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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 2038029" data-attributes="member: 99">Bingo.Not to hijack this thread into something about GMing techniques, but this is one of those things that it took me a long time to get through my thick, tactical skull.&nbsp; I'm a planner by nature and I'm the guy who in times past would have us spend two hours plotting the best way to &quot;take down our objective&quot;.&nbsp; I was having fun doing it but it was detracting from the enjoyment for the rest of the group.&nbsp; Since then I've learned to tighten things up a bit on the planning and take action sooner.My players sometimes get sidetracked by something insignificant and that's ok.&nbsp; They will occasionally invent their own Red-Herrings and follow them up dilligently.&nbsp; I don't want to spoil the mystery by immediately correcting them but I also don't want to spend the majority of the session following up a false lead and not get to partake in any action.&nbsp; So I'll toss in not a &quot;random encounter&quot; but a &quot;planned, floating encounter&quot;.&nbsp; In many ways it seems far more unreasonable for them NOT to happen.The PC's go through a campaign beating down bad guys and thwarting their plans left and right.&nbsp; They're bound to make enemies and sometimes powerful ones.&nbsp; These enemies will likely send some kind of goons or assassins after the party at some point.&nbsp; I try to lace this with realism and give the PC's chances to spot the baddies that are shadowing them and sometimes they see them and some times they don't.&nbsp; Sometimes they even spot the ambush coming and ambush the ambushers, resulting in an almost effortless win that leaves them feeling good.I think that having these sorts of encounters in your pocket to occasionally toss in to spice up a game that is dragging is a great GM tool and I'm glad that I finally embraced their use.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rel, post: 2038029, member: 99"] Bingo. Not to hijack this thread into something about GMing techniques, but this is one of those things that it took me a long time to get through my thick, tactical skull. I'm a planner by nature and I'm the guy who in times past would have us spend two hours plotting the best way to "take down our objective". I was having fun doing it but it was detracting from the enjoyment for the rest of the group. Since then I've learned to tighten things up a bit on the planning and take action sooner. My players sometimes get sidetracked by something insignificant and that's ok. They will occasionally invent their own Red-Herrings and follow them up dilligently. I don't want to spoil the mystery by immediately correcting them but I also don't want to spend the majority of the session following up a false lead and not get to partake in any action. So I'll toss in not a "random encounter" but a "planned, floating encounter". In many ways it seems far more unreasonable for them NOT to happen. The PC's go through a campaign beating down bad guys and thwarting their plans left and right. They're bound to make enemies and sometimes powerful ones. These enemies will likely send some kind of goons or assassins after the party at some point. I try to lace this with realism and give the PC's chances to spot the baddies that are shadowing them and sometimes they see them and some times they don't. Sometimes they even spot the ambush coming and ambush the ambushers, resulting in an almost effortless win that leaves them feeling good. I think that having these sorts of encounters in your pocket to occasionally toss in to spice up a game that is dragging is a great GM tool and I'm glad that I finally embraced their use. [/QUOTE]

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