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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1372046" data-attributes="member: 9254">My first campaign (as compared to random one-shot modules) started with 17 players of all alignments.  By the end of the first session, I was down to 11, and only 8 alignments.  That was lesson 1: team players only.  Evil doesn't have to be disruptive or stupid.  Lesson 2 was consequences.  When the blackguard and lizardman assasin tried to shake down the barkeep for protection money, he agreed and told them he'd have the money in an hour.  When they showed to collect the city guard took them to gaol.  The other evil players realized that the only villians that get away with anything are the ones in charge and you rarely get to be in charge if no one trusts you and you are easily beaten up. Amazing how well the evil types will latch on to the fact life is easier when a cleric of good will vouch for your general lack of random violence.  (Now targeted violence is something different....)Then I learned the (sarcasm) joys of splitting up.  (/sarcasm)  There are tricks to deal with that.   When the players hit town and want to scatter to the winds, ask them all to tell you where they're going and why.  Odds are you can justify putting them into groups of 2 or 3.  If you point out that different party members might be able to pull strings (clerics) or use relevant skills (bards make great negotiaters) you might be able to get them to travel as one large band of shoppers.  Combat is slow by quantity.  Because it takes so long for a round to cycle there is zero excuse for someone to not have a plan as soon as you get to them.  If they dither for more than a 10-count, skip them.  Tactics get...weird.  I've found mobs work better than expected because there's too much chaos for the players to really focus clearly.  Once they get involved in the furball, AE spells have too much chance of catching allies.   Big things tend to die really, really fast.  If you're going to use a single target, have it be freakin' meaty with lots of HD.  Really, lots of con is better since it provides lots of HP without adding too much combat ability.  Nothing like watching a gargantuan centipede rip a PC into pieces.Oh, and trolls kill characters.  Often.</blockquote>

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