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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7063184" data-attributes="member: 6801286">So far my current campaign is probably the best I've ever run. That seems to be mostly due to the strong theme and world building, but also due to the memorable characters that the players have embraced, and how they choose to interact with them.One of the characters that my players love the most, is their npc crew mate rummy. This guy always gets into hilarious trouble, mostly due to his heavy drinking. But he also has his moments, where he surprises everyone. During our last session, the party returned from an expedition through a jungle. They were informed that rummy had made a bit of a scene while he was drunk, which had raised emotions high with some of their allies. This was a deliberate misdirection on my part, to prepare the players for a disaster, while the opposite had occurred. As it turned out, rummy had made a loud speech while drunk, that had rallied their allies in support of their greater cause. And in true rummy-style, he didn't remember anything he said, and had swaggered off the side of the docks afterwards. Comedy can be a great addition to storytelling. It allows the DM to mix up the serious and the dark, with some lighthearted fun. I think a healthy mix of all of that benefits the story, and it helps endear some of the characters to the players.It also helps if the villains have some depth to them. One of the more exciting scenes that we recently had, was between one of the players and an evil pirate captain called Karagoz, whom they had captured. Karagoz made some compelling arguments that the player kind of had to agree with, despite disproving of the villain's methods. He told the player that the freedom of all pirates would last only as long as the two countries were at war with each other. The letters of Marque passed out by the Marquis, would become void as soon as the kingdom no longer needed the pirates for their war efforts.I love it when the players find some common ground with the villain, and yet hate him all the same. The players decided that they would not kill Karagoz, but deliver him to a countess (another npc they like) whose arm he had cut off when she was merely a child. They wanted this countess to get her revenge on Karagoz, which is fantastic roleplaying on the part of the players, and makes the story so good.I have already thought out what the countess wants to do with Karagoz, and what she will say to him. It will be fantastic, and will earn the players a new and powerful ally.I don't think that's true. In my campaign I set up such conflicts between npc's, and I put the players in a position to be involved with it. I have seen my players come up with inspiring dialogue on the spot, and awesome one-liners. All the DM needs to do, is put the players in the position to be the main character and shine. I will have my npc's turn to the players when they are afraid, or sad, and ask them for advise or comfort. Those are the moments when the players will often surprise you, and those can often turn into fantastic roleplaying moments. As a DM you simply need to put the players in a good position to be awesome.For example, the players recently attended a funeral of a dear ally of theirs that had died during the battle. I asked my players, "Is there anything your character wants to say at the funeral?"And yes, yes they did. Of course they want to say something. They knew this npc very well, and of course they want to share some words about him. And that can lead to fantastic speeches, if you have the right group of players.</blockquote>

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