Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 4733085" data-attributes="member: 54710">I don't know what your campaigns are like, but there is a lot of design space between &quot;you lost the module&quot; and &quot;the campaign is over&quot;.&nbsp; It's just a matter of deciding what the badguy's plan actually *is*.&nbsp; If you never tell the PCs, then you're obviously bluffing about your willingness to do it.For a mid-heroic adventure, the Necromancer's plan could be to create a force twenty mid-paragon monsters and turn the local town into his undead servants.&nbsp; If the PCs don't stop him in time, the adventure ends with them trying to escape the former NPCs that are trying to kill them while hiding from the elite level+5 monsters that are trying to kill them.&nbsp; (These monsters are newly created and presumably lack treasure.&nbsp; The balance hit they take will work itself out in a few levels.)&nbsp; That's still a potentially fun adventure, but not the adventure the PCs presumably want to play.OK, now this is just a question of calibration.&nbsp; As a DM, &quot;how many extended rests do the PCs get?&quot; is an essential part of the game design and should be communicated to the PCs.&nbsp; If the PCs get to the end unable to complete it, that may just be an example of an adventure that's too hard.&nbsp; (...or a game played poorly by the PCs.&nbsp; A good adventure design would allow them to aim for a partial victory at this point -- &quot;killing the princess to stop the ritual&quot; probably won't get a reward, but it should still be better than forfeiting the adventure completely.)-KS</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KidSnide, post: 4733085, member: 54710"] I don't know what your campaigns are like, but there is a lot of design space between "you lost the module" and "the campaign is over". It's just a matter of deciding what the badguy's plan actually *is*. If you never tell the PCs, then you're obviously bluffing about your willingness to do it. For a mid-heroic adventure, the Necromancer's plan could be to create a force twenty mid-paragon monsters and turn the local town into his undead servants. If the PCs don't stop him in time, the adventure ends with them trying to escape the former NPCs that are trying to kill them while hiding from the elite level+5 monsters that are trying to kill them. (These monsters are newly created and presumably lack treasure. The balance hit they take will work itself out in a few levels.) That's still a potentially fun adventure, but not the adventure the PCs presumably want to play. OK, now this is just a question of calibration. As a DM, "how many extended rests do the PCs get?" is an essential part of the game design and should be communicated to the PCs. If the PCs get to the end unable to complete it, that may just be an example of an adventure that's too hard. (...or a game played poorly by the PCs. A good adventure design would allow them to aim for a partial victory at this point -- "killing the princess to stop the ritual" probably won't get a reward, but it should still be better than forfeiting the adventure completely.) -KS [/QUOTE]

Verification