Dragon Riders Anyone?

[EpitaphQueen]

Seriously thinking about doing a long term Dragon riders roleplay. I've tried to start one up twice now and they've died in their infancy before I get very far into it. The first one I understand wasn't very good but I felt like the second one was starting off well; it just never really took off. So suggestions would be appreciated and I'm wondering if it would even gather any interest.

 

[junebug]

Well, one solid piece of advice I would offer is to make sure that the plot doesn't focus solely on one or the other, but rather, both the dragon rider and the dragon, if you decide for people to play a dragon and/or a dragon rider. If you plan for people to play just dragon riders, well that's a different story entirely haha! Also make sure you only focus on one side- if you have members on the good side and other members on the bad side, roleplays like that tend to die out quickly.

Make sure you also know what your expectations are too; rules, writing expectations, posting frequency, etc. and encourage your players to engage in plotting, main and subplot. You say you don't know if your rp will garner interest, but you haven't given us anything to grab our attention. People like to know what you plan on dealing out to the rp world, plot-wise. A nice plot summary of what your rp is and what you plan to do is a great way to start off with garnering interest.

P.S. Also suggest keeping a small group. The larger the group is, the harder it is for GM to organize the rp for players. Anywhere from 4 to 6 people would be a nice starting batch, in my opinion, but it's all up to you.

I hope these pointers helped. Looking forward to see what you come up with! :)

 

[Effervescent]

As someone who has a Dragon Rider roleplay of her own, my advice to you would be to give your players diversity to choose from, whether it be racial or magical or dragon types, and then give them a great arching plot that will allow them to explore a dragon and its rider. What makes your riders so special they get to ride dragons? How do they fit in with the world and your plot?

I've been going at that particular plot for 4 years almost and we are actually coming to the plot's end. And what I've found to keep a roleplay going is to engage your players in something where they feel like their characters matter.

Dragon riders as a concept will likely garner some great interest, especially if you present an immersive world.

 

[EpitaphQueen]

Thank you @Effervescent I am working on developing a world and such but I needed advice to keep players immersed and interested.

@Kat I was looking more for advice than trying to start a roleplay. Development ideas and such. I guess I should've specified better. Thank you for your advice though! I will definitely take those things and use them!

 

[Jill]

I'm gonna second what Effe said, personally I think for any fantasy RP where the characters have a lot of mobility, a well-crafted world is one of the main characters. Having a dragon partner lets the chars explore mostly as they wish, and gives them a companion on those travels, too. If there's usually somewhere more that's intriguing to visit, it's so difficult for the RP to become stagnant. Then you just need a good thread of plot, and/or some overarching organisations, to draw the PCs together on their travels.

 

[Effervescent]

Thank you @Effervescent I am working on developing a world and such but I needed advice to keep players immersed and interested.

I can definitely help with that! I find as a GM that OOC communication can definitely help your players feel in the loop and part of the process of it all. I have a discord server set up where we talk on the daily and I announce when I've posted so that everyone knows when a GM post is up. We also take time to discuss each other's posts and do what is called "collabs" where we do quick 1x1 style writing in a google doc when a scene gets fast paced with another fellow player.

I've also not been stingy with my universe and allow my players to help shape it, not just through their own ideas but through the events that happen throughout the plot. Think of roleplay like collaborative writing.

I think of ideas and ways to make a PC shine or generate conflict, which should start as soon as you post the intro!

Don't keep your plot linear. Let your players affect a scene and let your plot unfold with consequences to actions. Think of multiple paths.

If a player feels stuck, help bring them out of it by brainstorming with them! If you see one of your players being alienated, bring their PC to the forefront. OOC communication is a big theme for me and I would say it's a major part of my success as a GM!

 

[Effervescent]

What is your plot, by the way? You haven't mentioned that yet!

 

[Elle Joyner]

The biggest issue - as Effie covered - is that people are often times accidentally self-centered with their RPs that they run. They get ideas in their head of how they want it to go and then won't let go of those ideas and refuse to be flexible, and honestly? There's nothing more boring than feeling (as a player) like you're just writing someone's novel for them. Let your players explore everything - keep the lore and settings open enough that they can be build on... allow for NPCs to fill in gaps for characters... and most crucial of all, never allow your own characters to steal the limelight if it's something a player's character can do, instead. That is the biggest GM error I can think of, and it happens WAY too often, sadly.

 

[Dark_Psycho]

I think a great Idea would be be to have people play the dragons and the riders limit the number of people, that way people can get choices and either pair them or let people pair up

 

[Elle Joyner]

I think a great Idea would be be to have people play the dragons and the riders limit the number of people, that way people can get choices and either pair them or let people pair up

Ah - but the danger here is that sometimes, people just don't jive as partners, and pairing someone with someone else that they don't mesh well with is a REAL surefire way to end up with players dropping out. It'd probably be better to allow players to control their own dragons as an NPC.

 

[Effervescent]

Yeah it's best to steer clear of pairing players together until you learn your player base and see who is going to stick through the intro. Otherwise people may get paired off with someone who drops out!

 

[Jill]

I like Disney's idea, but it is probably best not to pre-pair people. In my experience, the more things which're pre-determined beforehand, the more poorly-prepared people are to continue if a plot curveball or OOC-wise an activity drop comes in. I guess people can spend a lot of their energy before it begins.

 

[Dark_Psycho]

Ah - but the danger here is that sometimes, people just don't jive as partners, and pairing someone with someone else that they don't mesh well with is a REAL surefire way to end up with players dropping out. It'd probably be better to allow players to control their own dragons as an NPC.

That's why I said or let the partners choose

 

[junebug]

I agree with Elle and Effe.

 

[Elle Joyner]

That's why I said or let the partners choose

Even then, it only really works if everyone knows each other and there are even numbers. What happens if there's one new person, though, and everyone else pairs up? Does that person get hosed cause they're the new guy? At the end of the day, partnerships really only work when it's an absolute known factor... and even then it's dangerous, if someone has to drop for some reason. Best to leave characters separate and just allow pairings to come on their own throughout the roleplay, if they come at all. In my experience, anyway.

 

[Jill]

I do have a less-forthright mate from my home forums who wasn't sure how to make the transition. From a purely selfish point of view, if there were to be some kind of partnering in the RP then that'd be sweet by me; honestly I do tend to prefer that to writing a bond between two characters of mine, although both can be enjoyable of course.

I'm wary of major set-up as always though, of course. Granted Iwaku seems to roll a little differently from my home, but from my time people'd generally accidentally end up closing their characters off (or at least making it so that there was no real reason for them to interact and many reasons discouraging it) to certain other ones as they decided their bonds with PCs. Tended to mean that you'd end up with several smaller groups that couldn't really interface IC as opposed to a true group RP.

But that was most likely to happen with RPs which have a lot of group set-up beforehand such as RWBY ones which'd play the setting pretty straight, duos on the other hand are fine if the duos keep up on their obligations. Solo players can either perhaps choose an also potent non-rider position within the context, or they can just control both their dragon and rider. Should satisfy both tastes.

 

[Dark_Psycho]

Even then, it only really works if everyone knows each other and there are even numbers. What happens if there's one new person, though, and everyone else pairs up? Does that person get hosed cause they're the new guy? At the end of the day, partnerships really only work when it's an absolute known factor... and even then it's dangerous, if someone has to drop for some reason. Best to leave characters separate and just allow pairings to come on their own throughout the roleplay, if they come at all. In my experience, anyway.

Well that's why I also said make a limit for both and then at that point close it, and its not always a bad thing. Could let people make characters and let people choose if they want to choose or let the rp roll around, but if the GM went with people playing with both then at that point before it starts people would have to pair up. However doesn't always end bad.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Well that's why I also said make a limit for both and then at that point close it, and its not always a bad thing. Could let people make characters and let people choose if they want to choose or let the rp roll around, but if the GM went with people playing with both then at that point before it starts people would have to pair up. However doesn't always end bad.

To each their own :) If it works for you, awesome. And if the OP enjoys the idea I'm sure they'll find a way to make it work to the best of their abilities. I've just personally never experienced a successful run of partnerships in an RP - forced or otherwise.

 

[EpitaphQueen]

I kinda wanna let the riders control their dragon as npcs to help with combat situations.

The basic premise of the plot is that the orcs, and dwarves of the land cannot wield magic and neither can a lot of humans. Hundreds of years before the plot begins a couple of magic using elves and humans made a pact with dragons to bond them together as dragon and rider to become stronger in order to beat a great evil. The pact stood even after the great evil was defeated and dragon riders protected the land. A group (haven't come up with a name yet) decided that it wasn't fair for the dragon riders to be so powerful so they developed anti magic weapons to poison the riders. Since dragons are pretty much pure magic it kills them. So a giant war erupts between the riders and non magical beings. Most of the dragon riders are killed off and go into hiding. Once the dragon riders are significantly weakened the group shows themselves to be followers of the great evil and they terrorize the land. The dragon riders are too weak to do anything and it's thought that they were killed off.

This is not fleshed out or even done, this is just the basic idea so far.

 

[Effervescent]

Are you wanting to start it off with them in hiding? I have a few pointers for that since that is also how I started off The Dragon Wardens. It's a tricky thing, but it can be done!