The Levitz Paradigm was created by Paul Levitz, who has worked as a writer and editor at DC Comics since the 1970’s. The Paradigm itself is a rather straight-forward method for handling multiple ongoing plots in serialized storytelling (although the link I’m providing here would lead you to believe that it’s as complicated as neurosurgery).
I bring it up here because most roleplaying campaigns are, in fact, serialized stories with ongoing plot threads being carried from one session to the next. And I think the basic structure of the Levitz Paradigm can be usefully incorporated into the GM’s toolkit.
The Levitz Paradigm basically works like this:
(1) Plot A is your main plot. It will be the primary focus of attention during the current session.
(2) Plot B is your secondary plot. It functions as a subplot, getting some attention but not as much as Plot A.
(3) Other plots (C, D, and so forth) are given little or no attention.
(4) Once Plot A has been resolved, the other plots get promoted. Plot B becomes your new Plot A, Plot C becomes the new Plot B, and so forth.
(5) In order to avoid predictability, mix things up: Story X might remain Plot B for several sessions, while various other stories 1, 2, and 3 are all promoted to Plot A and resolved in the spotlight. Sometimes you might have two stories in the Plot B position. Or you can demote a plot from A to C, leaving it to simmer for a bit before moving it back into the spotlight. Or maybe in one session you have plots 1, 2, and 3 in the A, B, and C positions; but then in the next session you have plots 3, 4, and 6 in your A, B, and C positions.
USING THE PARADIGM
Basically, the use of the Levitz Paradigm gives you a simple organizational principle that you can use to keep track of multiple complex plots simultaneously. To do that, you just need to focus on doing two things:
(1) Keep a master list of all your active plot threads.
(2) For each session, know which plots are going to be your Plots A, B, and C (and so forth).
It’s dead simple in practice
Denny O’Neil (another DC editor) explains the appeal of the Levitz Paradigm: “Having three-plus stories running simultaneously is a small insurance policy against boring reads.” In a comic, this means that you’re basically upping your chances of any given reader being interested in at least one of the plots you’re currently developing.
The other appeal of the Levitz Paradigm is that it allows the writer to offer meaningful closure (by resolving their Plot A) without offering a convenient “jumping off” point from the title (because there’s always some sort of unresolved plot thread dangling out there).
The appeal of a similar paradigm in gaming is clear: The players are the audience and by simultaneously offering them several different ongoing plot threads, you make it possible to cater to each of them in different ways. And avoiding a “jumping off” point isn’t just about keeping people engaged (although that’s just as important in gaming as it is in serialized fiction), it’s also about maintaining a sense of pace and momentum.
THE PARADIGM WITHOUT PLOT
O’Neil goes onto say: “Another reason to employ the Levitz Paradigm requires us to step, gingerly from the practical to the philosophical. It seems to me that this storytelling method is the best imitation of life possible in a work of fiction. Life, you may have noticed, does not happen in parcels, but as a continuum.”
I’ve been using the word “plot” because that’s the terminology that comes baggaged with the Paradigm. But I think it’s important to note, given the important interactive nature of roleplaying games, that this method works just as well for managing scenario in non-plotted campaigns: The choice of focus does not need to rest solely with the GM. While the players choose where to focus their attention, the GM can use the method to make sure that other important events, threads, and backdrops are kept in play.
I’d be wary of deciding which plots are going to be featured in my next session as it might railroad me as DM. I prefer to decide which areas are going to hold the advancement to each plot before a session instead.