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Message: <blockquote data-quote="!DWolf" data-source="post: 8102647" data-attributes="member: 7026314">Warning: this post contains minor spoilers for a certain adventure path.Last post I was talking about encounter fundamentals, specifically foreshadowing. First a definition: by foreshadowing I mean giving the characters (and players) a warning or indication that an encounter can occur. Foreshadowing is important for multiple reasons: one is to help drive player agency; by being able to see encounters coming, players get to choose how they engage them, thus making the game more interactive. Another reason is that it allows certain types of characters (such as the mutagenic alchemist) to shine as they can perform pre-buffing. Yet another reason is that it makes combat easier (above and beyond pre-buffing): action economy can be improved by recalling knowledge, hunting prey, getting into advantageous positions, raising shields, etc. before combat starts. Additionally, by foreshadowing you are giving the players fair warning that combat/danger is coming and it will reduce feelings that the gm/game is arbitrary and capricious and thereby improve the attitude of the table.So when should we foreshadow? Always, unless you have a very specific reason not to. How heavily should we foreshadow? This depends on the players but I default to blatantly, though specifics can be hidden behind skill activities such as recall knowledge (try to avoid asking for perception checks to see them). Don’t worry about your players having information, enjoy what they do with it.Amusing Anecdote: as the result of a survey wildlife check I once told the players outright that there were dangerous aerial predators in the area. Two characters still went off by themselves without any ranged weapons to predictable results (well mostly, after one character died, the other used his body as a lure, hide and managed to kill the thing by sneaking up on it after it landed to eat). The players were kicking themselves after that one.Okay, so we know why and when to foreshadow. The next question is how? Especially in a published adventure where creature selection and environment have been laid out for you? I recommend the following procedure:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Read the adventure before hand. Note each encounter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> See if the adventure has foreshadowed an encounters for you and note these. For example: the first book of Age of Ashes has several creatures that can tell PCs about other areas of the keep and places where sounds can be heard from other areas.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Go back and read the adventure again. Consider each encounter (including those already foreshadowed) and try to think of the impact that it would have on its immediate environment (the room it is found in a dungeon) and make a note of it. A giant bat living on the ceiling of a room would probably cover the floor in quano. Then think of the impact it would have  on the nearby areas (adjacent rooms in a dungeon) and the inhabitants therein. The goblins living several rooms over might be tired of getting eaten by the bat and put crude graffiti on the door to the room warning of the danger (if only you understood goblin graffiti marks). Or maybe it’s their friend and there are bowls of mostly consumed fruit all over the room. Finally, consider the impact of the creature on things distant to it. In our bat example, the goblin diplomat in town might be able to tell the characters that Carl the Bat is a good dude but he gets a little (a lot)  bitey if annoyed, or startled, or he’s having a bad day... or anytime really. And all the goblins (including the diplomat) have strange marks that can be determined to be healed up bite wounds from a giant bat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> For each piece of foreshadowing determine what if any, checks are necessary, to perceive or interpret it. Beware that it is tempting to try and hide information by locking it behind perception or survival checks. Resist that temptation: the purpose of foreshadowing is to give players information and see what they do with it. However, it is perfectly reasonable to describe things through the senses: instead of saying there is bat quano in the room, say there is a horrible stench and strange brown lumps all over the room, but mostly on the desk to far right. And then let the players draw their own conclusions or ask to recall knowledge to further interpret what they are sensing.</li> </ol>And that is pretty much the whole process. At first it may seem like a lot of work, but like the old advice that if you are struggling with math homework then do every problem in the book, the repetition will build up your skills to the point where you can do it reflexively. It will also uniquely make each adventure your own. Side effects of following this advice include: wanting to run every adventure you read, ability to improvise sophisticated encounters on the fly, insomnia, and desire to write extremely long posts trying to explain your procedures to others.</blockquote>

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