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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8602569" data-attributes="member: 93670">The mayor might not even be part of the prepared quest.  That quest the GM prepared for tonight's game might not even be in town. Her assistant could even have already given the PCs a second quest that fits the goals & motivations of those involved.   She's not there/not available due to meetings till next week because it would be "boring" for whatever reason otherwise.That leads into the problem of trying to critique a hypothetical situation rather than accept there could be a situation where the GM is justified with an NPC expecting the exert influence over the PCs.... Why does the party want to avoid the prepared & secondary quest working for a smuggler who was careful to dot his i's & cropss his t's by making sure the mayor was out of town &  the constable was busy elsewhere?  Why doesn't the GM just listen when part of the party is telling the GM they want to be capital L Lawful capital G Good in a campaign not using absolute morality? Would that be the smuggler created or sought out to get the PCs a <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/how-has-d-d-changed-over-the-decades.686433/page-129#post-8601107" target="_blank">ship past the blockade to the moonshaes right now so they could meet up with the high priestess of Selune?</a>  Doesn't that kind of go back to NPCs wanting to be treated like people instead of being used like an old sock & happily discarded by sunglasses people PCs?  Should the Cap L Lawful Cap G Good PC's not have sought out the smuggler  who may or may not be a PC's uncle with a shipping business willing to run a blockade  if the PCs were not willing to work for smugglers  that agreed to do a job for a job in return?destroying the ring involves traveling to the far end of the world to drop it in a particular volcano.  As a result it's a goal that either needs to be ignored entirely or override the entire campaign  [spoiler="Here's an example of how it fits several campaigns"]<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">GM: Ok guys, you all got the setup & agreed to show up with characters ready to play $campaign</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">HotDQ<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">GM opens with Starting Scene</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Frodo:  Actually I have this magic ring that corrupts the bearer that needs to be dropped in a volcano on the other end of the world.  I need to go do that cause my character really wants to retire & go live happily ever after with lots of food & drink.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">GM: "Ok your character leaves the group.  Start making a PC ready to play this with us</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">RoT:  same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PotA:  same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">OotA: same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">CoS:  See above</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">StK: See above</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">TyP: Hard to say since it's an anthology but probably the same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">ToA: Same Loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dragon Heist: Again same loop.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">DoMM: See above</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ghosts of saltmarsh:  same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">DiA:  Frodo should rejoice for not being sucked into Avernus before starting the same Loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Frostmaiden:  Frodo is warm & toasty as he starts the same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">candlekeep:  Same loop</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Witchlight Strixhaven & so on?:  same loop:</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Almost any homebrew campaign not involving traveling to mount doom?:  Frodo go make a character that will fit the group of adventurers doing this campaign  so we don't need to constantly strongarm your character away from the buffet table & mount doom trek to join the rest of the group</li> </ul>[/spoiler]I don't need to imagine what a character writes for the quest to destroy the one ring by tossing it in mount doom with gollum  as described in over a thousand pages across three or four novels because it does not fit any campaign but that specific one written be Tolkien & even then depends pretty significantly on one player being The Main Character.  A character with that goal can find a new one real quick or go be an NPC working on that goal.Assemble several  parts of a thing that could have parts scattered anywhere in the control of anyone or anything  that may or may not need an untold number of other factors involved in order to actually complete the process even after getting them is a much better goal.  I think that it's unreasonable for a PC trying to squeeze such a powerful legendary/artifact grade item out of a family history type backstory but trying to gather the things needed to assemble build and/or repair are pretty good goals both long & short term because they can be hooked into almost anything as payment excuse to adventure or complication that makes something not as simple as mere snatch & grab.</blockquote>

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