D&D 5E Foreshadowing Effectively

[Jaelommiss]

I recently started a new game with some buddies in a world of my own creation. For now they are small fellows in a wide world inhabited by creatures ranging from minor nuisances all the way up to city devourers. The party, transported to this world against their will* after being shipwrecked, has tangentially encountered a couple of the larger threats, but there is much more that I feel that they should be aware of.

I am not a fan of having the setting suddenly appear to become more hazardous immediately after the party gains a level or two. I've played games where after reaching level 4 all goblins abruptly vanish and are replaced by previously unknown menaces, and it always makes it feel like the setting is specifically designed to cater to the players rather than being a living world. I'm not saying that designing a world to suit the players is a bad thing, just that being made aware of the fact can cheapen the experience.

My struggle has been thinking up unique ways to subtly foreshadow some of what else is out there. I especially do not want it to seem like I am rubbing it in their faces that they are still low level and vulnerable. The three clue rule could possibly work, spreading the clues across multiple adventures so that it's not too obvious that whatever is out there is beyond their capabilities.

Suppose that I wanted to introduce that there are Wights in the area. At level two they come across a fresh corpse, unnaturally desiccated and its face twisted in horror. At third level they witness a cremation and hear a priest's prayer that by fire the deceased's bones will be spared from the Lingering Curse. At fifth level they come across the site of a battle. Some of the corpses, similar to the body found at level two, rise up an attack the party (zombies). That's three clues spread across multiple levels. They shouldn't be terribly surprised when a trio of Wights attacks them during the next adventure, leading a horde of zombies and draining them with a touch.

I am concerned that the players will either miss the clues because of the time between them, or feel like I'm two-by-fourshadowing. The first is fine. As much as I'd love them to know all about the world I made for them to ruin, some mystery is a good thing and missed clues maintains that. I really don't want them to feel like I'm trying to beat it into them, though.

Late game challenges, dragons and gods, are not too much of a concern. I have lots of time for that and making mention of them once in a while should suffice. Things they will be meeting in the next couple levels are harder because of the time constrains. I might only get time for a single clue.

My players tend to be good about asking NPCs about things in the world. I've played with them before now, and they are suitably intimidated by ruthlessness. They know that I keep a notebook full of "I am tired of your shenanigans" monsters and tactics and strategies, and they assume that I made frequent use of it when designing this world. Truthfully it's a cathartic outlet that has no business going anywhere near a table aiming for fun, but I'll never tell them that. I've got them exactly as cautious as I want them. If they suspect that there is something wrong or that some unknown threat is nearby, I'm reasonably certain that they will scamper back to their NPC (there aren't any towns on this island and they don't have a boat) to ask as many questions as there are trees in the woods.

How do you foreshadow for your players? What works and what doesn't? I focused heavily on monsters in my post. What other things (campaign themes, locations, NPCs, natural hazards, etc.) do you foreshadow? How do you make sure that you're not too heavy handed with it? Do you feel that it adds anything to your game? If you were a player how would you want your DM to foreshadow, and how much information would you want to be given?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.






*I asked the players beforehand and they were okay with being in an unknown world from the start

 

[5ekyu]

One question i would have is do you have pre-shipwreck backgrounds for the characters?

The locale may be new but that can serve them both ways. A common trope in the fish outta water genre is brining info from the character's water history to help the outta water world.

So maybe the clues you should be providing could be ones keyed to the PC past and new to their new present.

So example, maybe the body's cause of death is strange and novel in the here and now but one of the PCs recognize the signs of a particular monster or type of threat.

Maybe the "theme" could play thru the campaign. The character's arcana, history, religion skills and other memories and histories could make them very necessary to figuring out what is going on, tracking symptom to cause, etc for what is new ground for those locals.

Maybe, the knowledge from the PC past is key to preventing that "hortific" past from becoming these new people's future.

That also provides a good rationale for the gradual increase in adversary strength in some key encounters, while still leaving a variety of local unrelated encounters at whatever levels are appropriate.

But one key would be to get the seeds from the players, so that this is not so much them following a roadmap or riding the the back as them driving the car along roads they choose because their characters have driven them before.

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[iserith]

My struggle has been thinking up unique ways to subtly foreshadow some of what else is out there. I especially do not want it to seem like I am rubbing it in their faces that they are still low level and vulnerable. The three clue rule could possibly work, spreading the clues across multiple adventures so that it's not too obvious that whatever is out there is beyond their capabilities.

If they're not used to being able to run into monsters beyond their current capabilities, you could just be direct about it and tell them it's possible, but that you will make an effort to foreshadow such challenges. If they pay attention, you might say, they can mitigate the risk.

I am concerned that the players will either miss the clues because of the time between them, or feel like I'm two-by-fourshadowing. The first is fine. As much as I'd love them to know all about the world I made for them to ruin, some mystery is a good thing and missed clues maintains that. I really don't want them to feel like I'm trying to beat it into them, though.

In my experience, it will probably be more obvious to you than it is to them, so I wouldn't worry about "trying to beat it into them." That's likely just a thing you feel because you know what's coming with perfect clarity whereas they don't have that clarity. I would say you're obligated to telegraph threats as DM, but once you've done so, you've fulfilled your obligation and now it's on the players to use that information or not. If they misinterpret or disregard a clue to their own peril, that's on them.

Late game challenges, dragons and gods, are not too much of a concern. I have lots of time for that and making mention of them once in a while should suffice. Things they will be meeting in the next couple levels are harder because of the time constrains. I might only get time for a single clue.

I don't put much stock in the "three-clue rule." It's just an arbitrary number. If some (real) time has passed since you dropped a clue, maybe throw in another clue that session shortly before trouble kicks off that may remind them of the previous one. Players do bear some responsibility for paying attention and making decisions. If you are faithfully describing the environment and they don't heed the warnings, again, that's on them.

How do you foreshadow for your players? What works and what doesn't? I focused heavily on monsters in my post. What other things (campaign themes, locations, NPCs, natural hazards, etc.) do you foreshadow? How do you make sure that you're not too heavy handed with it? Do you feel that it adds anything to your game? If you were a player how would you want your DM to foreshadow, and how much information would you want to be given?

I generally telegraph any hidden threats (traps, monsters) just before the scene or in the midst of it, depending on the setup, with some exceptions. For plot elements or the like, that generally gets foreshadowed well in advance. This builds tension and allows the players to have a chance to change their fate if they are paying attention and making good decisions. It also avoids the problem of feeling like they are the victim of a "gotcha," since even if they are surprised by the trap, monster, or plot element, they can think back to those clues that were sprinkled about previously and know that they received fair warning. I have found that when the DM thinks about foreshadowing and telegraphing, he or she also ends up being better at describing the environment all around which is a good skill to have considering it's fully half the DM's role.

 

[Quickleaf]

How do you foreshadow for your players? What works and what doesn't? I focused heavily on monsters in my post. What other things (campaign themes, locations, NPCs, natural hazards, etc.) do you foreshadow? How do you make sure that you're not too heavy handed with it? Do you feel that it adds anything to your game? If you were a player how would you want your DM to foreshadow, and how much information would you want to be given?

This really depends on the players (esp. how experienced they are with D&D) and the style of game (esp. how often you play & how much time you have to build suspense with foreshadowing), but generally I assume that I can't be too "heavy handed." What's obvious to the DM often is far from obvious to the players. At any rate, here's one example I used that spanned 4th-6th level...

The Striga
PCs knew there was a monster afoot in the city during their approach, seeing handmade signs hanging from trees: "Come the dusk, clutch thy children to thy breast" and "Beware the beast."

When contracted to investigate by the royal family, they learned that they monster had struck in the past, but allegedly was driven out by the elder prince. At a royal dinner they hear all about how the brave prince subdued the monster and banished it from the kingdom. Now it had returned with a vengeance, striking at the royal family's holdings/court and high-ranking priests. Its attacks seemed to synch with the moon. Players theorized it was a lycanthrope. NPC king emphasized the need for a speedy investigation lest monster strike again.

They talked with several victims who swore the creature was a demon with a mane of red hair, that it strangely had spared a child (who'd been locked above the barn by abusive/superstitious parents thinking they had a "changeling"), and that its attacks showed signs of intelligence. Further investigation revealed the child was stricken mute, but able to point out a frosty cracked mirror which allegedly scared the monster away. Strange magic revealed a fleeting image of the monster in the frosty mirror, and it seemed unlike any monster they'd seen. Humanoid, but hunched and feral like a lycanthrope, with ghoulish flesh like an undead, and a bright red mane of hair...like the princess.

A chat with princess and her mother reveal several things out of the ordinary, including the princess' unusual appetite for meat. However, the fact that she wore a silver protective pendant shoot down the PCs' theory of a lycanthrope. They suspected the evasive queen was keeping a secret, but couldn't yet politely confront her alone due to palace politics.

Piecing together clues, PCs deduced the monster was killing off loyalists to the king. They realized the monster's likely next target is a judge and set a trap for the monster. Monster struck, and PCs had their first harrowing combat with it, with the night storm seeming to cloak the monster's movements. The monster nearly killed the bard, but it released the bard when he said the princess' name "Merisende." Monster successfully fled and PCs licked their wounds.

PCs suspected they were dealing with a cursed due to strange magic phenomenon around the monster. They ventured to the "Black Library", a repository of forbidden lore kept and sealed by the dominant temple of the region. Within they solved a puzzle and fought off ghosts to access the library, researching several curses and concluding they are dealing with a Striga (a transforming quasi-vampiric monster of Polish myth), a monster created when a woman was cursed at birth and activated by trauma or extreme hatred.

At this point, the PCs suspected the royal family hadn't been straight with them. Infiltrating the palace, the PCs discovered a dungeon room with magic chains and locks of red hair. Taking this knowledge to the dowager queen in a clandestine meeting, they pressured her into revealing that she did indeed curse the princess Merisende, who was not actually her daughter, but born as a result of the king's infidelity. It was a moment of weakness, and she regretted it ever since, but she assumed the curse had no actual magic until Merisende grew hateful of her elder brother's constantly belittling and humiliating her. That was when the Striga first struck. The queen and king were able to bring her under control with the aid of a passing enchanter who created the dungeon for nights when the curse took hold, to bind Merisende until the curse passed and she was released in the morning. The queen gave the silver pendant to Merisende as a protective charm.

Against the queen's knowledge, the king had taken to forcibly imprisoning their daughter in the dungeon whenever he suspected the curse was on the rise (i.e. anytime his daughter didn't act meek & agreeable)!

Further investigation revealed that the elder prince had unusual influence over his sister, and PCs were growing increasingly suspicious that he'd "re-activated" the curse somehow. This led to them covertly shadowing the prince and breaking into his quarters, where evidence mounted that he was attempting to permanently gain control over his sister, the Striga, and use her as a weapon to launch a coup against his father (and take revenge on priests who'd excommunicated him). There was a great final confrontation in a magically-hidden section of the old city's ruined castle where the PCs confronted the prince's agent (a warlock-knight) and freed princess Merisende from the curse without killing her.

 

[jgsugden]

Foreshadowing is great and should be worked in when a DM knows what is coming up. My goals:

1.) Clues I don't want the players to have the whole picture when the foreshadowing takes place, generally. I want it to be a clue that puts the party on notice, not a blueprint for their suture. So, when there is something that will be significant in my game, I ask how I can hint at it in advance and look for ways to drop clues about it out there for the PCs to find.

2.) Mysterious I want the PCs to be unsure what the foreshadowing means rather than get a complete picture. Why are all the trees in this area dead? Something tore the farmer in half, but didn't eat the corpse. The merchant left town quickly, leaving most of his wares behind. Why? Foreshadowing should draw the PCs forward by tickling their imagination and curiosity. If the PCs encounter the life draining wraith without seeing the dead trees, if the PCs find the skeletal giant without finding the farmer, if the PCs watch the merchant get shaken down by the rogues rather than find him gone - the PCs start with the answer as to what took place, not with questions that will draw them into the story.

3.) Paid off Foreshadowing needs to pay off, even if the PCs are troublesome and do not go where you want. If you drop a clue into the game, make sure you follow up on it eventually, even if it is by the PCs hearing the news about where it led. Don't leave dangling story elements out there.

 

[Rhenny]

Here's a quick list of ways to impart world/creature knowledge:

NPC's like you mentioned.

Rumor

PCs can witness events that they can later explore or react to

DM can use descriptions and imagery to create dominant impressions or drop hints

DM can have dreams or visions for appropriate PCs

DM can have PCs get mail/notes from others in the world

DM can decide that certain classes or backgrounds or character backstory can make intelligence checks to remember past experience or clues they've already seen

Feel free to add to the list, one and all.

 

[5ekyu]

Foreshadowing is great and should be worked in when a DM knows what is coming up. My goals:

1.) Clues I don't want the players to have the whole picture when the foreshadowing takes place, generally. I want it to be a clue that puts the party on notice, not a blueprint for their suture. So, when there is something that will be significant in my game, I ask how I can hint at it in advance and look for ways to drop clues about it out there for the PCs to find.

2.) Mysterious I want the PCs to be unsure what the foreshadowing means rather than get a complete picture. Why are all the trees in this area dead? Something tore the farmer in half, but didn't eat the corpse. The merchant left town quickly, leaving most of his wares behind. Why? Foreshadowing should draw the PCs forward by tickling their imagination and curiosity. If the PCs encounter the life draining wraith without seeing the dead trees, if the PCs find the skeletal giant without finding the farmer, if the PCs watch the merchant get shaken down by the rogues rather than find him gone - the PCs start with the answer as to what took place, not with questions that will draw them into the story.

3.) Paid off Foreshadowing needs to pay off, even if the PCs are troublesome and do not go where you want. If you drop a clue into the game, make sure you follow up on it eventually, even if it is by the PCs hearing the news about where it led. Don't leave dangling story elements out there.

I agree with 1 and 2 mostly but not 3.

Three reasons right off...

1 Unreliable sources imo need to exist to keep that sense of living world. Some rumors, tales etc may just be BS or wrong.

2 i like to put in play more rumors, stories etc than the characters can pursue, so that its their choices of which to pursue that directs the campaign to a much larger extent. If i only put in things that *will pay off* its much less their choices than my pre-set paths in feel, in my experience.

3 Consequences for choices... Things they pass up on matters or IMG should. Sometimes it wont show as more than not knowing what happened mystery. Sometimes it can come back as later stories of things that hapoened. Sometimes as opportunities others seized on. Sometimes actual comes back to bite them with a higher level problem. But i feel you need some to be the former to help make the latter three more meaningful.



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[toucanbuzz]

I'm seeing two things here: (1) actual foreshadowing of major events and (2) giving out clues so players don't get upset or die.

Foreshadowing in my game is creating expectation or tension, wherein if done right players go "aha" when the dots connect. In the Matrix movie, the glitches in the system make sense later when Neo is liberated. The bad guy pulls a gun out of nowhere. Where'd he get it from? Ah, it was foreshadowed earlier when we saw it in the hidden drawer. Gandalf muses about Sméagol having a greater role to play after Frodo says it would've been better if Bilbo had slain him, setting up that aha moment in the volcano at the end. It needs to have purpose and can be preset by the DM or drawn from a character's background.

In theory, we could foreshadow more often but I feel too much and it loses its luster and begins to feel a bit false. E.g. If Gandalf also said if you wear the One Ring too long, they'll have to cut it off your finger, that'd be a bit too much. Every time he talks or acts, it happens to have prophetic consequence and play out?

Alternatively, there are clues, to give a fair shake to PCs as to the unknown. These should be a reward for effort whereas foreshadowing is generally slapped on your plate. A clue keeps you alive whereas a foreshadow makes you go "aha" later and entertains you. Players who get a Tarokka Deck reading that "a powerful resource to aid you lies beneath the blue waters" will go "aha" later when they find out it wasn't treasure buried at the bottom of Coldwater Lake but instead a wise sage hiding from the corrupt authorities in the basement of the Azure Pond Inn.

In summary, I wouldn't worry about giving clues about dangerous monsters ahead (players probably expect it by now that you don't scale monsters for them), and I would definitely incorporate infrequent foreshadowing into every campaign by use of a significant prop, whether that be an NPC picture during dialog, a handout, or the like. Further, foreshadowing comes into play during character creation and doesn't always have to come from the DM. If a player says they have an evil wizard brother, they're slapping you the DM with an expectation that should play out later.

 

[Ganymede81]

I'm running Curse of Strahd and am having a hell of a time foreshadowing that Barovia is designed as a personal hell for Strahd, a place where his love is perpetually stolen from him and he is slain over and over again. If they ask the right questions and follow the right leads, they can take action to end this cycle as opposed to perpetuating with an assault on Castle Ravenloft.

The only problem is threading the needle between to cryptic and too obvious.

 

[Imaculata]

-snip-

Further investigation revealed that the elder prince had unusual influence over his sister, and PCs were growing increasingly suspicious that he'd "re-activated" the curse somehow. This led to them covertly shadowing the prince and breaking into his quarters, where evidence mounted that he was attempting to permanently gain control over his sister, the Striga, and use her as a weapon to launch a coup against his father (and take revenge on priests who'd excommunicated him). There was a great final confrontation in a magically-hidden section of the old city's ruined castle where the PCs confronted the prince's agent (a warlock-knight) and freed princess Merisende from the curse without killing her.

I just couldn't stop reading your whole story. That sounds amazing. I love how you subverted the player's expectations of a lycantrope with the silver necklace, and managed to surprise the players regarding the true villain, and the nature of the curse. I also love how you turned the library investigation into a puzzle + combat encounter.

I think one of the most important things about a good mystery, is to second guess what your player's assumptions are going to be, so you can subvert those assumptions, while still guiding them towards the important revelation without them feeling they are being guided.

In the end all of the subtle clues do need to make sense. There has to be this moment where your players go "Oh, I get it!", and that is ultimately the most fulfilling moment of any mystery adventure.

The way I foreshadow things, is by making sure that at the start of a session there is an event or remark by a character, that is seemingly unimportant. But as the story unfolds, eventually it all builds up to a big revelation.