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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Advancing the plot without resorting to the ubiquitous "letter" from the evil mastermind
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<blockquote data-quote="ninjayeti" data-source="post: 8079548" data-attributes="member: 6789120"><p>Yeah the mysterious note works well in published adventures because it is pretty idiot proof, but it is more than a little cliche. </p><p></p><p>Ideally the PCs proactively gather this info rather than having it handed to them. Make sure the PCs understand they need to find answers, not just go murder hobo on a dungeon full of bad guys and put the burden on them as to how they are going to do it. Interrogating captured bad guys usually does the trick, but spying or eavesdropping on the bad guys rather than killing them outright can be a great tactic. Using some sort of deception or bluff can also work if you group has the skills for it. Magic like detect thoughts or speak with dead may work as well. </p><p></p><p>But if you need to just hand the info to the PCs I think it works better if it comes from an NPC rather than a note - that way you get to do some roleplaying instead of just forking over a handout. A couple ideas that can work:</p><p>-the villain monologue/ vow of revenge ("when my master leads an army of undead out of the black temple I will be avenged a thousand fold!")</p><p>-the prisoner who overheard part of the villain's plan</p><p>-the undercover good guy who infiltrated the bad guy's operation but is in over their head</p><p>-the cowardly minion who preemptively surrenders and spills the beans</p><p>-the turncoat minion who has a change of heart when he learns the evil plan ("Destroy Waterdeep? But my grandma lives in Waterdeep!")</p><p>-the dead villain's phone rings (or some magical equivalent) </p><p>-the rival villain who is willing to help the heroes to further his own agenda</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ninjayeti, post: 8079548, member: 6789120"] Yeah the mysterious note works well in published adventures because it is pretty idiot proof, but it is more than a little cliche. Ideally the PCs proactively gather this info rather than having it handed to them. Make sure the PCs understand they need to find answers, not just go murder hobo on a dungeon full of bad guys and put the burden on them as to how they are going to do it. Interrogating captured bad guys usually does the trick, but spying or eavesdropping on the bad guys rather than killing them outright can be a great tactic. Using some sort of deception or bluff can also work if you group has the skills for it. Magic like detect thoughts or speak with dead may work as well. But if you need to just hand the info to the PCs I think it works better if it comes from an NPC rather than a note - that way you get to do some roleplaying instead of just forking over a handout. A couple ideas that can work: -the villain monologue/ vow of revenge ("when my master leads an army of undead out of the black temple I will be avenged a thousand fold!") -the prisoner who overheard part of the villain's plan -the undercover good guy who infiltrated the bad guy's operation but is in over their head -the cowardly minion who preemptively surrenders and spills the beans -the turncoat minion who has a change of heart when he learns the evil plan ("Destroy Waterdeep? But my grandma lives in Waterdeep!") -the dead villain's phone rings (or some magical equivalent) -the rival villain who is willing to help the heroes to further his own agenda [/QUOTE]
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Advancing the plot without resorting to the ubiquitous "letter" from the evil mastermind
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