Larnievc
Hero
Asking in part because this is a very D&D-centric community. A lot of indie gamers seem to have moved toward super-short campaigns (too short for my trad tastes!) but the way 5e is presented I can’t tell if things are tilting more toward sweeping Critical Role-style narratives, where any character death is monumental, or largely sticking to more traditional die-and-replace play, which necessarily makes it harder to wind up with big character-centric stories.
I think it depends on the group. My group hate having to come up with personal motivations. They want to be swept up in an ongoing drama.What I think big predetermined plots do is steal energy from player goals and character stories.