Plots you didn't realize you were stealing

[Jeff the Green]

I've been working on a campaign setting and along with it the basic plot of the first game I'll run in it. Since the fay are rather important to the world's cosmology, I was wanted to do something with them at the forefront.

Eventually, I had a wonderful idea:

Spoiler

Show

It's been nearly a century since the last Wild Hunt, and everyone knows it's due to happen again soon. Fay are getting restless, there are more abductions, etc. One evil fay (probably a gestalt Gloura//Binder) decides she's going to use the Hunt for her own purposes. She'll call it, and then devour the essences of all the fay, thereby becoming the most powerful creature in the world.

And then I realized, as I'm sure you have by now, that this is basically taken whole-cloth from the Dresden Files.

So, I'm curious, what plots have you realized you accidentally stole from somewhere else?

[W3bDragon]

Was... was that a spoiler for Dresden Files?

[Jeff the Green]

Uh, barely. For the one that was released eight years ago. I'll put it in a spoiler, though.

[Lorsa]

Uh, barely. For the one that was released eight years ago. I'll put it in a spoiler, though.

Which matters little as long as W3bDragon still shows what you wrote.

I am sure there are plotlines I stole without knowing about it, but I can't come up with a good example now. I am much better at stealing when I DO know about it!

[Kid Jake]

I accidentally stole the plot to The Hangover.

Group of people wake up and find that a large portion of their memory is gone, they have no idea where they are and everybody hates them. Then they eventually find out that the enchantment focused sorcerer PC had been using them for the lulz for the past year.

[Loki_42]

I can't think of unintentionally stolen plots, I'm always too busy intentionally stealing things.

[Hyde]

I accidentally stole the plot to The Hangover.

Group of people wake up and find that a large portion of their memory is gone, they have no idea where they are and everybody hates them. Then they eventually find out that the enchantment focused sorcerer PC had been using them for the lulz for the past year.

because "The Hangover" did that first. --

Anyway, A lot of over-zealous English majors will tell you that there are only seven basic plots, and everything is basically remixing those.

Really, there are only two, but that's not important.

It's pretty likely that something, somewhere, is a lot like any idea that you've come up with.

[Moriwen]

As a little kid, I came up with an elaborate story about people who lived in a virtual world, and how one of them left it, and so on and so forth. I was really excited about it, and told it to my mother, who had to break it to me gently that this had already been done. "Let's talk about the Matrix, sweetie."

[Kid Jake]

Well, I was more referring to having a humorous mystery plot revolving around forgotten debauchery and casual betrayal. With clues such as 'You realize you know what a goat tastes like and there's nothing you can do to change that.'

So yeah, the Hangover might not have been the ur-example, but it's definitely the one that I personally was inspired by.

[Ducklord]

I once came up with a campaign where the players would be competing with other groups in finding certain artifacts, that would be scattered across the world. They would also have some kind of magic scroll, that would indicate the direction of each artifact. Then someone on this board pointed out that I basically came up with Dragon Ball

[Minitroll]

So, I'm going to tell two stories.

1) The adventuring party goes into a mine, and the doors cave behind them. Their journey is uneventful until they reach a room covered with huge pillars with a large hole in the ceiling. The party then came across a huge gorge, and they knocked the pillar down. Small, crawling monsters suddenly began to chatter, crawling at them and shooting at them from everywhere. They fought them off when a huge creature started to come and the monsters split for it. The party ran away.

2) The Fellowship of the Ring goes into the Mines of Moria, and the doors cave behind them. Their journey is uneventful until they reach Balin's chamber and a room covered in pillars with a large hole in the ceiling. Suddenly, they make a huge thudding noise. Small, crawling monsters suddenly began to chatter, crawling at them and shooting at them from everywhere. They fought them off when a huge demon started to come and the monsters split for it. The party ran way.

Kudos to my DM. He didn't even realize he was doing it, and he made the Mines of Moria.

[Jeff the Green]

As a little kid, I came up with an elaborate story about people who lived in a virtual world, and how one of them left it, and so on and so forth. I was really excited about it, and told it to my mother, who had to break it to me gently that this had already been done. "Let's talk about the Matrix, sweetie."

I tend to give kids a pass on that sort of thing. In seventh or eighth grade (so ~12 y.o.) I wrote a story that stole the plot and characters of the Belgariad, more characters form Ender's Game, and Tolkein's cosmology, as in the Silmarillion. I thought it was original and I was only borrowing their styles. Kids are kind of stupid.

[Hyde]

...I really need run a game and see how cleverly I can hide the plot to dragonball.

[atomicpenguin]

I once wrote out an entire campaign world complete with metaplot, only to realize after that it was just a fantasy reskin of Deadlands

[PersonMan]

I tend to give kids a pass on that sort of thing. In seventh or eighth grade (so ~12 y.o.) I wrote a story that stole the plot and characters of the Belgariad, more characters form Ender's Game, and Tolkein's cosmology, as in the Silmarillion. I thought it was original and I was only borrowing their styles. Kids are kind of stupid.

By the way it was written, it seemed to imply that she made up the plot on her own, then her mother told her it had already been done.

[Jeff the Green]

Oh, I gathered that. But the Matrix isn't exactly the Ur-example either. It's sort of a theme that's been swirling around Western (at least) culture for the last few centuries. The point is that no one is very good at figuring out what's an original idea and what isn't, and kids are especially bad at it.

[SimonMoon6]

Back in the 80's, I thought I'd make goblins more interesting by having them all ride giant bats into combat.

And then I remembered what must have been the inspiration: Spider-Man's foe the Green Goblin who rides a glider in the shape of a bat.

[ngilop]

i stole the plot of the original diablo game in one campaign.

I created my whole story and was running my 'practice group' through the final dungeon whne i realized "oh shi... this is really familiar to me.. where do I recognize it from" cue a couple hours later and im go " F(*^%# DIABLO!!!!"

From the great wise but corrupted king to the demon lord who is unleashing all the bad in the world, its crazy I honestly didsn't pick up on it during my creation phase which took most of the spring but only on the playtest through the final dugeon.

[Trinoya]

Having only read the first chapter of the wheel of time books I had no clue I had essentially stolen a third of its plot.

I was quite unhappy when players began talking about it constantly, especially when they began presuming that I had READ the books and began spoiling them...

[Man on Fire]

because "The Hangover" did that first. --

Anyway, A lot of over-zealous English majors will tell you that there are only seven basic plots, and everything is basically remixing those.

Really, there are only two, but that's not important.

Please, there's only one plot:
Person A takes goal B and, on their way to acheive it, ecounters obstacles C.

For me, so far I had stolen many plots intentionally, purporsely taking elements from whatever got in my hand for world-building, and individual adventures. I don't think I managed to steal something by accident yet.

[Fiery Diamond]

Please, there's only one plot:
Person A takes goal B and, on their way to acheive it, ecounters obstacles C.

You win the thread. It's really annoying when people try to claim "there are only X many plots, everything just rehashes them."

[Frozen_Feet]

Not a plot, but a character. I once fashioned a shape-shifting character who looked like Gaara, acted like Gaara and had similar powers as Gaara. The kicker? I did this before ever watching Naruto. When I first saw Gaara, I felt my character had been stolen from me.

Ironically, the anime that inspired my character was Sailor Moon.

Beyond that, can't think of anything. My plot stealing is not unrealized, it is perfectly intentional and my hands are still red with the original creator's blood when I bring such plots to my table.

[Man on Fire]

You win the thread. It's really annoying when people try to claim "there are only X many plots, everything just rehashes them."

Actually, I stolen that from Robert Silverberg.

[Lapak]

Actually, I stolen that from Robert Silverberg.

Or, to quote someone a little more hostile about it:
"He talks about stories, my brother. Let me tell you the plot of every one of his damned stories. Somebody wanted something. That's the story. Mostly they get it, too."

[Cerlis]

You win the thread. It's really annoying when people try to claim "there are only X many plots, everything just rehashes them."

Not rehashes. that implies disrespect. Its a fact there are only so many stories, the what doesnt matter, its the who, why and how that does.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Really, there are only two, but that's not important.

It's pretty likely that something, somewhere, is a lot like any idea that you've come up with.

Please, there's only one plot:
Person A takes goal B and, on their way to acheive it, ecounters obstacles C.

People who say these sorts of things just haven't read enough really weird books.

[Doorhandle]

People who say these sorts of things just haven't read enough really weird books.

Although I think even those books could be explained if you accept that A, B, and C, can be switched around or changed very easily.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

I'm not sure I really understand what you mean. I was saying that there are books that are not about people encountering obstacles while trying to achieve goals. I don't see how changing A, B, and C would change that.

[Kane0]

I can't think of unintentionally stolen plots, I'm always too busy intentionally stealing things.

I second this.

Except for the current campaign I'm running. I was halfway through describing the ancient bad-egg god that was locked up and forgotten about when one of the PF players of the group piped up with "You mean like Rovagug?". I'm not one for PF lore but when I looked it up after the end of session I pretty much just threw away half my planned plot cause it would be too familiar to those PF players.

[Matticussama]

Two of my players are huge fans of the Dark Souls and Demon Souls games, which I have never played. However, any time I build a horror/suspense situation in my game they always invariably say how it reminds them of one of the stages or bad guys in the games. At first I got kind of frustrated since I thought I was being super original, but eventually I learned to just shrug it off since the two players were actually more impressed with me since I was able to come up with that style of suspense on my own.