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| - This is a stock plot designed to force the characters or players to stay in a location and get involved in the adventure... and not be able to leave until it's done. The variations on this set up are nearly limitless, and can work in pretty much any and every genre or setting. The classic set up though is as follows: The heroes are driving along, when all of a sudden what should happen but an inconvenient flat tire. Unfortunately, the spare is flat too, the rain is coming down, and of course it's also thundering. There's no choice but to stay at the Haunted Castle until the weather clears. Lo and behold, the Mad Scientist living there has just reached the critical phase in his breakthrough in Necro-Botanics, and of course something goes horribly wrong and the undead Venus flytrap gets loos
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| - This is a stock plot designed to force the characters or players to stay in a location and get involved in the adventure... and not be able to leave until it's done. The variations on this set up are nearly limitless, and can work in pretty much any and every genre or setting. The classic set up though is as follows: The heroes are driving along, when all of a sudden what should happen but an inconvenient flat tire. Unfortunately, the spare is flat too, the rain is coming down, and of course it's also thundering. There's no choice but to stay at the Haunted Castle until the weather clears. Lo and behold, the Mad Scientist living there has just reached the critical phase in his breakthrough in Necro-Botanics, and of course something goes horribly wrong and the undead Venus flytrap gets loose and starts picking them off one by one. The heroes are now locked in and can't leave, have to solve the mystery to find the demonic plant's one weakness (hint: it ain't water) and hopefully survive long enough to leave. This plot bears similarities to You All Meet in An Inn, coupled with a Broken Bridge. Some genres like the Zombie Apocalypse can't get enough of it; Night of the Living Dead and its various spinoffs, remakes, and homages all use it, as do most monster and many Horror films. They'll even up the drama by picking them off one by one until only The Aloner is left to fight for their life. The screenwriting book Save the Cat calls the premise Monster in the House, and points out that the story falls flat if the protagonist could just cheerfully catch a bus out of danger. Think it's been around long enough to be a Discredited or Dead Horse Trope? Nah, it's more like an archetype, a versatile tool used to stick your characters in one spot and force them to deal with the danger. The heroes can be space cops, vacationers on a beach trip, or FBI investigators. They can be trapped by a ghost, simple mechanical troubles, a man in a mask, or an eccentric billionaire. To get out they might need to solve a mystery, survive a serial killer, repair their car, or just wait out the rain. Like we said, the variations are limitless. 1.
* The location, normally connected to the rest of the world, is made inescapable.
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* Inclement weather, see: Hostile Precipitation; Snowed In.
* Locked in a Room
* Broken Bridge
* Locked Door 1.
* Orientation is difficult and any attempt will end with Going in Circles. Usually nightfall or bad weather is making it even more difficult. Maps, phones, GPS etc. have been lost or destroyed, or never existed in the first place. The characters are too glad to have one certain point on the horizon (even if it is the Haunted House) than to risk wandering off and get hopelessly lost. 2.
* The area is normally inaccessible, and the vehicle they came in on is damaged or destroyed.
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* Be it a flat tire, no gas, or a busted warp drive, to escape it must be repaired.
* Vehicle destroyed. A replacement has to be found or built. Typical Deserted Island scenario.
* Transportation may also simply be operating on a schedule that prevents it from being available immediately. The characters are dropped off and realize that they're in danger after their ride leaves. In this case, the characters' objective usually becomes surviving until the ferry to the mainland/chartered flight/evac chopper/etc. arrives.
* In some settings, the vehicle itself may be the limiting factor. See also Thriller on the Express, Death in the Clouds. 1.
* The characters won't leave, or aren't allowed to by other people or beings.
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* Police or authorities quarantine the area, possibly in search of the characters if they're criminals.
* There's a Serial Killer or monster killing anyone who tries to leave.
* The location is booby-trapped to be inescapable. Often there's a way to unlock the mansion, which might involve puzzles, murder, or solving a mystery.
* Your Player Character is holding the Idiot Ball and simply refuses to leave Because The Plot Says So.
* Alternatively, your Player Character is on a mission and will not be deterred.
* The location is a Mobile Maze that won't let them leave.
* Each of the characters is equipped with a Restraining Bolt that won't let them leave, or an Explosive Leash that will kill them if they try The term Closed Circle is used to describe a situation where a group of people are completely isolated from the world. Since they can't leave, they are essentially inside a closed circle. Thanks to Technology Marches On, an increasingly unavoidable bit of Fridge Logic crops up in modern works regarding why the characters don't just call the police/mountain rescue/the Ghostbusters on their mobile phones. Hence the nigh-omnipresent Necessary Weasel that is Can You Hear Me Now. Subtropes include Trapped in Another World and Escape From the Crazy Place. A common such plot is Die Hard on an X. In a Video Game may be enforced by a Bottomless Pit, Broken Bridge, Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence, Invisible Walls, Locked Doors, or a Point of No Return. A good excuse for a Bottle Episode. In a Tabletop RPG, this is a Railroading technique. See also Enclosed Space, Gateless Ghetto. The Groundhog Day Loop could be considered a temporal version of this. Examples of Closed Circle include:
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