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Message: <blockquote data-quote="s/LaSH" data-source="post: 461953" data-attributes="member: 6929">Hm... I'd say it depends on players. Going after the evil villain is a good idea, but what if they're not ready? Simple: They get help. The armies of good nations, bands of valorous Celestials, gold dragons etc. all charge after the bad guy and make it easy for the PCs to blaze a path straight to the throne room Of Darkness. Even if the PCs don't have military support in this league, at least give them some kind of super-empowered weapons or something ("Here, use the Sword Of The Fourth Heaven to slay Lord Naughtius! We cannot interfere on this plane, but hey, you can.") This means the players can face off against a villain they previously didn't have a chance of beating, but still remain at the same level for future use.And, of course, you can easily explain this as 'The forces of good knew about this evil fellow all along, and have been preparing their forces for the time to strike before it is too late... unfortunately, the stars are about to align in the Elder Sign and grant the villain cosmic power, so we have to move before we are ready.'But if the villain isn't ready to go down, a good side-quest is one in which a unique villain of incredible power shows up and threatens vast numbers of innocents. Remember Doomsday from Superman comics ten years ago? Doomsday was first seen busting out of an ancient crashed spaceship. He then made a beeline for Metropolis, destroying everything in his path. (He took down the current Justice League, for example.) Superman was the only one who could save the city. Do that in D&D terms. A good substitute would be the Tarrasque, which is easier to beat if you know it's weaknesses (anyone else know the recipe to kill it around tenth level?), and you can drop hints if the PCs aren't strong enough. A truly brutal battle that lays waste to miles of countryside is always cool, and excessive player death is guaranteed if they don't use their heads. And if they do fail to stop it, you can explain that the fight tired it out and it buried itself again for a hundred years of hibernation, or some other logical conclusion.The Doomsday method completely ignores ongoing plot issues in favour of one big battle with everything at stake.Hope this sparks some ideas...Edit:PS: On the topic of scary DMs who don't like PCs, I might qualify... but my players like their characters even more after I screw them over.</blockquote>

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