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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6982724" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>I agree. Plus, this can also cause your players to distrust everyone they meet, which is not something I would want. It's good for the players to be able to trust some people. Sometimes the good guy, is really just a good guy.</p><p></p><p>The twist would be when that good guy is suddenly killed, thus giving the players emotional stakes.</p><p></p><p>I do like twists where the players have to (temporarily) work together with someone they know they can't trust. And as a DM I try to put the extra effort in to get the players into a false sense of security, where they start trusting this obviously untrustworthy character. But the inevitable betrayal should never come out of nowhere. You have to build towards a twist, and not drop a twist just for the sake of unpredictability. The best twists are a natural development of the plot, like the red wedding in game of thrones. It has to be set up first, before the twist can occur.</p><p></p><p>For example, one twist I had been working towards, was the resurrection of an ancient evil pirate lord. The plot already involved him quite a bit, and it was known to the players that his body had never been found. The whole campaign the players kept dreading that he might return as a ghost pirate. But, in a world that has scrying spells, it made sense that his body had to be in a location that could not be found with scrying. Once they had found his secret lair, and found his body, the players aided the daughter of the pirate lord in giving her father a proper burial. Thus removing him from the location that had prevented a group of evil wizards from finding his body all these years. So they inadvertently allowed this twist to occur. But it had a set up that had been in place since the campaign begun at least a year ago.</p><p></p><p>So the trick to a good twist, in my opinion, is that it should have some planning behind it. Like a Chekov's Gun, you want to set up the twist properly. It should make sense. The moment the twist is revealed, all the puzzle pieces that you left behind, should fall into place. So plan that twist several sessions in advance, and lay out the foundation for it. And don't panic if your players happen to predict the twist. Just stay the course.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 6982724, member: 6801286"] I agree. Plus, this can also cause your players to distrust everyone they meet, which is not something I would want. It's good for the players to be able to trust some people. Sometimes the good guy, is really just a good guy. The twist would be when that good guy is suddenly killed, thus giving the players emotional stakes. I do like twists where the players have to (temporarily) work together with someone they know they can't trust. And as a DM I try to put the extra effort in to get the players into a false sense of security, where they start trusting this obviously untrustworthy character. But the inevitable betrayal should never come out of nowhere. You have to build towards a twist, and not drop a twist just for the sake of unpredictability. The best twists are a natural development of the plot, like the red wedding in game of thrones. It has to be set up first, before the twist can occur. For example, one twist I had been working towards, was the resurrection of an ancient evil pirate lord. The plot already involved him quite a bit, and it was known to the players that his body had never been found. The whole campaign the players kept dreading that he might return as a ghost pirate. But, in a world that has scrying spells, it made sense that his body had to be in a location that could not be found with scrying. Once they had found his secret lair, and found his body, the players aided the daughter of the pirate lord in giving her father a proper burial. Thus removing him from the location that had prevented a group of evil wizards from finding his body all these years. So they inadvertently allowed this twist to occur. But it had a set up that had been in place since the campaign begun at least a year ago. So the trick to a good twist, in my opinion, is that it should have some planning behind it. Like a Chekov's Gun, you want to set up the twist properly. It should make sense. The moment the twist is revealed, all the puzzle pieces that you left behind, should fall into place. So plan that twist several sessions in advance, and lay out the foundation for it. And don't panic if your players happen to predict the twist. Just stay the course. [/QUOTE]
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