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<blockquote data-quote="Balesir" data-source="post: 6594702" data-attributes="member: 27160"><p>OK - I was assuming this was a way to introduce the "uprising" setting element/plot/situation to the players. I think, oddly, if it wasn't then the coincidence of a discovered smuggler's cache at the gate <em>would</em> seem somewhat cheesy, because "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence and three times is enemy action".</p><p></p><p>This brings up an aspect I didn't mention earlier, but I think factors into "plausible drama", for want of a better term. Having occasional unlikely events that bring up situations/setting elements of interest I think are generally fine. What seems "unnatural" is having too many coincidences - which are defined (as above) as "double-dipped" unlikely events in the same scene/situation, or concerning the same "plot element". Basically, dropping the odd "hook" is fine, but plugging away when the first is ignored is cheesy.</p><p></p><p></p><p>If the players knew of the plot before the city gates, I would make the skill challenge a requirement to catch the smuggler (and cut the "accident"), for sure. But there would absolutely be a smuggler there to be caught, if the players took the "bait".</p><p></p><p>I would not, on the other hand, give both the rumours/clues up-front AND the "chance encounter" at the gate.</p><p></p><p></p><p>If their previous choices were simply "we're going to the city to shop", I really don't see how. They have not "acted" in the context of the uprising plot or the smugglers. They are not even aware of them. To try to make us, every one, responsible for the happenstances that surround us every moment of our lives seems, frankly, bizarre. An action without intent (which requires knowledge) is not "agency" - it is mere happenstance. You are holding people accountable for things they do not know they are accountable for - in fact, for things that they cannot know that they have any accountability for by any means. That does not strike me as a reasonable position.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Balesir, post: 6594702, member: 27160"] OK - I was assuming this was a way to introduce the "uprising" setting element/plot/situation to the players. I think, oddly, if it wasn't then the coincidence of a discovered smuggler's cache at the gate [i]would[/i] seem somewhat cheesy, because "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence and three times is enemy action". This brings up an aspect I didn't mention earlier, but I think factors into "plausible drama", for want of a better term. Having occasional unlikely events that bring up situations/setting elements of interest I think are generally fine. What seems "unnatural" is having too many coincidences - which are defined (as above) as "double-dipped" unlikely events in the same scene/situation, or concerning the same "plot element". Basically, dropping the odd "hook" is fine, but plugging away when the first is ignored is cheesy. If the players knew of the plot before the city gates, I would make the skill challenge a requirement to catch the smuggler (and cut the "accident"), for sure. But there would absolutely be a smuggler there to be caught, if the players took the "bait". I would not, on the other hand, give both the rumours/clues up-front AND the "chance encounter" at the gate. If their previous choices were simply "we're going to the city to shop", I really don't see how. They have not "acted" in the context of the uprising plot or the smugglers. They are not even aware of them. To try to make us, every one, responsible for the happenstances that surround us every moment of our lives seems, frankly, bizarre. An action without intent (which requires knowledge) is not "agency" - it is mere happenstance. You are holding people accountable for things they do not know they are accountable for - in fact, for things that they cannot know that they have any accountability for by any means. That does not strike me as a reasonable position. [/QUOTE]
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