Revisionist History
In many an ongoing story, there comes a time for a twist. Something accepted as true is proven false. Maybe a trusted friend is shown to be a crafty enemy. Maybe major events in history were rewritten or hidden by someone. Maybe Darth Vader is really Luke Skywalker's father.
It shakes things up a little. It puts something new into the familiar, giving the audience something to think about. The real trick to it, though, is making it both surprising and plausible at the same time.
Surprising? Not that hard. Imagine a murder mystery where the murderer is someone who was never touched on or even addressed in the course of the story. Sure, no one would suspect that person because there was literally no way to suspect them.
Plausible? That's a little bit harder, because it means the creator of the story has to lay some groundwork at some point. The audience has to look back and be able to see hints of the truth. Of course, by itself, this makes for a twist that's not much of a twist - it's expected and predictable. When the plot twist in question fits with tropes of a genre, and the audience is familiar with them, it can be much harder to hide.
Managing both, however, is an element of storytelling magic. When the audience gets to a point in the story and goes "whoa, I never would have seen that coming, but... damn, it actually fits, doesn't it?" that's special. It's not enough to make a story itself (unless you're Shyamalan, maybe), but it can really elevate things.
As a GM, it may be harder than as a writer just because you have less than absolute control over the entirety of the story and because plot twists usually come up during play, making them more difficult to plan toward. But still, it's worth putting effort into making things line up as best as possible. Shocking revelations just aren't that shocking when they seem to contradict previously established fact.
"Seem" is definitely the operative word, because GMing a game is largely about maintaining a facade. It doesn't matter how much a GM plans ahead or improvises. What matters is the players' perception of things. If they think/feel the universe is being cobbled together as they move along, and they "see" elements not lining up, then the game loses a lot of immersiveness. On the other hand, as things move along, the GM manages to make new plot points look like they were tied in all along, players will be more drawn into the game world instead of distracted by asking why things don't line up.
It shakes things up a little. It puts something new into the familiar, giving the audience something to think about. The real trick to it, though, is making it both surprising and plausible at the same time.
Surprising? Not that hard. Imagine a murder mystery where the murderer is someone who was never touched on or even addressed in the course of the story. Sure, no one would suspect that person because there was literally no way to suspect them.
Plausible? That's a little bit harder, because it means the creator of the story has to lay some groundwork at some point. The audience has to look back and be able to see hints of the truth. Of course, by itself, this makes for a twist that's not much of a twist - it's expected and predictable. When the plot twist in question fits with tropes of a genre, and the audience is familiar with them, it can be much harder to hide.
Managing both, however, is an element of storytelling magic. When the audience gets to a point in the story and goes "whoa, I never would have seen that coming, but... damn, it actually fits, doesn't it?" that's special. It's not enough to make a story itself (unless you're Shyamalan, maybe), but it can really elevate things.
As a GM, it may be harder than as a writer just because you have less than absolute control over the entirety of the story and because plot twists usually come up during play, making them more difficult to plan toward. But still, it's worth putting effort into making things line up as best as possible. Shocking revelations just aren't that shocking when they seem to contradict previously established fact.
"Seem" is definitely the operative word, because GMing a game is largely about maintaining a facade. It doesn't matter how much a GM plans ahead or improvises. What matters is the players' perception of things. If they think/feel the universe is being cobbled together as they move along, and they "see" elements not lining up, then the game loses a lot of immersiveness. On the other hand, as things move along, the GM manages to make new plot points look like they were tied in all along, players will be more drawn into the game world instead of distracted by asking why things don't line up.
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