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Ravenloft Al modles Jasper questions and rants. Spoilers
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<blockquote data-quote="Pauper" data-source="post: 6961822" data-attributes="member: 17607"><p>That's a challenge in a public play environment, especially one where you get new players relatively frequently (because new players often don't know or misremember the game start time). With a regular group, I've found that waiting until everyone shows up to start the game is a great motivator, because peer pressure comes to bear on the folks who show up late so that game time doesn't get wasted. Not sure what to tell you for the irregular group you seem to be running -- Season 4 just doesn't seem a good fit for that kind of table.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Long NPC narratives are a sure way to get some portion of your players to check out of the game -- they'll hit their phone to check Twitter or something, or start having a side conversation. If there's stuff the PCs really need to know, let them know at the time they need it.</p><p></p><p>Again, another way in which Season 4 really isn't a good fit for the table you were running, since ideally there's some foreshadowing that players who are paying attention can use to their advantage, but if nobody knows or remembers it, it's pretty much wasted unless you remind them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I've been noticing this as well in the few walk-in style casual games I participate in -- that a group of 6 PCs can't be below 'average' strength despite their level make-up makes for some odd balancing options. The best solution I've come up with is to simply ignore the provided advice and use DM Empowerment to add a thematic monster of low CR to later encounters if the party defeats the early encounters at 'normal' difficulty too easily.</p><p></p><p>It's certainly not an ideal solution -- if anything it makes the problem of struggling to get above minimum XP for a large table even more acute -- but I find there are a lot fewer accidental TPKs that way.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Interesting wrinkle. I think the intent was that the PC loses the possessing spirit as part of the 'cost' of the ritual, but I think your option works if the PC doesn't want to give it up. Will consider using that as an option when I get to this adventure.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That seems way too much of a reduction, given that Esmae has three uses of Legendary Resistance and can thus automatically save versus the locket's effect three times -- the party needs at least four actions (and probably more, since she might not have to use Legendary Resistance on the first or second save) to have any chance of extracting the Evening Glory.</p><p></p><p>If you didn't allow Esmae to use her Legendary Resistance on saves versus the locket, then I guess that's OK -- the party would at least have had a chance to reduce her power before the ritual was completed.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Props are cool if you have the time and ability to do them regularly, for everything that's significant. Handing out a prop only occasionally makes them seem less special, paradoxically.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think this is a generally true statement for all AL DMs -- the last time I played with a DM who I thought had all the rules knowledge 'in-head' was Greg Bilsland, and that was an atypical situation.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Absolutely -- hauling around your entire collection (or a sizable portion of your collection) sounds good, but makes for an unwieldy pile of crud to haul into the store and sit around your end of the table. There's a reason that AL tries to set things up so that a DM only needs the adventure and a Player's Handbook to run a game.</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed -- having a place where you can publically re-post the rewards and remind folks what happened is a good thing and really helps cut down on post-game questions when the store owner is just trying to close the shop and get home.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Thank you for posting -- it's always good to get some idea of how these adventures are being run 'in the wild', not just for authors to get an idea for what mechanics work or don't work at the table, but to give other DMs an idea of what to focus on or avoid to help their games be as good as they can be, given circumstances.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p>Pauper</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pauper, post: 6961822, member: 17607"] That's a challenge in a public play environment, especially one where you get new players relatively frequently (because new players often don't know or misremember the game start time). With a regular group, I've found that waiting until everyone shows up to start the game is a great motivator, because peer pressure comes to bear on the folks who show up late so that game time doesn't get wasted. Not sure what to tell you for the irregular group you seem to be running -- Season 4 just doesn't seem a good fit for that kind of table. Long NPC narratives are a sure way to get some portion of your players to check out of the game -- they'll hit their phone to check Twitter or something, or start having a side conversation. If there's stuff the PCs really need to know, let them know at the time they need it. Again, another way in which Season 4 really isn't a good fit for the table you were running, since ideally there's some foreshadowing that players who are paying attention can use to their advantage, but if nobody knows or remembers it, it's pretty much wasted unless you remind them. I've been noticing this as well in the few walk-in style casual games I participate in -- that a group of 6 PCs can't be below 'average' strength despite their level make-up makes for some odd balancing options. The best solution I've come up with is to simply ignore the provided advice and use DM Empowerment to add a thematic monster of low CR to later encounters if the party defeats the early encounters at 'normal' difficulty too easily. It's certainly not an ideal solution -- if anything it makes the problem of struggling to get above minimum XP for a large table even more acute -- but I find there are a lot fewer accidental TPKs that way. Interesting wrinkle. I think the intent was that the PC loses the possessing spirit as part of the 'cost' of the ritual, but I think your option works if the PC doesn't want to give it up. Will consider using that as an option when I get to this adventure. That seems way too much of a reduction, given that Esmae has three uses of Legendary Resistance and can thus automatically save versus the locket's effect three times -- the party needs at least four actions (and probably more, since she might not have to use Legendary Resistance on the first or second save) to have any chance of extracting the Evening Glory. If you didn't allow Esmae to use her Legendary Resistance on saves versus the locket, then I guess that's OK -- the party would at least have had a chance to reduce her power before the ritual was completed. Props are cool if you have the time and ability to do them regularly, for everything that's significant. Handing out a prop only occasionally makes them seem less special, paradoxically. I think this is a generally true statement for all AL DMs -- the last time I played with a DM who I thought had all the rules knowledge 'in-head' was Greg Bilsland, and that was an atypical situation. Absolutely -- hauling around your entire collection (or a sizable portion of your collection) sounds good, but makes for an unwieldy pile of crud to haul into the store and sit around your end of the table. There's a reason that AL tries to set things up so that a DM only needs the adventure and a Player's Handbook to run a game. Agreed -- having a place where you can publically re-post the rewards and remind folks what happened is a good thing and really helps cut down on post-game questions when the store owner is just trying to close the shop and get home. Thank you for posting -- it's always good to get some idea of how these adventures are being run 'in the wild', not just for authors to get an idea for what mechanics work or don't work at the table, but to give other DMs an idea of what to focus on or avoid to help their games be as good as they can be, given circumstances. -- Pauper [/QUOTE]
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