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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 5795328" data-attributes="member: 463">I'm a bit wary of NPC-centred campaigns; as you know you cannot rely on PCs to do what you want.&nbsp; If you try to force them to comply with the NPC's plots, that is deleterious railroading. Be wary of a lot of GM advice, including the sample pre-plotted campaigns in DMG2 - &quot;The PCs do this, then they find out that, then they do this...&quot; - it may be necessary in published Adventure Paths but in general it's not a good approach for an RPG.I think the best advice I can give is to see it from the PCs' POV and keep the game PC-centric. Active NPCs with agendas are great, but should not be the focus of play. IME active PCs with their own agendas are best, and this is particularly important at Paragon level. Starting at Paragon, work with the players to create cool characters with political &amp; social resources - landholdings, realms, high-level contacts - as well as magical &amp; physical power. Get an idea of what the PCs' general motivations are: wealth, power, status, true love etc - but I've become wary of asking for specific 'PC goals' as such, too many players have been giving me 'I've heard of a magic artifact I want' with the expectation I'll provide a path to that artifact.&nbsp; To this, add your NPCs' machinations, and a draft timeline if their plots proceed as expected. Then kick things off and see what happens.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 5795328, member: 463"] I'm a bit wary of NPC-centred campaigns; as you know you cannot rely on PCs to do what you want. If you try to force them to comply with the NPC's plots, that is deleterious railroading. Be wary of a lot of GM advice, including the sample pre-plotted campaigns in DMG2 - "The PCs do this, then they find out that, then they do this..." - it may be necessary in published Adventure Paths but in general it's not a good approach for an RPG. I think the best advice I can give is to see it from the PCs' POV and keep the game PC-centric. Active NPCs with agendas are great, but should not be the focus of play. IME active PCs with their own agendas are best, and this is particularly important at Paragon level. Starting at Paragon, work with the players to create cool characters with political & social resources - landholdings, realms, high-level contacts - as well as magical & physical power. Get an idea of what the PCs' general motivations are: wealth, power, status, true love etc - but I've become wary of asking for specific 'PC goals' as such, too many players have been giving me 'I've heard of a magic artifact I want' with the expectation I'll provide a path to that artifact. To this, add your NPCs' machinations, and a draft timeline if their plots proceed as expected. Then kick things off and see what happens. [/QUOTE]

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