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<blockquote data-quote="DrunkonDuty" data-source="post: 5474530" data-attributes="member: 54364">Sounds good to me.&nbsp;Seriously. You've clearly thought it out and prepared. A&nbsp; nice simple start, with a reason for the characters to be hanging together. ON the back story: you could skip straight to the caravan, simply saying that they've all come from a depressed rural community and are old friends. It would save time and make sure you get to your cliffhanger without having to rush in other more important areas (like the first combat.)&nbsp;When the PCs arrive at Freeport you should foreshadow the impending coup. People on the street are nervous, many shops are boarded up. Markets are quiet. Guards (especially gate guards) are suspicious. This will give the players something to be curious about and thus investigate, when you give them their chance to do things before the PCs hit the sack.&nbsp;Remember that by giving the players a chance to investigate the city's mood you have given&nbsp; them a more or less open licence to run around. Now I don't know your players. But in general you can bank on at least one or two players grabbing this and running. This will take up playing time. Which is fine. In my opinion investigating the setting and meeting NPCs is the meat of the game; the good bits I look forward to as a player. But budget your playing time accordingly. Which is why I suggest dealing with the back story as a quick explanation at the start of the game rather than playing it out.&nbsp;When it comes to the various hooks you've worked out just keep in mind the the PCs may not go for some of them. Or maybe any of them. Maybe they get their own goals and go off in search of them. (I dunno, maybe they decide they want to join a faction as soldiers with an eye to taking it over in the future.) Let them. Don't hang on too tightly to any of these ideas. Remember that those scenarios you plotted out and NPCs you've statted up can be used at a different time in a different context. You're work won't be wasted.&nbsp;cheers and good luck with it all.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DrunkonDuty, post: 5474530, member: 54364"] Sounds good to me. Seriously. You've clearly thought it out and prepared. A nice simple start, with a reason for the characters to be hanging together. ON the back story: you could skip straight to the caravan, simply saying that they've all come from a depressed rural community and are old friends. It would save time and make sure you get to your cliffhanger without having to rush in other more important areas (like the first combat.) When the PCs arrive at Freeport you should foreshadow the impending coup. People on the street are nervous, many shops are boarded up. Markets are quiet. Guards (especially gate guards) are suspicious. This will give the players something to be curious about and thus investigate, when you give them their chance to do things before the PCs hit the sack. Remember that by giving the players a chance to investigate the city's mood you have given them a more or less open licence to run around. Now I don't know your players. But in general you can bank on at least one or two players grabbing this and running. This will take up playing time. Which is fine. In my opinion investigating the setting and meeting NPCs is the meat of the game; the good bits I look forward to as a player. But budget your playing time accordingly. Which is why I suggest dealing with the back story as a quick explanation at the start of the game rather than playing it out. When it comes to the various hooks you've worked out just keep in mind the the PCs may not go for some of them. Or maybe any of them. Maybe they get their own goals and go off in search of them. (I dunno, maybe they decide they want to join a faction as soldiers with an eye to taking it over in the future.) Let them. Don't hang on too tightly to any of these ideas. Remember that those scenarios you plotted out and NPCs you've statted up can be used at a different time in a different context. You're work won't be wasted. cheers and good luck with it all. [/QUOTE]

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