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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 8641981" data-attributes="member: 87792">To do this properly 90% you need to absolutely push this hard from the DM side. What I do is build a specific and deliberate crunch point into my level 0 adventures; the one I've used two of the last three times has a basic setup. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PCs trying to track down kidnap victim who was kidnapped by a cult. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Victim is chained to a summoning circle with the high priest standing over them chanting</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">About a dozen cultists around them (all wearing robes and carrying daggers and no other weapons; they aren't expecting the PCs). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The ritual (they aren't yet aware) is a sacrifice to make the cult leader into a warlock</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The cultists aren't yet aware that anyone killed with their blood shed in the summoning circle when the rite is ongoing will lead to the killer being offered the power of an infernal pact warlock.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The PCs and the cultists are both going to find out the first time a PC kills a cultist in the circle as a voice growls "Do you want my power?"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How the PC responds to being offered power determines their class. (The one who says yes (and there's always been one) becomes an infernal warlock).</li> </ul>As a DM with organic development my job is a gardener, using choices like that to have the PCs reveal who they are, which may not be who they think they are. Without a gardener if you're looking for organic development in D&D you get the same effect that you get in an untended garden; a mess with weeds and most D&D players don't have the knowledge to do this sort of gardening.As I said earlier in the thread I'd far rather that the characters gained a subclass at each tier, so their basic subclass at level 3, and something equivalent at 8, 13, and 18 (actual levels subject to negotiation) the way in 4e you got Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies to supplement your base class. I definitely think that levels 1 and 2 are needed for newbies - and that the default option should be the one that caters to newbies. I also find the 2-3 jump as is to be one of the most interesting. But that doesn't mean that I think everyone should do the same thing every time and see why people get frustrated, especially without aggressive gardening to assist character growth.</blockquote>

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