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[Copy] Work Intensive GMing - creating a world
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<blockquote data-quote="Ralts Bloodthorne" data-source="post: 2994089" data-attributes="member: 6390"><p>I hear that all time. Anyone remember Tucker's Kobolds?</p><p></p><p>There's a difference in random encounters and trouble the party gets themselves into, and group/solo encounters I design myself. A BBEG that I design, will be 3 levels higher than the PC's at the most, when they encounter him. BUT, BBEG's don't just sit in their castles and wait, they go out and accrue XP also, so they usually stay at a rough parity to that until the party finally kills them.</p><p></p><p>BUT, these are the rules of thumb I use, and probably won't work for everyone. On the average, before a game, I spend between 6 and 8 hours of prep work. I'm also lucky in the fact my setting is more or less mapped out, and a lot of my old back work has been done. Two of my players have been playing in the setting since the early 1990's, so they know most of the background, appearances, etc.</p><p></p><p>The biggest thing is to keep notes so that you can have the world move WITH the PC's.</p><p></p><p>If the PC's drained a swamp by destroying the lizard men's dam in the climatic fight, then have that whole area eventually dry out, ranchers move in there or something else, and the world keep moving.</p><p></p><p>The world HAS to keep moving, or it falls flat.</p><p></p><p>This is important and overlooked for campaign settings. Many GM's fall into the habit of making it so that no matter what level the PC's are, they can slither into a dangerous area.</p><p></p><p>Populate your sections of the world, establish baseline creatures and CR's, and DO NOT CHANGE THEM!</p><p></p><p>If the party is 20th level and heading out into the Blue Hills (to use his example), unless the PC's are OBVIOUSLY powerful, then getting attacked by some stupid/ignorant Bug Bears will be just as typical, and familiar to the players, as when they were 3rd level trying to sneak into the monastery to loot the ruins.</p><p></p><p>For example: In my setting, everyone knows that the Vermillion Jungle is populated by minotaurs, vegepygmies and kobolds on the floor, with stranger stuff the further up into the 1000 foot trees you go. (The players know that there at 5 different "levels" of branches in there, the higher you go, the meaner stuff is) If the PC's are going to take a shortcut through the Vermillion Jungle, they KNOW that they are going to get jumped by kobolds, young minotaurs out to prove themselves, and vegepygmies who hate everyone and everything. It doesn't matter what level they are, it will happen. At 20th level you can gloss over it with... "The week has been uneventful, just a vegepygmie attack and a cocky young minotaur you spanked and sent on his way..." but at 1-5th their skulls should be bleaching in the sun.</p><p></p><p>And speaking of bleaching skulls, a TPK is not a campaign ending thing. Talk to the players, and let them know that one of two things can happen. They can be resurrected in exchange for favors, or they can get a new party.</p><p></p><p>Now is when the fun stuff occurs. Let's say for example that the party was killed, in the end, by kobold royal guards and some tame trolls, but after they had torn through about 90% of the tribe. Eventually, the players have almost forgotten, but they come across a kobold group with better tactics, and surprising enough, better gear. They all have a half-orc skull painted on their leather armor. Reading through them, they find their old PC's gear scattered among different kobolds, and find a crude altar to the dead PC's as "Gods of Fear, Strife, Death, Destruction, Pain, and Doom!"</p><p></p><p>While it won't mean anything to the PC's, it will mean something to the players.</p><p></p><p>And on that note...</p><p></p><p>Powerful beings and weak parties...</p><p></p><p>Powerful beings need entertainment and have to travel/get hungry also.</p><p></p><p>Having a red dragon land and first offer some paltry scales he shed awhile back in exchange, then just saying: "Gimme the damn horses or I eat you too!" is believable, and gives them a story to remember. AND lets them know that a red dragon cruises the area.</p><p></p><p>Having a lich come out, use paralyzation on them, then measure their clothing, muttering to himself over the "blatant vulgarity and flesh display of modern styles" all the while, then dropping some money into a PC's hand before leaving, not only lets them encounter a lich, but also lets them know that it's in the area, and that it can beat their ass.</p><p></p><p>I'm not saying do this every weekend, but once in awhile, it can spice thing up. NPCs and intelligent monsters can be just as whimsical or bat-crap crazy as PC's.</p><p></p><p>You NEED to have NPCs that are familiar with the party, that the PC's can go to, that DON'T get killed off, and who DON'T betray them. This is important, otherwise the players won't even bother with NPCs, figuring they'll just die or are looking for a way to get at the party.</p><p></p><p>Have a few males get smitten with female PC's, have a few females get smitten with male PC's. I'm not saying you have role play Valentine's Day in the Dungeon, or have the NPC jump their bones right away, but having a young (wo)man run up to the PC and offer them a token to wear (think of the garter around the forearm) on their next adventure can add a bit. If you feel up to up, give the PC who wears the token a +1 luck bonus here and there.</p><p></p><p>It's a little thing, but it can make a difference.</p><p></p><p>Don't forget, also, that people get older, and children are born.</p><p></p><p>Here's a good low level adventure: A young woman died giving birth, and her husband is serving in the King's Army. The PC's need to take this infant to the city and deliver it, and a letter, and an urn with the woman's ashes. The mayor of the village pays the PC's half the gold up front, and a potion of cure light wounds each (with an additional one at the completion) and now the PC's have to travel overland to the city, find the barracks, and turn over the kid.</p><p></p><p>It works pretty well, especially as time goes by and they have to interact with the King's Army for one reason or another, and the man who they delivered the child to has gone from Spear Carrier Second Class to a Colonel in charge of an entire Legion or 5.</p><p></p><p>When they return to the village, people will remember the kind thing they did, and they'll get cut rates on inns, food, etc. Plus, now the mayor trusts them, and will tell them about a problem with someone selling drugs, which could lead to an evil wizard and a duel on a the side of the cliff that overlooks the town.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ralts Bloodthorne, post: 2994089, member: 6390"] I hear that all time. Anyone remember Tucker's Kobolds? There's a difference in random encounters and trouble the party gets themselves into, and group/solo encounters I design myself. A BBEG that I design, will be 3 levels higher than the PC's at the most, when they encounter him. BUT, BBEG's don't just sit in their castles and wait, they go out and accrue XP also, so they usually stay at a rough parity to that until the party finally kills them. BUT, these are the rules of thumb I use, and probably won't work for everyone. On the average, before a game, I spend between 6 and 8 hours of prep work. I'm also lucky in the fact my setting is more or less mapped out, and a lot of my old back work has been done. Two of my players have been playing in the setting since the early 1990's, so they know most of the background, appearances, etc. The biggest thing is to keep notes so that you can have the world move WITH the PC's. If the PC's drained a swamp by destroying the lizard men's dam in the climatic fight, then have that whole area eventually dry out, ranchers move in there or something else, and the world keep moving. The world HAS to keep moving, or it falls flat. This is important and overlooked for campaign settings. Many GM's fall into the habit of making it so that no matter what level the PC's are, they can slither into a dangerous area. Populate your sections of the world, establish baseline creatures and CR's, and DO NOT CHANGE THEM! If the party is 20th level and heading out into the Blue Hills (to use his example), unless the PC's are OBVIOUSLY powerful, then getting attacked by some stupid/ignorant Bug Bears will be just as typical, and familiar to the players, as when they were 3rd level trying to sneak into the monastery to loot the ruins. For example: In my setting, everyone knows that the Vermillion Jungle is populated by minotaurs, vegepygmies and kobolds on the floor, with stranger stuff the further up into the 1000 foot trees you go. (The players know that there at 5 different "levels" of branches in there, the higher you go, the meaner stuff is) If the PC's are going to take a shortcut through the Vermillion Jungle, they KNOW that they are going to get jumped by kobolds, young minotaurs out to prove themselves, and vegepygmies who hate everyone and everything. It doesn't matter what level they are, it will happen. At 20th level you can gloss over it with... "The week has been uneventful, just a vegepygmie attack and a cocky young minotaur you spanked and sent on his way..." but at 1-5th their skulls should be bleaching in the sun. And speaking of bleaching skulls, a TPK is not a campaign ending thing. Talk to the players, and let them know that one of two things can happen. They can be resurrected in exchange for favors, or they can get a new party. Now is when the fun stuff occurs. Let's say for example that the party was killed, in the end, by kobold royal guards and some tame trolls, but after they had torn through about 90% of the tribe. Eventually, the players have almost forgotten, but they come across a kobold group with better tactics, and surprising enough, better gear. They all have a half-orc skull painted on their leather armor. Reading through them, they find their old PC's gear scattered among different kobolds, and find a crude altar to the dead PC's as "Gods of Fear, Strife, Death, Destruction, Pain, and Doom!" While it won't mean anything to the PC's, it will mean something to the players. And on that note... Powerful beings and weak parties... Powerful beings need entertainment and have to travel/get hungry also. Having a red dragon land and first offer some paltry scales he shed awhile back in exchange, then just saying: "Gimme the damn horses or I eat you too!" is believable, and gives them a story to remember. AND lets them know that a red dragon cruises the area. Having a lich come out, use paralyzation on them, then measure their clothing, muttering to himself over the "blatant vulgarity and flesh display of modern styles" all the while, then dropping some money into a PC's hand before leaving, not only lets them encounter a lich, but also lets them know that it's in the area, and that it can beat their ass. I'm not saying do this every weekend, but once in awhile, it can spice thing up. NPCs and intelligent monsters can be just as whimsical or bat-crap crazy as PC's. You NEED to have NPCs that are familiar with the party, that the PC's can go to, that DON'T get killed off, and who DON'T betray them. This is important, otherwise the players won't even bother with NPCs, figuring they'll just die or are looking for a way to get at the party. Have a few males get smitten with female PC's, have a few females get smitten with male PC's. I'm not saying you have role play Valentine's Day in the Dungeon, or have the NPC jump their bones right away, but having a young (wo)man run up to the PC and offer them a token to wear (think of the garter around the forearm) on their next adventure can add a bit. If you feel up to up, give the PC who wears the token a +1 luck bonus here and there. It's a little thing, but it can make a difference. Don't forget, also, that people get older, and children are born. Here's a good low level adventure: A young woman died giving birth, and her husband is serving in the King's Army. The PC's need to take this infant to the city and deliver it, and a letter, and an urn with the woman's ashes. The mayor of the village pays the PC's half the gold up front, and a potion of cure light wounds each (with an additional one at the completion) and now the PC's have to travel overland to the city, find the barracks, and turn over the kid. It works pretty well, especially as time goes by and they have to interact with the King's Army for one reason or another, and the man who they delivered the child to has gone from Spear Carrier Second Class to a Colonel in charge of an entire Legion or 5. When they return to the village, people will remember the kind thing they did, and they'll get cut rates on inns, food, etc. Plus, now the mayor trusts them, and will tell them about a problem with someone selling drugs, which could lead to an evil wizard and a duel on a the side of the cliff that overlooks the town. [/QUOTE]
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