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Pemertonian Scene Framing and 4e DMing Restarted
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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 6088905" data-attributes="member: 463"><p>Well, I guess that's me! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p>I guess my approach is that opportunities arise via player signals of interest, including investment of resources, while threats arise with a very strong eye to plausibility. Even though with PSF I'm not using much procedural content generation (eg random encounter tables) I take a <em>very </em>hard look at what's plausible and what the players have signalled. So eg if the PCs have posted guards, I won't have an assassin at their bedside without very good reason. At most I might frame the scene:</p><p></p><p>"You wake up. Something doesn't feel right. It's quiet - too quiet. Old Bob, the sentry you posted outside your door - you can't hear his tread on the creaky wooden floor..."</p><p></p><p>That recognises the players' investment in taking precautions, combined with the high threat level of the assassin who has presumably just dispatched Old Bob.</p><p></p><p>Or if the PCs see the Ettin tracks (foreshadowing) and say "We head as fast as we can in the opposite direction!" I'm not likely going to have the Ettin then jump out at them from the bushes. Whereas if they continue to camp happily beside the tracks (as did happen) then I have no problem with the Ettin eventually turning up.</p><p></p><p>Edit: More generally, any Bang I use has to feel naturalistic - to have arisen plausibly within the world-fiction. There's the 'single coincidence' rule: last session in my new Punjar game, it turned out that an NPC villain was the mother of one of the PCs. Made for a really cool encounter with lots of drama and interest. Whereas if I had had two (or more) such coincidences within the session, it would have come across cheesy and silly. It's the difference between <em>The Expendables</em> and <em>The Expendables 2</em>. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 6088905, member: 463"] Well, I guess that's me! :D I guess my approach is that opportunities arise via player signals of interest, including investment of resources, while threats arise with a very strong eye to plausibility. Even though with PSF I'm not using much procedural content generation (eg random encounter tables) I take a [I]very [/I]hard look at what's plausible and what the players have signalled. So eg if the PCs have posted guards, I won't have an assassin at their bedside without very good reason. At most I might frame the scene: "You wake up. Something doesn't feel right. It's quiet - too quiet. Old Bob, the sentry you posted outside your door - you can't hear his tread on the creaky wooden floor..." That recognises the players' investment in taking precautions, combined with the high threat level of the assassin who has presumably just dispatched Old Bob. Or if the PCs see the Ettin tracks (foreshadowing) and say "We head as fast as we can in the opposite direction!" I'm not likely going to have the Ettin then jump out at them from the bushes. Whereas if they continue to camp happily beside the tracks (as did happen) then I have no problem with the Ettin eventually turning up. Edit: More generally, any Bang I use has to feel naturalistic - to have arisen plausibly within the world-fiction. There's the 'single coincidence' rule: last session in my new Punjar game, it turned out that an NPC villain was the mother of one of the PCs. Made for a really cool encounter with lots of drama and interest. Whereas if I had had two (or more) such coincidences within the session, it would have come across cheesy and silly. It's the difference between [I]The Expendables[/I] and [I]The Expendables 2[/I]. :p [/QUOTE]
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