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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 7999193" data-attributes="member: 6993955">Part of the trick there is to avoid direct conflict with that other adventuring party until it really matters. If the two parties throw down at the beginning of the story arc it could be all over but the crying. I have some ideas, but they aren't a whole campaign, more like tools and scenes.Perhaps have this powerful employer summon the party to offer them the contract, and the other party is also there. Things can get salty, insults can be exchanged, but the presence of the patron prevents overt violence. That sets you up for the adversarial thing without the risk of fighting.Your question immediately brought the movie Oceans Twelve to mind. If you haven't seen it has a core element of competition between groups of thieves, with one group always seeming to be a step ahead, at least to start. That's one way to handle the other adventuring party while keeping the big confrontation until later. Let's call the other party the Black Cats (a little nod to O12). So your heroes scale the mountain, brave the legions of undead, and penetrate the very heart of the ancient temple that contains a clue to the location of the maguffin, only to find the clue missing and a small statuette of a Black Cat left in its place. Another model is the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That has two groups racing for a macguffin, but with different sets of information. The diary plays a key role there. That model could work as a part of the campaign you're looking at.Another common trope is to have some sort of greater peril force the two parties to work together, at least short term. The looming shadow of eventual betrayal will add some marvelous frisson to the proceedings.Another interesting twist is to make the other party not actually bad guys, just competitors. Make them keen professionals, people that your PCs would respect. The two parties can banter back and forth as the race to the finish, perhaps even helping each other in some small ways. A friendly rivalry. The competing group takes the lead and the players know they have been beaten to final site. When the party arrives they find their competitors one a time, quite dead in messy and inventive ways, scattered throughout the final dungeon. Perhaps there is a single survivor that the party can save or rescue who proves to have a key piece of the puzzle.</blockquote>

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