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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 3617420" data-attributes="member: 2067">I've done games vaguely similar. They key is to get to know the characters' individual stories, so they have individual goals and shared goals that can motivate them.Pay attention to character background. Pay attention to the characters' history. Pay attention to the characters' life goals.For instance, if the character just wants to run a successful dirt farm, you know, as a DM, to introduce threats to the dirt farm. If the character wants to join the watch, you know you need to work out the challenges the watch faces. If the character lost a family to a dark sorcerer's meddling, you probably want that dark sorcerer and perhaps a magic sword so that the character can wreak vengeance. You probably want to know who the characters are related to -- if they have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers. You don't need to threaten them with monsters, but challenges can arise from them: maybe one character's older sister is the favored of the house and the character is out to prove themselves. Maybe one character's mother is doting and bakes the PC's cookies. Maybe one has an uncle that went off to become a Knight of the Realm.Character drama is driven by their connections to other characters. Make the PC's connected to a web of local NPC's, and to each other (maybe two are married, maybe two are siblings, maybe two just grew up together very close). Throw in monsters once in a while, but focus more on what they need to do to render their achievements, and throw in threats to those achievements.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 3617420, member: 2067"] I've done games vaguely similar. They key is to get to know the characters' individual stories, so they have individual goals and shared goals that can motivate them. Pay attention to character background. Pay attention to the characters' history. Pay attention to the characters' life goals. For instance, if the character just wants to run a successful dirt farm, you know, as a DM, to introduce threats to the dirt farm. If the character wants to join the watch, you know you need to work out the challenges the watch faces. If the character lost a family to a dark sorcerer's meddling, you probably want that dark sorcerer and perhaps a magic sword so that the character can wreak vengeance. You probably want to know who the characters are related to -- if they have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers. You don't need to threaten them with monsters, but challenges can arise from them: maybe one character's older sister is the favored of the house and the character is out to prove themselves. Maybe one character's mother is doting and bakes the PC's cookies. Maybe one has an uncle that went off to become a Knight of the Realm. Character drama is driven by their connections to other characters. Make the PC's connected to a web of local NPC's, and to each other (maybe two are married, maybe two are siblings, maybe two just grew up together very close). Throw in monsters once in a while, but focus more on what they need to do to render their achievements, and throw in threats to those achievements. [/QUOTE]

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