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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3895149" data-attributes="member: 18280">I recommend using an &quot;event calendar&quot;.&nbsp; If you have the 1e Oriental Adventures tome, there is a section in the back for generating weekly, monthly, and annual events.&nbsp; Make yourself a blank calendar, using whatever scheme exists in your campaign world.&nbsp; Then take a hour and generate a year's worth of events.Again, tie events into your preplanned adventure areas as much as possible.&nbsp; Don't be afraid to leave some events dangling, though, to lead to &quot;new&quot; areas as you plan them!Then, when the players don't know what to do, invite them to stay at an NPC ally's home, and hit them with rumours each week until something piques their interest.&nbsp; Don't be shy about including festivals, holidays, and events of the household they are staying in.Advantage 1:&nbsp; Real PC downtime.&nbsp; The players might decide to craft or commission something during this time.Advantage 2:&nbsp; Real ties to NPC allies can be forged.&nbsp; Staying at Sir Ponce's villa endears the PCs to Sir Ponce.&nbsp; Mentioning feasts is fine; you need no more detail than the players want.&nbsp; Having Sir Ponce try to marry his daughter/son to a PC is always fun.Advantage 3:&nbsp; Makes the world seem more real, and areas seem more dynamic.&nbsp; If the PCs didn't wipe out the Caves of Chaos, this week there will be a humanoid raid on a caravan coming to the Keep on the Borderlands.Advantage 4:&nbsp; Helps to eliminate the &quot;DM will tell us what to do&quot; mentality.&nbsp; Which is good, because waiting for the DM to tell you what to do does not preclude complaining about a railroad afterwards!RC</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 3895149, member: 18280"] I recommend using an "event calendar". If you have the 1e Oriental Adventures tome, there is a section in the back for generating weekly, monthly, and annual events. Make yourself a blank calendar, using whatever scheme exists in your campaign world. Then take a hour and generate a year's worth of events. Again, tie events into your preplanned adventure areas as much as possible. Don't be afraid to leave some events dangling, though, to lead to "new" areas as you plan them! Then, when the players don't know what to do, invite them to stay at an NPC ally's home, and hit them with rumours each week until something piques their interest. Don't be shy about including festivals, holidays, and events of the household they are staying in. Advantage 1: Real PC downtime. The players might decide to craft or commission something during this time. Advantage 2: Real ties to NPC allies can be forged. Staying at Sir Ponce's villa endears the PCs to Sir Ponce. Mentioning feasts is fine; you need no more detail than the players want. Having Sir Ponce try to marry his daughter/son to a PC is always fun. Advantage 3: Makes the world seem more real, and areas seem more dynamic. If the PCs didn't wipe out the Caves of Chaos, this week there will be a humanoid raid on a caravan coming to the Keep on the Borderlands. Advantage 4: Helps to eliminate the "DM will tell us what to do" mentality. Which is good, because waiting for the DM to tell you what to do [i]does not preclude[/i] complaining about a railroad afterwards! RC [/QUOTE]

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