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<blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 7444413" data-attributes="member: 6786839"><p>Hey, a Princess Bride reference, in content-relevant context. Is that better than a Monty Python reference?</p><p></p><p>There are video games in which you can go to the Big Door, and if you open it, the High Priest is about to make the Great Sacrifice; but if instead you walk away and do other stuff for an hour, or leave the game running overnight and the next morning you walk your avatar back to the Big Door and open it, the High Priest is STILL just about to make the Great Sacrifice.</p><p></p><p>I don't want D&D to be one of those games. Not unless the players and DM have *agreed* to play that way.</p><p></p><p>I want the PC's decisions to affect outcome. That sometimes includes the decision to walk away from the Big Door without opening it, and come back to the Big Door the next day. For my next campaign, I'm planning to write a timeline of what will happen *if the PCs do nothing to change it*, and then play out the divergence between that timeline, and what actually happens. If the PCs spend 100 days on downtime tasks, they'll get lotsa skills, but also a civil war will have started on day 37, the capital burned on day 54, and on day 82, the war ended with the BBEG on the throne. So the PCs finish their downtime task on day 15 of the new regime. I will give the PCs lots of opportunities to avert that outcome. It's up to them, and up to the players.</p><p></p><p>On another hand, if I'm running the plot of "Watchmen", if the PCs somehow go directly to the BBEG's lair on day 1, then they will reach the lair *before* the BBEG has completed the master plan. At which point, I might have to say "that's the end of the session, I have some details to work out before I can tell you exactly what you see."</p><p></p><p>There is a DD (Adventurer's League) adventure which starts with a plot hook. As written, it *assumes* that the PCs are in a tavern, and apparently assumes that they *will never notice events outside the tavern*. So dockworkers enter the tavern and start a brawl, to give the players a hint that there's trouble on the docks.</p><p></p><p>I run things differently than that adventure assumes. If the PCs ever emerge from the tavern and look towards the bay, they'll see that the main lighthouse is dark; that's a major change to the urban skyline. If they go to the market, they'll see that the fishmongers have nothing to sell, and if the PCs ask, the reason is because the lighthouse is dark so there's less ship activity, including less fishing. Heck, even if they stay in the tavern, the menu will eventually change, as the food shortage has ripple effects. But if the PCs have *no interests other than drinking in a tavern all week long*, then they're not heroes, not as I understand heroism.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Riley37, post: 7444413, member: 6786839"] Hey, a Princess Bride reference, in content-relevant context. Is that better than a Monty Python reference? There are video games in which you can go to the Big Door, and if you open it, the High Priest is about to make the Great Sacrifice; but if instead you walk away and do other stuff for an hour, or leave the game running overnight and the next morning you walk your avatar back to the Big Door and open it, the High Priest is STILL just about to make the Great Sacrifice. I don't want D&D to be one of those games. Not unless the players and DM have *agreed* to play that way. I want the PC's decisions to affect outcome. That sometimes includes the decision to walk away from the Big Door without opening it, and come back to the Big Door the next day. For my next campaign, I'm planning to write a timeline of what will happen *if the PCs do nothing to change it*, and then play out the divergence between that timeline, and what actually happens. If the PCs spend 100 days on downtime tasks, they'll get lotsa skills, but also a civil war will have started on day 37, the capital burned on day 54, and on day 82, the war ended with the BBEG on the throne. So the PCs finish their downtime task on day 15 of the new regime. I will give the PCs lots of opportunities to avert that outcome. It's up to them, and up to the players. On another hand, if I'm running the plot of "Watchmen", if the PCs somehow go directly to the BBEG's lair on day 1, then they will reach the lair *before* the BBEG has completed the master plan. At which point, I might have to say "that's the end of the session, I have some details to work out before I can tell you exactly what you see." There is a DD (Adventurer's League) adventure which starts with a plot hook. As written, it *assumes* that the PCs are in a tavern, and apparently assumes that they *will never notice events outside the tavern*. So dockworkers enter the tavern and start a brawl, to give the players a hint that there's trouble on the docks. I run things differently than that adventure assumes. If the PCs ever emerge from the tavern and look towards the bay, they'll see that the main lighthouse is dark; that's a major change to the urban skyline. If they go to the market, they'll see that the fishmongers have nothing to sell, and if the PCs ask, the reason is because the lighthouse is dark so there's less ship activity, including less fishing. Heck, even if they stay in the tavern, the menu will eventually change, as the food shortage has ripple effects. But if the PCs have *no interests other than drinking in a tavern all week long*, then they're not heroes, not as I understand heroism. [/QUOTE]
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