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<blockquote data-quote="Stormtower" data-source="post: 3024769" data-attributes="member: 43631">Definitely with you on the fact that off-camera (or, if you prefer, outside localized field of influence) stuff can often be cooler for the DM than the players.&nbsp; That's something every thinking DM should guard against - the players should be the focus of the campaign, and other stuff should exist primarily as flavor.Regarding ripple effects of the PCs' actions, though... now, there's where it gets interesting.&nbsp; If the party focuses in one area, its actions can create ripples in the campaign's timeline of events which may affect areas outside their immediate field of perception and/or influence.&nbsp; It's the intersection between the &quot;flavor bits&quot; from elsewhere in the world and the sense of &quot;whoa... we DID make a difference&quot; when the flavor bits become referential to PC actions eariler in the campaign.&nbsp; To me, this is the essence of a reactive campaign that also keeps PC actions framed in the larger perspective of world lore.Now, to your initial topic: how to get 'em hooked for those first 2 or 3 sessions... I'm going to punt and take the wimpy way out by saying it depends largely on your players and the social contract/table culture that develops early on in any new gaming group.&nbsp; The DM has to present those reactive hooks early on so the players get engaged, and the examples you provided in the first post would be of great use to any DM.&nbsp; In a general sense, that first session or two may be used to find out what each player thinks is cool/fun/engaging, and the third and fourth sessions can be focused on really building some custom hooks based on those first impressions.That's kinda the essence (to me, anyway) of the tabletop RPG social contract: the DM subtlely uncovers what each player finds cool, and then gives them ample opportunities to do cool stuff that affects reactive change in the campaign world.&nbsp; I think it was Steven Brust who said that much of what he considers good fiction starts with the idea of &quot;now I'm going to show you something cool.&quot;&nbsp; Amended for our hobby of choice, it becomes &quot;now I'm going to give you a chance to try something cool.&quot;EDIT: Merric makes a great point about memorable NPCs.&nbsp; One constant among the groups I've DM'd is that well characterized and persistent NPCs make a great hook for all but the most hack-n-slashy players.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Stormtower, post: 3024769, member: 43631"] Definitely with you on the fact that off-camera (or, if you prefer, outside localized field of influence) stuff can often be cooler for the DM than the players. That's something every thinking DM should guard against - the players should be the focus of the campaign, and other stuff should exist primarily as flavor. Regarding ripple effects of the PCs' actions, though... now, there's where it gets interesting. If the party focuses in one area, its actions can create ripples in the campaign's timeline of events which may affect areas outside their immediate field of perception and/or influence. It's the intersection between the "flavor bits" from elsewhere in the world and the sense of "whoa... we DID make a difference" when the flavor bits become referential to PC actions eariler in the campaign. To me, this is the essence of a reactive campaign that also keeps PC actions framed in the larger perspective of world lore. Now, to your initial topic: how to get 'em hooked for those first 2 or 3 sessions... I'm going to punt and take the wimpy way out by saying it depends largely on your players and the social contract/table culture that develops early on in any new gaming group. The DM has to present those reactive hooks early on so the players get engaged, and the examples you provided in the first post would be of great use to any DM. In a general sense, that first session or two may be used to find out what each player thinks is cool/fun/engaging, and the third and fourth sessions can be focused on really building some custom hooks based on those first impressions. That's kinda the essence (to me, anyway) of the tabletop RPG social contract: the DM subtlely uncovers what each player finds cool, and then gives them ample opportunities to do cool stuff that affects reactive change in the campaign world. I think it was Steven Brust who said that much of what he considers good fiction starts with the idea of "now I'm going to show you something cool." Amended for our hobby of choice, it becomes "now I'm going to give you a chance to try something cool." EDIT: Merric makes a great point about memorable NPCs. One constant among the groups I've DM'd is that well characterized and persistent NPCs make a great hook for all but the most hack-n-slashy players. [/QUOTE]

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