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How Do You Learn How To Design A High Level Adventure?
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7585661" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>At higher levels, I raise the stakes in the story. The conflict of the campaign gradually increases in scale (and so do the battles), but most importantly the plot becomes more intricate. Whereas at the start of the campaign the players are merely playing around in a small area moving from quest to quest, at higher levels the campaign starts spanning a far larger part of the world and involving a lot more subplots, characters and organisations. As the players start to care about more things in the world, there are also more elements at my disposal as a storyteller to threaten with the villains. </p><p></p><p>The complexity of battles also increases. Players have more foes to deal with, and are required to think more about their surroundings. I design the fights to always put the players at some disadvantage, forcing them to think strategically to turn the table on their opponents. I also include multiple subgoals in the fights. So rather than a fight just being about defeating some baddie, the players may also need to stop the baddies from accomplishing their goal, or protect something from the baddies. I try to force the players to divide their attention during these fights and work together. With some fights, retreat may be the better option. At higher levels not all fights will be fair. They may run into opposition that is simply to tough for them to handle, forcing them to flee. Opponents will also use spells and abiliies that are specifically picked to counter their favorite strategies, forcing the players to mix up their strategy.</p><p></p><p>Dungeons also become more intricate. I work more with height advantages and environmental hazards. Some dungeons may require a bit of stealth to overcome, and traps are a lot harder to spot and disable. I work more with obscuring lines of sight, and incorporate darkness and fog into the battles. Dungeons are designed to support the monsters that inhabit it. </p><p></p><p>I also take away elements in the world that made the players feel safe before. An important ally may die, or turn against them when they least expect it. Multiple things may be happening at the same time, and the players may have to choose which of these things to act upon. The choices the players are forced to make are no longer binary, but become a lot more complex.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 7585661, member: 6801286"] At higher levels, I raise the stakes in the story. The conflict of the campaign gradually increases in scale (and so do the battles), but most importantly the plot becomes more intricate. Whereas at the start of the campaign the players are merely playing around in a small area moving from quest to quest, at higher levels the campaign starts spanning a far larger part of the world and involving a lot more subplots, characters and organisations. As the players start to care about more things in the world, there are also more elements at my disposal as a storyteller to threaten with the villains. The complexity of battles also increases. Players have more foes to deal with, and are required to think more about their surroundings. I design the fights to always put the players at some disadvantage, forcing them to think strategically to turn the table on their opponents. I also include multiple subgoals in the fights. So rather than a fight just being about defeating some baddie, the players may also need to stop the baddies from accomplishing their goal, or protect something from the baddies. I try to force the players to divide their attention during these fights and work together. With some fights, retreat may be the better option. At higher levels not all fights will be fair. They may run into opposition that is simply to tough for them to handle, forcing them to flee. Opponents will also use spells and abiliies that are specifically picked to counter their favorite strategies, forcing the players to mix up their strategy. Dungeons also become more intricate. I work more with height advantages and environmental hazards. Some dungeons may require a bit of stealth to overcome, and traps are a lot harder to spot and disable. I work more with obscuring lines of sight, and incorporate darkness and fog into the battles. Dungeons are designed to support the monsters that inhabit it. I also take away elements in the world that made the players feel safe before. An important ally may die, or turn against them when they least expect it. Multiple things may be happening at the same time, and the players may have to choose which of these things to act upon. The choices the players are forced to make are no longer binary, but become a lot more complex. [/QUOTE]
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