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@No One In Particular

It might be useful to think of responses to other people's posts in terms of Scene/Sequals and Setbacks.

A scene is when the protagonist has a goal, there is conflict (generally a question of will the hero be able to achieve that goal), and then setback.

A sequel is when characters react to the scene. This is where empathy and emotional attachment are developed in the reader's mind (so hey, if you want other players to like your god, maybe focus on this a little more than scenes). In sequals, we see a character's emotional reation ("oh noes, I'm in a car accident! Terror, Fright, PANIC!), their intellectual response ("I'm in an accident, is anyone hurt? Do I have my insurance papers? Was it my fault or theirs?"), anticipation ("oh noes, now I'm not going to get to the hospital in time to give Aunty Em this magical pill that will cure her of super-cancer and she will die!"), and then choice ("I have to make a run for it, so I can get to the hospital in time!"). Sequels, as you can probably tell, often lead into the next scene (will our plucky hero get to the hospital in time to save Auntie Em despite the police chasing him down because he ran from an accident?)

When formulating a post, it might be good for to present a sequel to the posts before yours (remember: emotion, reason, anticipation, choice. You don't always have to have all four, and even when you do, you don't have to dwell on them much, but the order is important).

Then, move on to your own character's scene (what is your character's goals in that scene? What forces will oppose them?). And when interacting with others, chances are they'll get to decide your setbacks.

There are four types of setbacks possible. They are "Yes," "No," "Yes, but" and "No, and."

A "Yes" setback isn't really a setback. The protagonist overcomes the conflict and achieves their goal. The hero is in a pit of rabid wolverines, tries to jump out, and makes it. Bor-ing. But sometimes, it's just important to advance the story.

A "No" setback is also boring. The hero tries to jump out of the pit, fails, but is in no better or worse of a situation. Ho-hum. However, for a cooperative game like this, I'd say that these should never, or at least nearly never, be used.

A "Yes, but" setback is beautiful. The protagonist jumps out of the pit, but not before contracting rabid wolverine syndrom, which will eventually turn him into a monster! Dun dun DUUUUUUN. How does he feel about this? What will he do?! Tune in next week, same wolverine-time, same wolverine-channel.

A "No, and" setback is very solid too, especially when you want to build tension. The protagonist tries to jump out of the pit and grabs a root to help him. Except thats a snake! A rabid snake. With face-herpes. The hero falls back into the pit, pulling the snake with him. Now he's surrounded by raging wolverines and a rabid, face-herpies snake! How will he get out of this one?!

Generally speaking, "yes, but" and "no, and" setbacks are the best, because they open up options for further storytelling. "Yes" and "no" generally shut those down. However, repetition is also boring, so vary the setbacks. "No" is dangerous in cooperative games because it shuts other people down entirely. Ignoring entirely is also a way of giving the "no" setback, so be careful of that.

This has been a public service anouncement, stolen and butchered from Jim Butcher's blog: jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

@ Topheh, not really sure. How do the rules for planar entities work in D&D? I'm sure geeks have had a debate about this sort of thing somewhere before. But, as noted, it's not meant to be permanent.

@Forgotten, totally. Although from what Zebus has done, they're pretty messed up already.

@James, that sounds awesome! You have permission for any of my stuff.

@Joran, James, and Topheh: I was wondering if anyone would be willing to betray Leaf. I had been thinking that they'd convince Leaf that Zebus was going to yield, only to have Leaf attacked, broken, and expelled. Assuming that Zebus isn't really dead, perhaps still that? Or just in general something to lead to Leaf's downfall.

But Joran, I SAVED you. :P

Toph, seems pretty clear that zebus purposely killed himself and tried to blame leaf. I call it, murder of the orient exdeath