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How Do You Get Your Players To Stay On An Adventure Path?
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6723732" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>I used a different method for keeping players on track, for one of my Call of Cthulhu campaigns. The basic goal was:</p><p></p><p>-Make sure the players always have a clue to investigate, and don't get stuck.</p><p>-Make sure that the story progresses each in-game day, introducing new problems/situations/clues/developments.</p><p>-Make sure the plot isn't predictable.</p><p>-Make sure it isn't clear right away who the villains are.</p><p>-Make sure there is at least one scare every session.</p><p>-Give the players a good reason to remain in the same city.</p><p>-Multiple endings.</p><p>-Player hand outs <em>(CoC campaigns are best when you have physical clues to hand your players)</em></p><p></p><p>To do this, I wrote out a simple progression of events from day to day. The first day of the adventure, I simply introduced them to a mystery, which should give them plenty of angles to approach the adventure from. But the full scale of the terror does not become clear until 3 or 4 days into the story. This ensures that by the last day, the full scope of the situation is perfectly obvious, regardless of what clues the players may have found.</p><p></p><p>Next I made sure that there were plenty of clues to be found in every major location. Ideally, each location has a clue that leads them to the next location. And thus you lead them from scene to scene (only the order in which they follow the clues or visit the locations does not matter). I have played this same campaign twice, and only two or three locations ended up not being used (the library, the wellspring and the mausoleum).</p><p></p><p>I made sure to also tie the daily escalations to clues as well. Even if they are playing extremely poorly, each day would eventually give them something to chase. I also made a list of clues/npc's that I could bring to the players in case they were stuck, but those were only intended as a last resort.</p><p></p><p>I further wrote down all the details of each location in the campaign. Every location would have a mini story of its own (like a scene in a movie), but with an uncertain outcome. At best, the players can walk away from such a mini plot line with more clues than they started with. At worst, a player-character dies. But suspense would be guaranteed.</p><p></p><p>Since Call of Cthulhu is a horror game, I also made a list of various random frights that I could introduce at any time, regardless of where the players were.</p><p></p><p>Lastly I tried to think of several ways in which the story might end. I tried to think of a scenario in which the players are victorious, and one in which they failed completely. I also tried to come up with in between scenarios, where the players may be victorious, but maybe they are too late, or maybe they make a big mistake. </p><p></p><p>Now the players were free to explore the town in which this campaign took place, and choose which clues they wished to follow. But of course some things had to be a bit more linear than what I would usually do in a D&D campaign. I made sure that the players would eventually be lead to every scene that I intended for them, simply by controlling when certain clues would come into their hands. Eventually it all leads to the same location, and then its all up to the players to bring it to a happy conclusion... or not.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 6723732, member: 6801286"] I used a different method for keeping players on track, for one of my Call of Cthulhu campaigns. The basic goal was: -Make sure the players always have a clue to investigate, and don't get stuck. -Make sure that the story progresses each in-game day, introducing new problems/situations/clues/developments. -Make sure the plot isn't predictable. -Make sure it isn't clear right away who the villains are. -Make sure there is at least one scare every session. -Give the players a good reason to remain in the same city. -Multiple endings. -Player hand outs [I](CoC campaigns are best when you have physical clues to hand your players)[/I] To do this, I wrote out a simple progression of events from day to day. The first day of the adventure, I simply introduced them to a mystery, which should give them plenty of angles to approach the adventure from. But the full scale of the terror does not become clear until 3 or 4 days into the story. This ensures that by the last day, the full scope of the situation is perfectly obvious, regardless of what clues the players may have found. Next I made sure that there were plenty of clues to be found in every major location. Ideally, each location has a clue that leads them to the next location. And thus you lead them from scene to scene (only the order in which they follow the clues or visit the locations does not matter). I have played this same campaign twice, and only two or three locations ended up not being used (the library, the wellspring and the mausoleum). I made sure to also tie the daily escalations to clues as well. Even if they are playing extremely poorly, each day would eventually give them something to chase. I also made a list of clues/npc's that I could bring to the players in case they were stuck, but those were only intended as a last resort. I further wrote down all the details of each location in the campaign. Every location would have a mini story of its own (like a scene in a movie), but with an uncertain outcome. At best, the players can walk away from such a mini plot line with more clues than they started with. At worst, a player-character dies. But suspense would be guaranteed. Since Call of Cthulhu is a horror game, I also made a list of various random frights that I could introduce at any time, regardless of where the players were. Lastly I tried to think of several ways in which the story might end. I tried to think of a scenario in which the players are victorious, and one in which they failed completely. I also tried to come up with in between scenarios, where the players may be victorious, but maybe they are too late, or maybe they make a big mistake. Now the players were free to explore the town in which this campaign took place, and choose which clues they wished to follow. But of course some things had to be a bit more linear than what I would usually do in a D&D campaign. I made sure that the players would eventually be lead to every scene that I intended for them, simply by controlling when certain clues would come into their hands. Eventually it all leads to the same location, and then its all up to the players to bring it to a happy conclusion... or not. [/QUOTE]
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