In my limited experience, the GM provides a story to the players, and their "main" characters mostly react to the environment. Having a look at a couple of random highly-voted (and IMO high-quality) answers on this site, confirms the same impression:

> [As a GM, it is your job to create an enjoyable game.][1]
>
> [one of the great strengths of role playing games is the fact that the players can actually influence the story][2]

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I was going to ask a question on Writers.SE about plot writing for one-offs, but something was not right. The question was coming out clumsy.

A similar question to mine was [answered](https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4267/3852) that the **main character** should experience:

> Conflict, Rising action, Climax, Denouement. No subplots, not many secondary characters.

So I attempted to explain that in RPG we have several equally-important main characters that drive the plot.

Wait, NO. The GM drives the plot! So what it main about the main characters?

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I have heard about [narrative-heavy][3] games, but never been exposed to one, nor do I see many question on this site about such.

*Why are RPG plots/scripts different that those of a book or a movie - in the aspect that not the main character(s) create the story, but the environment around them?*

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Thank you everyone for the wonderful answers. Here are my personal conclusions:

- Speak with future players/DMs if they too like sandbox play with elements of drama (failing that, sit at home and play Skyrim).
- Try different systems. Try FATE.
- Play with people with imagination, who enjoy using it.

 [1]: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/29486/3502
 [2]: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/29465/3502
 [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNS_Theory