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<blockquote data-quote="maddman75" data-source="post: 2040223" data-attributes="member: 2673"><p>Its not that hard. All you have to do is let go of the reigns. Don't try to plan out a series of encounters, that's impossible. Just set up a variety of hooks and see what they bite on. You don't have to plan everything out in advance, and if they don't look into it you never have to think about it again. For instance, if you present all this and they are all about uniting the kingdoms against the Evil Empire but aren't interested in Flondor you don't need to do anything else. Or you could spring it on them sometime later, when you need it.</p><p></p><p>This kind of game tends to be a lot of work to set up. You have to establish all these different groups, their goals, and their aims. I prefer to avoid setting most of them up as "good guys" or "bad guys". Just different groups that will have one effect or the other. Its a good idea to have some floating encounters set up as well, to drop in when things get slow. Once you get it all set up, the game will almost run itself.</p><p></p><p>There are some downsides. If the players aren't used to this kind of game, they can get paralyzed. They'll look at all these different plot threads and wonder what they are supposed to be doing. In truth, they aren't "supposed" to do anything. *They* are the proactive ones, and your world reacts to what they do. It can also seem kind of disjointed, with the group going from this to that game to game. I remember my players joking that they could never visit the same town twice, as they'd always manage to rip off, kill, offend, or anger someone of importance within a day or two. The trick to avoiding these pitfalls include talking with your players about the nature of the game - let them know that this is something different. And if you can drop in elements of whatever climaax you have in mind when it gets revealed it can look like you had it planned all along. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>As for warfare, I prefer DM fiat. The PCs are the most important characters in the story, so what they do should have a major impact. It they succeed in mission A, then battle B goes in their favor, and so on. Of course with your setup they could end up commanding the armies directly, so some 3rd party rules could be useful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="maddman75, post: 2040223, member: 2673"] Its not that hard. All you have to do is let go of the reigns. Don't try to plan out a series of encounters, that's impossible. Just set up a variety of hooks and see what they bite on. You don't have to plan everything out in advance, and if they don't look into it you never have to think about it again. For instance, if you present all this and they are all about uniting the kingdoms against the Evil Empire but aren't interested in Flondor you don't need to do anything else. Or you could spring it on them sometime later, when you need it. This kind of game tends to be a lot of work to set up. You have to establish all these different groups, their goals, and their aims. I prefer to avoid setting most of them up as "good guys" or "bad guys". Just different groups that will have one effect or the other. Its a good idea to have some floating encounters set up as well, to drop in when things get slow. Once you get it all set up, the game will almost run itself. There are some downsides. If the players aren't used to this kind of game, they can get paralyzed. They'll look at all these different plot threads and wonder what they are supposed to be doing. In truth, they aren't "supposed" to do anything. *They* are the proactive ones, and your world reacts to what they do. It can also seem kind of disjointed, with the group going from this to that game to game. I remember my players joking that they could never visit the same town twice, as they'd always manage to rip off, kill, offend, or anger someone of importance within a day or two. The trick to avoiding these pitfalls include talking with your players about the nature of the game - let them know that this is something different. And if you can drop in elements of whatever climaax you have in mind when it gets revealed it can look like you had it planned all along. :) As for warfare, I prefer DM fiat. The PCs are the most important characters in the story, so what they do should have a major impact. It they succeed in mission A, then battle B goes in their favor, and so on. Of course with your setup they could end up commanding the armies directly, so some 3rd party rules could be useful. [/QUOTE]
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