Comments on: The Plot Thickens – Hooking Players Into Adventures

By: Chatty's Preview: Master Dungeons H2, Curse of the Kingspire : Critical Hits

Chatty's Preview: Master Dungeons H2, Curse of the Kingspire : Critical Hits — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:47:37 +0000

[...] Campaign Mastery: The Plot Thickens – Hooking Players Into Adventure [...]

By: » Chatty’s Preview: Master Dungeons H2, Curse of the Kingspire

» Chatty’s Preview: Master Dungeons H2, Curse of the Kingspire — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:13:10 +0000

[...] Campaign Mastery: The Plot Thickens – Hooking Players Into Adventure [...]

By: Johnn

Johnn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:32:11 +0000

@Ameron: Heh. I hear you. Depends on the premise of the campaign and GMing style too. I’ve run greedy campaigns and campaigns with almost no treasure, and players enjoyed both.

“…in a pinch I know that appealing to their greed will work every single time.”

Good call.

By: Ameron

Ameron — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:45:29 +0000

In all the years I’ve been playing D&D the one true motive that keeps everyone going regardless of alignment, class or race is GREED! Offer then magic and gp and the PCs will take on any adventure no matter how ludicrous or far fetched. My preference is, of course, to come up with something more creative, but in a pinch I know that appealing to their greed will work every single time.

By: Johnn

Johnn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:04:50 +0000

@Ripper X: Great comments. Totally agree. Module writers fall into the trap of telling the GM “And then this happens, and then this happens, and then – this is really cool don’t miss this – this happens!” :)

On the other hand, I sympathize with the need to create encounters with a high predictability of triggering. If a module full of encounters only has the first encounter trigger and the PCs go south, then that’s time and money wasted.

I’ve run some modules that were so brittle I needed to do a lot of ad libbing to just keep the pre-written content flowing. It’s a tricky balance.

By: Johnn

Johnn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:54:11 +0000

@Questing GM: you know, I have not used those 4E questing rules yet. I now recall glancing at them. Thanks! i’m going to check them out for my Carnus campaign.

By: Ripper X

Ripper X — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:51:10 +0000

Mods that annoy me are the ones which involve cataclysmic events, or introduces pet NPC's. I have an easy philosophy in regards to NPCs, they all must be able to die without me getting upset about it, game writers just aren't this way. They all seem to have these rich and complex storylines, when this really isn't, I don't feel, the business of a module at all! They should be more about places, and monsters, and treasure, and cultures, and stuff like that and just leave the story to the dungeon master. Ripper X’s last blog post..Treasure as an Adventure

By: Johnn

Johnn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:11:08 +0000

@Samuel: Gnome Stew says you shouldn’t worry: http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/player-characters-emerging-complexity-is-a-ok

By: Johnn

Johnn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:10:04 +0000

@Ripper X: What do you mean by too demanding on story aspects? I think I have an idea, but best not assume.

@Wimwick: agree on the loot and XP bribe. :) What are some example hooks you’ve used? Family member in need, parts of a key hidden around….?

By: Samuel Van Der Wall

Samuel Van Der Wall — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:10:31 +0000

I've got a new campaign coming up. I'm going to have to figure out some good character hooks for each player. That is something I often fail to do, I'm not sure why... Samuel Van Der Wall’s last blog post..RPGBomb - A Social Networking Site For Roleplayers