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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thia Halmades" data-source="post: 2723389" data-attributes="member: 35863">Hey, peaceful resolution with the option for long-term resolution is better than war.  Every time.[threadjack!]The Shaman:  It's not that we're doing things in particularly different fashion; in your example you let the PCs get it all done, predicated on spotting the insurgent.  IMC, I would've made sure the insurgent was spotted, or evidence thereof, at some point.  Like you, one of my favorite lines is: "Make a spot check."  The story arc that I've got written, well, here's an example:The Adversary has taken over a major port of the Empire via subversion of the leadership.  All that MI knows is that communication has been limited, and they received a request for aid from one of the local churches.  In response to this, a SpecOps team (the players) are dispatched to deal with the problem.  They enter town.  Prior to everything hitting the fan:- I've established all local leaders as major NPCs, who may (or may not) encounter the PCs, but they're there & available.- Since the PCs are soldiers, giving them an in-game order and then letting them figure out how to resolve is a very simple mechanic for getting them in the vicinity of where I want them to be, and the Paladin is likely to stay on track.- As the PCs begin the interview process, they meet other ship captains, insurgent leaders, the local mafia, some children, a couple of planted spies, and an additional SpecOp unit who was assigned as their liason.  They start investigating the church, which partially existed in another dimension, because it seemed like a good idea at the time.- They didn't resolve every plot line or learn half the things they could have, but they did resolve the issue with the church, save Hot Chick #89191110, and gain enough intelligence about the enemy operation to distill a new plan of action.I set up the backdrop, the scenery, I put all the extras on stage and gave them scripts, but none of it does anything unless a PC shows up.  See my sig (which I edited after I wrote you a response; I liked it enough I thought I'd keep it around for a while).  My PCs could bail on the mission and start sidequesting, but that goes against resolution of the overplot.  There are no 'random encounters' in the classic sense for them to engage in.  Because I'm writing a massive war campaign, many things are interconnected and are tied to enemy activity, intelligence & troop movement.  They're going to be way more successful (and have more fun) pursuing the main arc.My Ravenloft game, on the other hand, is just a giant backdrop and a murder.  Everything there they've done and I've had to reactive towards, which is an absolute PIA.[/threadjack!]</blockquote>

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