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<blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 7514386" data-attributes="member: 6776133">Smart adventurers are risk-averse in the absence of knowledge. As mentioned above, telegraphing the effects of a danger before the danger appears is generally a very good way to signal danger. (If I describe a full moon and a solitary nearby howling sound, you’ve got some reasonable expectation of what might come next). So how do you telegraph safety? Or encourage a calculated risk? Well for starters, the telegraph itself is really just a narrative mechanism by which you give the players actionable intel. “There is a pole” probably doesn’t provide enough info to act on. So basically, really simply, if you want to push this stuff to the forefront, you’ll need “Caution: Wet floor! Cuidado: Piso mojado!” signs near every effect that you want them to deal with.&nbsp; While these signs can take literally any form (distant howling, partially digested remains, arcane energy emanating, chalk scratches, a cryptic warning from an elderly recluse), you should incorporate them as Part of your Design. Whenever you write an environmental feature of any kind, draw a little wet floor sign next to it in your notes and think about how you will tell the adventurers “this bit is different.” That’s all you have to do. Think about the telegraph when you write up your scenario and then make sure they see the sign as they approach. As a starter, it’s ok to just use literal signs. “Caution: Ogres.” “Quick sand area.”We have these all over already anyway!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bawylie, post: 7514386, member: 6776133"] Smart adventurers are risk-averse in the absence of knowledge. As mentioned above, telegraphing the effects of a danger before the danger appears is generally a very good way to signal danger. (If I describe a full moon and a solitary nearby howling sound, you’ve got some reasonable expectation of what might come next). So how do you telegraph safety? Or encourage a calculated risk? Well for starters, the telegraph itself is really just a narrative mechanism by which you give the players actionable intel. “There is a pole” probably doesn’t provide enough info to act on. So basically, really simply, if you want to push this stuff to the forefront, you’ll need “Caution: Wet floor! Cuidado: Piso mojado!” signs near every effect that you want them to deal with. While these signs can take literally any form (distant howling, partially digested remains, arcane energy emanating, chalk scratches, a cryptic warning from an elderly recluse), you should incorporate them as Part of your Design. Whenever you write an environmental feature of any kind, draw a little wet floor sign next to it in your notes and think about how you will tell the adventurers “this bit is different.” That’s all you have to do. Think about the telegraph when you write up your scenario and then make sure they see the sign as they approach. As a starter, it’s ok to just use literal signs. “Caution: Ogres.” “Quick sand area.” We have these all over already anyway! [/QUOTE]

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