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D&D @ High Levels = No Problem?
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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 4225832" data-attributes="member: 9254"><p>Last month we just wrapped up my 3e game we started a month after the 3.0 DMG came out, with the players at 23rd level. I've run a couple other multi-year campaigns but this one was the first to reach completion that wasn't an "adventure path" (aka long term quest, like the Rod of the Seven Parts). </p><p></p><p>I can't stress how important it is to keep the players involved in the game. Anytime it was a question of letting the players pursue a goal that interested them vs. what I had planned, I'd let them do their thing. I'd tell them when I didn't have material prepped that it was going to be "looser" than normal but they were much happier. </p><p></p><p>As a DM, you get irked to waste work. So don't. 90% of the time, you can recycle the material. Change some descriptions and european castle becomes an egyptian pyramid or an arabian desert fortress. Rename the monsters to something appropriate to their skills and the new settings. Wolves become "sewer gators" or "giant sand fleas", that kind of thing. I also recycle old BBEGs. The evil boss wizard of 7th level becomes the default minion caster to the 12th level BBEG. No need to reinvent the wheel. </p><p></p><p>Trust me, few players are so detail focused that they can recognize identical stat blocks from the player side of the screen as long as it doesn't happen in the same session. </p><p></p><p>Now, just because the players ignored your BBEG's plot doesn't mean it goes away. Instead when the players go gallivanting off after the Lost Temple of Gold and Ale, you maybe have some other heroes get acclaim, or you burn a village, or both. Sometimes you burn a village full of people they like. Sometimes the acclaimed heroes turn out to be people they hate. Sometimes the "heroes" are just the villain in disguise. </p><p></p><p>The best thing I learned how to do was to make the players want to be seen as heroes, even the neutral evil greedy rogue. Heroes get invited to dinners with nobility and get to stay in the manor house. Heroes get introduced to people with influence and power. </p><p></p><p>The rogue liked that but what really hooked him? Heroes get money making opportunities thrust at them. No really, they do, just like movie stars. Some people want the prestige of a hero as advertising. Some prefer to work with "good people." And a couple want to use it to control the hero. The nobility tend to be the last one. </p><p></p><p>"Sir Killamonga, must you go across the Mountain of Pain at the call of a people we've never heard of when you've got vassals and retainers here who you've commited to protect? Have you made preparations in case your old nemesis, Mrs. Ex-Killamonga, launches an attack on your manor in your absence? Wouldn't it make more sense to send your young knights on this quest?" </p><p></p><p>That's what keeps the game from being a superhero slug fest, hostages to fortune. You have to get the players to care about their minions. That means a) the minions have to be useful and b) the minions have to be trustworthy. I <em><strong>love</strong></em> the Leadership feat. My players know that any non-follower may in fact be a double agent or other plot device but that their true followers will never betray them and if they do, it's dopplegangers or mind control. </p><p></p><p>Sure, it means some hassles for the players to have other assets, but after two or three levels of letting the minions be useful they start being a hostage to fortune. The players have to protect those fifty or a hundred people, either by keeping them secret or exerting wealth/assets/influence to keep them safe. </p><p></p><p>Plots become much less about the world shattering power the players have and more about how they can't be two places at once. They have to arrange things with allies and it looks much more like Lord of The Rings</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 4225832, member: 9254"] Last month we just wrapped up my 3e game we started a month after the 3.0 DMG came out, with the players at 23rd level. I've run a couple other multi-year campaigns but this one was the first to reach completion that wasn't an "adventure path" (aka long term quest, like the Rod of the Seven Parts). I can't stress how important it is to keep the players involved in the game. Anytime it was a question of letting the players pursue a goal that interested them vs. what I had planned, I'd let them do their thing. I'd tell them when I didn't have material prepped that it was going to be "looser" than normal but they were much happier. As a DM, you get irked to waste work. So don't. 90% of the time, you can recycle the material. Change some descriptions and european castle becomes an egyptian pyramid or an arabian desert fortress. Rename the monsters to something appropriate to their skills and the new settings. Wolves become "sewer gators" or "giant sand fleas", that kind of thing. I also recycle old BBEGs. The evil boss wizard of 7th level becomes the default minion caster to the 12th level BBEG. No need to reinvent the wheel. Trust me, few players are so detail focused that they can recognize identical stat blocks from the player side of the screen as long as it doesn't happen in the same session. Now, just because the players ignored your BBEG's plot doesn't mean it goes away. Instead when the players go gallivanting off after the Lost Temple of Gold and Ale, you maybe have some other heroes get acclaim, or you burn a village, or both. Sometimes you burn a village full of people they like. Sometimes the acclaimed heroes turn out to be people they hate. Sometimes the "heroes" are just the villain in disguise. The best thing I learned how to do was to make the players want to be seen as heroes, even the neutral evil greedy rogue. Heroes get invited to dinners with nobility and get to stay in the manor house. Heroes get introduced to people with influence and power. The rogue liked that but what really hooked him? Heroes get money making opportunities thrust at them. No really, they do, just like movie stars. Some people want the prestige of a hero as advertising. Some prefer to work with "good people." And a couple want to use it to control the hero. The nobility tend to be the last one. "Sir Killamonga, must you go across the Mountain of Pain at the call of a people we've never heard of when you've got vassals and retainers here who you've commited to protect? Have you made preparations in case your old nemesis, Mrs. Ex-Killamonga, launches an attack on your manor in your absence? Wouldn't it make more sense to send your young knights on this quest?" That's what keeps the game from being a superhero slug fest, hostages to fortune. You have to get the players to care about their minions. That means a) the minions have to be useful and b) the minions have to be trustworthy. I [i][b]love[/b][/i] the Leadership feat. My players know that any non-follower may in fact be a double agent or other plot device but that their true followers will never betray them and if they do, it's dopplegangers or mind control. Sure, it means some hassles for the players to have other assets, but after two or three levels of letting the minions be useful they start being a hostage to fortune. The players have to protect those fifty or a hundred people, either by keeping them secret or exerting wealth/assets/influence to keep them safe. Plots become much less about the world shattering power the players have and more about how they can't be two places at once. They have to arrange things with allies and it looks much more like Lord of The Rings [/QUOTE]
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