Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Troll Slayer" data-source="post: 5370890" data-attributes="member: 97636">The single best way to prevent distraction is pacing!  Keep the players in the driver's seat, but remember that you were the one who built the road they are on.  I learned this running All Flesh Must Be Eaten where my zombies were the tool to jump start the action rather than create it.  Are the players getting too comfortable?  In burst the zombies!  Is party conflict reaching a potentially game ending climax?  In burst the zombies!  Group spending too much time arguing whether to go left or right?  In burst the zombies to drive them left (1-5 on a d10) or right (6-10 on a d10.)Essentially if the characters are blazing the trail, they'll be more engaged.  Encounters come in when the time is right to introduce them.  In a traditional dungeon, if the players are spending too much time choosing a door, perhaps the monster in a nearby room needs to fetch a snack or relieve himself.Anymore when I prepare a scene or setting I concern myself with the five senses (six if magical divination may play in) and what sort of interesting things could happen therein.  I set the scene for the players, let them play in it, and spice it up when and if the need arises.  If the room is a kitchen, which sort of NPCs/Monsters/etc may wander in at any given time.  This can give the situations the illusion of being fluid.  The inhabitants of this particular town or dungeon are mobile and you never know what may happen.Example:Kitchen -  Sight (cooking implements, boiling pot, small servants table), Smell (slowly roasting meat, vegetable stew of some sort, jars of spices everwhere), Taste (the food is very well prepared, if strongly spiced should a player try any), Touch (the food is hot), Sound (bubbling stew, crackling fire).Possible Encounters - Halfling cook returns to continue his work. (social encounter)  Ogre bodyguard wanders in to steal a snack. (combat encounter)The key thing to notice here is that the room is currently in use.  The cook could be back at any moment.  Are the PCs guests here?  If not they'd better get on with what they're here for, if they'd rather not get caught.----------The bottom line is that if the group is driving the plot they should be engaged and interested.  If they are in control and are still getting distracted, then one wonders why they are even playing in the first place.</blockquote>

Verification