Hey Man, well this is Babylon

With this “little idea,” the game mechanics enforce plot progression. At the beginning of each scene, the GM or Group of Players sets what they feel is a good progression rate (aka “Plot Crawl”) for the plot in this particular scene. This number determines how many successful tests/conflicts/challenges/rolls are necessary before the scene-specific plot is advanced.

Whenever the GM crafts a scene, he should have a purpose for that scene: meet this NPC, learn about the missing children, steal the Ambivalent Chalice of Hagrablogg, learn the lost fifth technique of mastery. When he decides on that scene purpose, he should craft a set of important “plot items” relevant to that purpose. He can do this in advance, of course, to better prepare. For example, if the PCs need to learn about the missing children, he could set the following plot items:

1. There has been a rash of missing children in the town.
2. The children were all males of Vandrikan blood, born in the dead of summer.
3. They are all connected to a midwife named Taegi Lews.
4. They were taken to an old mill in a part of the woods that no one visits anymore.
5. They were kidnapped by Borgel Grouse, who intends to have them possessed by the Night-Children of the Wood.
6. The Night-Children have no intention of being controlled, and will kill Borgel and run free if he completes the ritual.

Now, instead of just having the PCs run loose and free through this old village looking under loose stones and chasing red herrings for hours, he can set a Plot Crawl score for the game. This allows the players some sort of free-form exploration, while still ensuring that the plot doesn’t get snagged by accident. There could be a single number for each plot item, or he could vary it between different items on the list.

For example, let’s say the party has come to this village in the early evening and is tempted into getting a room at the inn for the night. The GM has set the first item’s Plot Crawl at 3. The players negotiate for room prices (1 skill-based challenge) and mingle with the locals to gather some local info (2 separate role-playing challenges). After the third such challenge, the GM inserts the plot in the form of a local mother rushing into the common room looking for her missing son. Plot Item #1 has now been introduced.

Now, the players react to this. Ideally they’d begin to investigate, talking to the woman, calming her, getting more info from the locals, investigating, etc. The GM has set the next plot item at a Crawl of 7, so after seven more challenges and/or conflicts, the next plot item is somehow introduced into the game.

And thus the rest of the plot flows, provided the Players bite the hook and follow suit. This method of plot progression may at first seem forced and a bit “railroad-y” at first look, but in truth it allows a game to progress far more organically. Instead of basing the advancement of the plot on predefined encounters, and waiting for the players to bite the scripted hooks you’ve laid out for them, you can just bring the plot to them, inserting the required elements at the right time in order to ensure the pacing that is right for your games. I imagine this would work very well at convention games, too.