Neonivek]

I havn't had games that lasted very long... I am still rather new to DMing and right now I am just trying to connect with my style while being able to make games fun for players.

And I've had some success but a lot of failure xD

[wierd]

I believe in action and consequence.

Getting a successful CHR role to smooze the barmaid at your favorite tavern should have long term consequences.  She now wants to know all kinds of embarassing things about you-- She wants to go on actual dates now, she wants jewelry or flowers-- she takes serious offense when she hears about you flirting in other taverns,-- maybe she gets pregnant from your little fling--- So many ripe possibilities for that flippant player action, that their short sighted, impulsive decision making just did not consider would happen.

Likewise with just taking something from a peasant's house.  (Or leaving something in a peasant's house).

If the player's actions are sexual in nature, consequences from that sexuality are rational and to be expected. Just because it is an RPG does not mean they get to have guilt-free, consequence free trysts with whatever NPC strikes their fancy. Action demands consequence.

This can be good-- having a good, working relationship with the barmaid can lead you to some good information, or get you a discount at the bar-- She might even be a really good girlfriend!  It can also be bad-- She might be moody, or she might claim you raped her when it was totally a consentual affair.  She might be married, and her husband might find out, and come to hunt you down.  So many possibilities.

The basic thing though is Action and Consequence.  EVERY action has consequences-- otherwise it isnt an action.

[NullForceOmega]

I certainly agree with all the above sentiments weird, I try to use the family card sparingly in my games, but sometimes it can be an incredibly effective goad to action (One of my players, years ago, had his whole family kidnapped by an aggressive expansionistic empire, and he started an all-out war to get them back, culminating in the explosive redecoration of their capital world.  He did rescue his family tho'.)