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<blockquote data-quote="taliesin15" data-source="post: 4576726" data-attributes="member: 22058"><p>Something I tried a few times in my last long term campaign was to throw into the middle of a story arc a completely unrelated, different in tone set of adventures. In one case it involved travel to another plane of existence and was a quest, in another case it was something sort of improvised on my part using monsters they'd never encountered on an entirely unfamiliar terrain. </p><p></p><p>I've been working on another long term campaign destined to start up in a few months, and I've already worked up some sidebar adventures that will stand out in terms of flavor. One of them involves a love triangle between three key NPCs in the town the party will be based at first. I wonder how many DMs have even tried to run an adventure with Romance as the theme? It never works (rarely) with PCs--that is, most players will not have their characters fall in love, and will usually blow off NPCs falling in love with them. But believe me, if you can make this work in your campaign, it will bring an entirely new flavor.</p><p></p><p>Another idea is to blend themes--one that works sometimes is a story arc blending Comedy and Tragedy--say inventing a story line that at first seems to be entirely Comic, but with subtle and very deep Tragic consequences.</p><p></p><p>Another one is to invent an adventure where the PCs totally have to use their wits--much easier to pull off at one point in Dungeon (say answering a tough Riddle or Traps/Tricks)--if you can come up with something where fighting and magic use have no role whatsoever, maybe even something entirely skill-based, you're going to have something probably more interesting to play for all there. Three possibilities for this: an enchanted forest populated with magical creatures that are essentially benign, and the PCs are looking for some kind of lost or hidden item there; crossing or travelling through treacherous terrain and weather; finding something hidden or elusive in a city they've never been to, and the entire quest hinges on clever role-playing by the PCs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="taliesin15, post: 4576726, member: 22058"] Something I tried a few times in my last long term campaign was to throw into the middle of a story arc a completely unrelated, different in tone set of adventures. In one case it involved travel to another plane of existence and was a quest, in another case it was something sort of improvised on my part using monsters they'd never encountered on an entirely unfamiliar terrain. I've been working on another long term campaign destined to start up in a few months, and I've already worked up some sidebar adventures that will stand out in terms of flavor. One of them involves a love triangle between three key NPCs in the town the party will be based at first. I wonder how many DMs have even tried to run an adventure with Romance as the theme? It never works (rarely) with PCs--that is, most players will not have their characters fall in love, and will usually blow off NPCs falling in love with them. But believe me, if you can make this work in your campaign, it will bring an entirely new flavor. Another idea is to blend themes--one that works sometimes is a story arc blending Comedy and Tragedy--say inventing a story line that at first seems to be entirely Comic, but with subtle and very deep Tragic consequences. Another one is to invent an adventure where the PCs totally have to use their wits--much easier to pull off at one point in Dungeon (say answering a tough Riddle or Traps/Tricks)--if you can come up with something where fighting and magic use have no role whatsoever, maybe even something entirely skill-based, you're going to have something probably more interesting to play for all there. Three possibilities for this: an enchanted forest populated with magical creatures that are essentially benign, and the PCs are looking for some kind of lost or hidden item there; crossing or travelling through treacherous terrain and weather; finding something hidden or elusive in a city they've never been to, and the entire quest hinges on clever role-playing by the PCs. [/QUOTE]
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