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<blockquote data-quote="Chupacabra" data-source="post: 3271649" data-attributes="member: 17708">Take a survey of the players.&nbsp; Heck, let 'em reply secretly / anonomously (sp?) so that you get the real unvarnished truth.&nbsp; Find out what they like and stick to that, at least for a while.Wing it.&nbsp; Learn to wing it.&nbsp; Wing it but don't look like you are winging it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Its a skill that requires practice.&nbsp; Make up descriptions of rooms, of NPC, of events on the fly.&nbsp; &nbsp; If you write down every last detail or rely too heavily on the published notes the game can bog down bigtime.&nbsp;&nbsp; Lastly: SHAKE 'EM UP!&nbsp; When I experienced a bad &quot;lull&quot; in my campaign about 18 months ago (PC's were more interested in surfing the net on their open laptops than truly contributing to the game) I abandoned the current storyline (without telling them first) and said at the beginning of the next session: &quot;You don't remember how or why but you all blacked out last night and you all wake up in a strange dark cave and you notice that you are inhabiting someone else's body!!!&quot;&nbsp; I had taken all the character sheets and each PC swap bodies with another PC.&nbsp; A player retained his or her INT WIS and CHA (and spells) but &quot;inherited&quot; the new body's STR&nbsp; DEX and CON.&nbsp; I re-caluclated skills accordingly.&nbsp; My players instantly &quot;woke up&quot; big time!&nbsp; For the next few weeks they were rapt with trying to figure out:1) what the heck happened?2) who did this to us?3) how do we get back to our own selves?4) will the player who is borrowing my body place &quot;me&quot; in too much peril?The players were quite animated with each other: who was endangering who, etc.&nbsp; The big human barbarian who is now in the gnome bard's body gets mad at the elf wizard who is inhabiting her original big, buff frame and is too reckless about opening doors without checking for traps first, etc.I let that storyline play out for a few sessions before the party learned how to undo the curse that had been laid on them.&nbsp; It definitely breathed new life into the campaign.Good luck!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Chupacabra, post: 3271649, member: 17708"] Take a survey of the players. Heck, let 'em reply secretly / anonomously (sp?) so that you get the real unvarnished truth. Find out what they like and stick to that, at least for a while. Wing it. Learn to wing it. Wing it but don't look like you are winging it. Its a skill that requires practice. Make up descriptions of rooms, of NPC, of events on the fly. If you write down every last detail or rely too heavily on the published notes the game can bog down bigtime. Lastly: SHAKE 'EM UP! When I experienced a bad "lull" in my campaign about 18 months ago (PC's were more interested in surfing the net on their open laptops than truly contributing to the game) I abandoned the current storyline (without telling them first) and said at the beginning of the next session: "You don't remember how or why but you all blacked out last night and you all wake up in a strange dark cave and you notice that you are inhabiting someone else's body!!!" I had taken all the character sheets and each PC swap bodies with another PC. A player retained his or her INT WIS and CHA (and spells) but "inherited" the new body's STR DEX and CON. I re-caluclated skills accordingly. My players instantly "woke up" big time! For the next few weeks they were rapt with trying to figure out: 1) what the heck happened? 2) who did this to us? 3) how do we get back to our own selves? 4) will the player who is borrowing my body place "me" in too much peril? The players were quite animated with each other: who was endangering who, etc. The big human barbarian who is now in the gnome bard's body gets mad at the elf wizard who is inhabiting her original big, buff frame and is too reckless about opening doors without checking for traps first, etc. I let that storyline play out for a few sessions before the party learned how to undo the curse that had been laid on them. It definitely breathed new life into the campaign. Good luck! [/QUOTE]

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