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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MadMaxim" data-source="post: 5645782" data-attributes="member: 15207">I was wondering if anyone had some tips on running 4th edition campaigns and what the major differences could be considered? I've run plenty of campaigns using 3.5th edition material and got used to the way the mechanics worked and designed everything with the rules in mind (yes, I'm a bit of a rules-lawyer), but with 4th edition everything seems to be more or less independent of the rules unless you turn it into some sort of encounter, be it a combat encounter or a skill challenge. I just have a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the new design ideas.Usually, I run a very loose game but I have all the major NPCs statted out whether they're the big bad evil guy or just some friendly NPCs the PCs run into. I usually begin with picturing my BBEG and stat him/her/it to the level that I see the PCs finishing the campaign around, like say 18th level, and then I roll the story backwards until I end up with the 1st-level badguys that the PCs are going to meet. While I'm doing that I choose the general areas that the PCs are mostly likely to travel through, like the deserts of Mulhorand in Forgotten Realms and what they're most likely to encounter in that environment. I have a basic idea about what skill checks or saves I'm going to call for in the different environments and so on.What I basically have problems with are how to take things like the 4th edition hazards and obstacles into account without having very detailed encounter maps? How do you wing encounters without screwing the PCs over completely? How do the rest of you plan for campaigns in 4th edition compared to 3rd edition? How do you handle treasure compared to 3rd edition? I just have a feeling that my usual way of doing it just isn't the smartest way to make use of the mechanics of 4th edition, and I really want to make use of them in the best possible way. Thanks in advance!</blockquote>

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