Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
"I will lend you horses."
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Darth Solo" data-source="post: 9041760" data-attributes="member: 6791759"><p>Pretty ubiquitous tropes. </p><p></p><p>I like going with "The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend": the party encounters someone who, while morally-opposed to them, hates the Big Bad even more and grants them aid/the MacGuffin to defeat the Big Bad. Of course, once the BB is routed, there's a chance the party's new "friends" might betray the alliance. IME players tend to avoid making allies for that very reason (looking at you <em>Shadowrun</em>!), so throwing in "the Drow will help the party only if they vow to rescue the daughter of their High-Priestess who has been kidnapped by the Witch-King" situation that makes a Drow double-cross unlikely. </p><p></p><p>I use "Something Ordinary" as well: for whatever reason some players love scenes where their characters can buy things. So, I'll throw in what seems to be a normal weapon/item, but is actually the MacGuffin they can use to defeat the BB. IME players enjoy the surprise but at some point I'll have to provide some backstory as to how the object ended up where they found it. George Lucas is <em>great</em> at this.</p><p></p><p>For alliance-building, I'll toss several factions (Monarchy/nobles, military, thieves' guild, clergy, other races) with tangled relationships at the party, each with something to offer but, each also posing a real threat to the party if spurned. The goal is to have the players on eggshells, forcing them to seriously consider the possible consequences of their choices as they interact with the factions. This IMO is when "player agency creating meaningful impact" arrives and drives everything forward in ways the GM hasn't planned.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darth Solo, post: 9041760, member: 6791759"] Pretty ubiquitous tropes. I like going with "The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend": the party encounters someone who, while morally-opposed to them, hates the Big Bad even more and grants them aid/the MacGuffin to defeat the Big Bad. Of course, once the BB is routed, there's a chance the party's new "friends" might betray the alliance. IME players tend to avoid making allies for that very reason (looking at you [I]Shadowrun[/I]!), so throwing in "the Drow will help the party only if they vow to rescue the daughter of their High-Priestess who has been kidnapped by the Witch-King" situation that makes a Drow double-cross unlikely. I use "Something Ordinary" as well: for whatever reason some players love scenes where their characters can buy things. So, I'll throw in what seems to be a normal weapon/item, but is actually the MacGuffin they can use to defeat the BB. IME players enjoy the surprise but at some point I'll have to provide some backstory as to how the object ended up where they found it. George Lucas is [I]great[/I] at this. For alliance-building, I'll toss several factions (Monarchy/nobles, military, thieves' guild, clergy, other races) with tangled relationships at the party, each with something to offer but, each also posing a real threat to the party if spurned. The goal is to have the players on eggshells, forcing them to seriously consider the possible consequences of their choices as they interact with the factions. This IMO is when "player agency creating meaningful impact" arrives and drives everything forward in ways the GM hasn't planned. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
"I will lend you horses."
Top