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Horde of the Dragon Queen (what am I doing wrong)spoilers
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<blockquote data-quote="5ekyu" data-source="post: 7628822" data-attributes="member: 6919838"><p>Another general go-to i use a lot stems from the notion and trope that "evil doesn't play well with others" and "everything is better with three sides.". </p><p></p><p>basically when adapting modules or other such products i fond its good to add in divisions and cracks within and between the various groups and individuals to reflect the situations not being as much of a monolithic presentation as often put forth.</p><p></p><p>So, whether that is rumors of guards who have disagreement over a woman or a score to settle to adding in a third side, or an ambitious junior officer, or a miserly boss who uderpays his crewe to a dispute between factions... adding in reasons one side might see it advantageous to use the PCs instead of just attack the PCs always seems to open up a can of richer layered flavor. </p><p></p><p>Plant the seeds ahead of time in the early scenes or random encounters and you have a recipe for it "all makes sense" when someone turns on another for payoff and a way out or revenge or ambition.</p><p></p><p>This is especially fruitful when the reasons for division also tie back to PC personal traits. Maybe the ambitious number three is from the same town as one of the PCs or the same order or some other personal connection which leads them to see this as "the chance we have been waiting for."</p><p></p><p>Some modules/paths/adventures do better than others but this added spice rarely fails.</p><p></p><p>I did not find HotDQ to be particularly terrible for what it was meant to be - an early breadcrumb adventure tale.</p><p></p><p>As for on the fly balancing for a new group, most often my go-to until i have enough play-time with a group to see how strong/weak they are - waves - or "extended encounters". it can be as simple as in the bigger more "worrisome" encounters having some of the bad guys not there right away - off taking a crap, running errands, getting messages, bringing lunch - whatever. having the same number of bad guys but spread out over larger time shifts the balance very noticably and allows the scene to ramp up in intensity. it also allows the very reasonable option of the late arrivals seeing it as hopeless and turning and running or turning and looting on their way out.</p><p></p><p>A key thing is - these also tend to show the PCs that they should expect a variety of reactions and scaling of situations - and not just expect a full room ready to fight to the death at every chance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="5ekyu, post: 7628822, member: 6919838"] Another general go-to i use a lot stems from the notion and trope that "evil doesn't play well with others" and "everything is better with three sides.". basically when adapting modules or other such products i fond its good to add in divisions and cracks within and between the various groups and individuals to reflect the situations not being as much of a monolithic presentation as often put forth. So, whether that is rumors of guards who have disagreement over a woman or a score to settle to adding in a third side, or an ambitious junior officer, or a miserly boss who uderpays his crewe to a dispute between factions... adding in reasons one side might see it advantageous to use the PCs instead of just attack the PCs always seems to open up a can of richer layered flavor. Plant the seeds ahead of time in the early scenes or random encounters and you have a recipe for it "all makes sense" when someone turns on another for payoff and a way out or revenge or ambition. This is especially fruitful when the reasons for division also tie back to PC personal traits. Maybe the ambitious number three is from the same town as one of the PCs or the same order or some other personal connection which leads them to see this as "the chance we have been waiting for." Some modules/paths/adventures do better than others but this added spice rarely fails. I did not find HotDQ to be particularly terrible for what it was meant to be - an early breadcrumb adventure tale. As for on the fly balancing for a new group, most often my go-to until i have enough play-time with a group to see how strong/weak they are - waves - or "extended encounters". it can be as simple as in the bigger more "worrisome" encounters having some of the bad guys not there right away - off taking a crap, running errands, getting messages, bringing lunch - whatever. having the same number of bad guys but spread out over larger time shifts the balance very noticably and allows the scene to ramp up in intensity. it also allows the very reasonable option of the late arrivals seeing it as hopeless and turning and running or turning and looting on their way out. A key thing is - these also tend to show the PCs that they should expect a variety of reactions and scaling of situations - and not just expect a full room ready to fight to the death at every chance. [/QUOTE]
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