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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4106199" data-attributes="member: 60965">It sounds like you know what you're doing now.  If you can see what Sam is doing and know not to do that(though it can be hard not to, especially if you have alot of content/story you've created and really want the PCs to see it), it's unlikely you'll do that.It sounds like your method to campaign creation is similar to mine, though you do a bit more design work than I do off the bat.  The problem I find with creating "instances" and plot bits before hand is that they are wasted if the PCs you make don't want to go that route.My personal style is let my players make whatever they want then make the story based off the players and the world I've created rather than making players conform to the the world and story I created in advance.I prefer to work with my players while they are working on their characters one on one to be sure their characters work with my world. Player: "I'm an elven sorcerer".  DM: "Well, Elves are banished and sorcerers are hunted by the government, so uh...".  This method not only helps you get an idea of the player's character in advance, it gives them some grounding on your world, you can explain related parts of your world to them to make them feel more connected to it and makes your world more immersive when their characters are explaining parts of your world to other players in the first session.DM: "So if you're a Sorcerer, let me tell you about the Order of Free Mages and the Witch Hunter Clerics, because your character would know about them...."During the first session:DM: "A man walks in wearing a black cross on a thong around his neck and carries a crossbow with the bolt loaded and tipped in red.  He makes an arcane gesture, scans the room, grunts and backs out slowly."Players: "Who was that guy?"Elven Sorcerer's Player: "We need to leave now."Players: "Why?"Elven Sorcerer's Player: "I can't explain now, there's going to be a dozen Witch Hunters and Godwrought Hounds here in a couple minutes." To DM: "I make the sign of the Free Mages and scan the room, muttering a prayer that someone sees it."Wizard's Player: "I make the sign back, walk over, and say "this way, fellow Free Mage, there's a warded Enclave safehouse beneath the library - if we can get there.  Let's take the back door.  I know this town like the back of my spellbook." (and he does since when you worked with him on his character, you told him all about the town)In the best case, working with your players in developing their characters (especially their secrets) can enrich your own world as they make their characters and come up with new ideas.Player: "So what if I'm the last Elven Sorcerer, uh... say from an order called the Rearguard, left behind to make sure all that all the elves get away secretly."DM(getting excited about a new element to his game): "Hm... that's a cool idea!  Ok, so there's these Rearguards and they find elves in hiding, it would be cool if they also tried to find allies of the other races to overthrow the anti-elf government, what do you think?"Player(getting excited about cool new stuff about his character): "Yeah, that sounds cool, so my guy is a rearguard, hunted by the government for being an elf and by the church for being a sorcerer..."I've had awesome ideas/npcs/organizations/plot hooks that sometimes became primary focuses of my campaigns through these discussions.As for XP, it should be way waaaaay simpler in 4E.  I wouldn't worry about it until you see their xp rules.</blockquote>

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