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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5530478" data-attributes="member: 3820">Cannot give xp, must spread around.But I can reinforce this. I used to actually hate running urban adventures because I believed there was no way to effectively prepare for them. Then eventually I figured out it was just about what I could prep, and what I felt comfortable ad-libbing. And what you can prep is the situation. So now when I know the PCs are going to hit a new city, I put in, oh, the equivalent of a page or two of notes in a Moleskine-sized notebook. Some of these notes are set dressing: sample tavern names, what the major wards are, some visual hooks. Some are things like "what is a good name and hook for the 5 NPC types the PCs might run into: a watch captain, an innkeeper, a bully-boy," etc. But the others are basically situations: who are the five most powerful movers and shakers in the city, and what is something interesting about each of them? Once I have that done, then potential relationships start to suggest themselves (is there perhaps a connection between the House that's trying to bring an assassin's guild under their thumb and the Prince's machinations?). And boom, when the players start interacting with things, the situation is likely to suggest interesting reactions.Back in the days of 2e, one of the most impressive improvised plans I've seen was the PCs infiltrating and taking over a pirate ship via casting silence 15' radius on a fishhook. I didn't expect it, but it was a very effective way for the PCs to get into the thick of things, and then wind up in some alarming fights belowdecks when the enemy caught on. They were ultimately successful, and they kept the ship. It was glorious.</blockquote>

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