Guidelines: Plot Tracker
So you have a character, you have a plan and now you aim to claim your place in this subforum to write it all down. Great. So why not pick up a couple of pointers and suggestions to get you rolling?
Table of Content - The First Post
I, for instance, am a big fan of these in the first post of any ooc thread because it offers a proper overview of what I have and gives me easy access to where I wish to be. It is not the best advice if you intent to use one or two posts, but the more extensively you're using your Plot Tracker, the more appealing this becomes.
This also means that you can break down your Plot Tracker into a variety of different posts to properly keep track of every aspect of your character. More so, there is no need to wade through a large walls of text just because you want to edit a tiny piece of info somewhere down the line. Suggestions for future post will follow, so hang on to your cellphone/mouse and scroll your way downwards.
Topic Suggestions - Any other post
Below are several topics you could add to your Plot Tracker to further enrich your character as a person. None of these are mandatory to have if you don't want to; serving as a suggestion only and possibly a source of inspiration in some way.
- Appearance:
Easily copy/pasted from the character creation sheet is the character's general looks. But as boys turn into men, girls turn into women and genin become grizzled veterans, their appearances tend to change. In a section such as this one, this can easily be tracked and updated.
But why stop there when you could add an entire wardrobe? Your favourite FC may have different pictures with appealing appearances you wish to integrate for this mission or that occasion. Maybe you see your character entirely different still and want to make sure everyone gets it? Then go ahead and elaborate right in this section.
And last but not least come the aliases and undercover disguises your character may have been using on a frequent base. An alter ego they are known by in, say, the Land of Iron just to make sure they don't get identified as a shinobi of the greater nations. You have one of those? Why not describe it here for (future) references.
- Artifacts:
Thrown under the general term of artifacts is to be understood any item of significant importance and power you'd like to display like a trophy room. This could include something as simple as a family heirloom for non-combat purposes to a mannequin bearing your S-rank personal armour or even your newest acquisition of one of the Seven Swordsman weaponry.
In this topic, you add what your character would consider of value one way or another. Just mind that this does not count as an application or approval of any items you'd like to have on you in combat topics.
- Buildings:
You own buildings, you want to describe them. Give them something of a personal touch that further defines your character's likes.
The first one that comes to mind is one which relates to the Living Expenses. Describing how your house looks like can be a fun thing to do, especially if you want to add the finer details that bring your character's tastes to the front. The fancy loft kept tidy and decorated with high quality paintings of a businessman looks nothing like the chaotic painting studio of the artist who drew those high quality paintings in the first place. And while a Plot Tracker does not offer the opportunity to interact within the rooms of someone's living quarters, it is an easy copy/paste for every new topic in which your personal quarters are involved.
On a similar level of description - but possible given an entire post of its own - come the shops and workshops of the crafting class. Here again, describing your factories, your weapon smith's forge or your engineer-apex-inventor's workshop create entirely different little worlds for characters to interact with. You want people to know how your shop looks like before they open a thread to place an order? You know where to find it.
- History:
While the character creation offers a chance to add in a lengthy piece about one's origins, some people often find themselves adding more pieces in the course of time or feel like a little retcon is appropriate to perfect the feeling of their character. For these people, a separate section dedicated to the history of their character provides an interesting aspect.
And one does not necessarily need to halt there. Synergising well with the story arcs, any 'flashback' thread which offers additional insight on a character's build-up can be added here just as well.
- Lineage:
Not as popular as Relations but a good addition to any character. Why? Because even shinobi have parents and it is a quick way to add some possible plot or character development. Within this section you''ll want to add at least the following:
- Names of Mother and Father
- Names of Siblings, if any
- Names of Children, if any
You can further enrich this with grand elders, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc... But I believe the first two are almost mandatory to add as they directly impacted the growth of your character in their early life. Other than the names, it is interesting to write down small bits about personality, fame, relation with the character and if they are still alive or not (and how they might have died).
Go as wild as you want to.
- Lore/Hiden:
A bit of a niche section, a topic such as this could include clan, organisation or person specific research and secrets. This can be a simple as the description of an unusual hand seal your character uses, deeper explanation of books and scriptures that are of some importance to your character, concepts about your faith, dogma or devotion to a divine, the growing development of your character's S-rank Hiden technique or even their personal diary holding their greatest secrets no one else is supposed to know.
- NPCs:
While applying for and approval of NPCs are done in a different thread, the paper trailing easily becomes a static mass of letters and numbers. Giving them a post of their own in your Plot Tracker will allow you to gradually flesh out the character in question with new quirks and perks as you take them with you on your adventures. Add their approved skills to it, and you get a quick link to share with others if you want to offer them the most updated reference.
This idea can also serve pets, mounts and any other character intended as (important) side-roles to your ever-growing story
- Relations:
One of the more popular topics in a Plot Tracker is the relation a shinobi holds with other Player Characters they meet throughout their life. This topic can be as light-hearted as jotting down a few notes which state the general emotion and relation towards said PC. or can be as elaborate and details as Kabuto's personal notes on every subject within eyesight. You never know when you need those DNA samples...
Ideas to include in a Relations topic are the following:- Names/Aliases of the person, or the name your characters knows them as vs the name they actually carry. This is a good idea to distinguish between the ICly known name and the OOCly given name of another's character.
- Rank and Alliances are a good thing to keep track off. Knowing the rank of your encounters and to which Village they belong can go a long way, but it becomes even more interesting when those people change allegiances and you are ICly not aware of that little update yet...
- Skills, elements, specs are always good notes to have in a shinobi's mind. Knowing what to expect from allies or having acquired the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals/enemies is a strategic advantage without equal. And a good shinobi knows intel is paramount to victory.
- Extra notes can often contain first encounters, general thoughts or an other tid-bit of information your character would find good to know.
- Names/Aliases of the person, or the name your characters knows them as vs the name they actually carry. This is a good idea to distinguish between the ICly known name and the OOCly given name of another's character.
- Renown:
While a plot tracker can keep track of all the adventures you undertook, there are times where you simply want to display your bragging rights under one single topic. Possibly with a post of its own, this section could reveal your current renown, its benefits, why you earned it and with links for others to savour that little step-up as if they had been there with you to see it happen.
- Story Arcs:
Probably the main reason why you'd want a Plot Tracker to begin with - to track your plot! In this section you can easily put all links to your past and ongoing threads... in chronological order of occurrence. You can bundle them in 'story arcs' if you prefer to have them unfold like your favourite anime's seasons or you can bundle them by relation to keep track of your character's evolution with other people. Your 'Story Arc' section is your library of episodes, and you keep order in it the way you like it.
With thanks to Orihime and Son'Rei for their additional suggestions.
