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<blockquote data-quote="Byakugan" data-source="post: 6854179" data-attributes="member: 6816292">This kinda reminds me of the way I tend to 'decide' to hand the players free information when I think they need it.&nbsp; Particularly disparate plot lines like the Mirabar delegation in season 2 are troublesome.&nbsp; The adventure is taking place over several months of real life time, and the details are scattered all over the place, almost as an afterthought.&nbsp; There is a ton of information about the events and the members of the delegation, and lots of great information about the factions goals and agenda on the matter.&nbsp; Problem is the players only encounter a tiny bit of that information.&nbsp; There is no way for them to enjoy the fine details unless I just explain it to them.&nbsp; Many a player would be left in the dark on entire plotlines were it not for the BBEG monologue&nbsp; at the end.&nbsp; The other thing is that 5e is not designed in a way that let characters be both good at combat AND good at diplomacy.&nbsp; There is no real system in place for role-playing XP.&nbsp; There are no interactions where the PCs get to negotiate for higher pay for a job.&nbsp; There is no XP for finding and disabling traps.&nbsp; Todays gamers have grown up playing linear, binary RPGs.&nbsp; You gain xp from farming.&nbsp; You are level 1, you start in the newbie zone.&nbsp; Level 3, you can go to the next level of the dungeon.&nbsp; Level 5, you finally get to a point where you have more than 1 option of hunting ground...choose carefully.&nbsp; I am guilty of the same linear thinking.&nbsp; The reality is that the hard-cover books can't predict what DMs will do to adapt the experience to their tables, they can only predict that they will TRY to do so.&nbsp; In my games I try to discourage the players from thinking this way.&nbsp; I give them full XP for talking themselves past fights, or skipping them altogether if they come up with creative ways to avoid them.&nbsp; I also give bonus XP out for completing quests when the adventure does not do so.&nbsp; That usually ends up just taking the form of generous rounding at the end of each session.&nbsp; I've never DMed or played in a game where anyone was actually at the 'proper' level the books said they should be at once the party got to about 5th level.&nbsp; Too many tables seat 7(or more) and that murders the XP curve.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Byakugan, post: 6854179, member: 6816292"] This kinda reminds me of the way I tend to 'decide' to hand the players free information when I think they need it. Particularly disparate plot lines like the Mirabar delegation in season 2 are troublesome. The adventure is taking place over several months of real life time, and the details are scattered all over the place, almost as an afterthought. There is a ton of information about the events and the members of the delegation, and lots of great information about the factions goals and agenda on the matter. Problem is the players only encounter a tiny bit of that information. There is no way for them to enjoy the fine details unless I just explain it to them. Many a player would be left in the dark on entire plotlines were it not for the BBEG monologue at the end. The other thing is that 5e is not designed in a way that let characters be both good at combat AND good at diplomacy. There is no real system in place for role-playing XP. There are no interactions where the PCs get to negotiate for higher pay for a job. There is no XP for finding and disabling traps. Todays gamers have grown up playing linear, binary RPGs. You gain xp from farming. You are level 1, you start in the newbie zone. Level 3, you can go to the next level of the dungeon. Level 5, you finally get to a point where you have more than 1 option of hunting ground...choose carefully. I am guilty of the same linear thinking. The reality is that the hard-cover books can't predict what DMs will do to adapt the experience to their tables, they can only predict that they will TRY to do so. In my games I try to discourage the players from thinking this way. I give them full XP for talking themselves past fights, or skipping them altogether if they come up with creative ways to avoid them. I also give bonus XP out for completing quests when the adventure does not do so. That usually ends up just taking the form of generous rounding at the end of each session. I've never DMed or played in a game where anyone was actually at the 'proper' level the books said they should be at once the party got to about 5th level. Too many tables seat 7(or more) and that murders the XP curve. [/QUOTE]

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