Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="GeekKen" data-source="post: 5090590" data-attributes="member: 87699">Infiniti2000 give some excellent advice. If you have an adventure come to an obstacle where, if the players fail, the story cannot continue, then you have a poor adventure.It's a challenge, but it is best to think about all the possible outcomes for every challenge or encounter. What happens if the group gets overwhelmed and suffers a near TPK? Do you have them all fight to the death? Or do you allow the players to surrender and lead off to some other solution? Sometimes the best planning is to think about what will happen if the players fail.Same with skill challenges and the critical perception check you mentioned. If the players don't notice this critical plot element, what effect does it have on the adventure? If it stops everything cold, you've got to rethink how you are laying out the story elements.I make all the 'secret' stuff optional rewards, routes, or potential future advantages for the players. So they missed the secret door. They missed a bonus treasure parcel. They missed noticing a script of runes on a wall. Then they missed an opportunity that describes another route by-passing an encounter or two. This way, you are not punishing the players for missing some details. Also, the story does not plug up into a bottleneck.One last point, look over your player's skills and abilities. Take note of them when you are drafting your adventure. Make sure your ability and skill checks fall within a range that some of the players can succeed at. If you have a DC 28 perception check for a bunch of level 1 players, with no one being trained in perception, there is no point even having the check in the first place. Use meaningful checks that some of your players can succeed at, or don't bother&nbsp; having it in your game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GeekKen, post: 5090590, member: 87699"] Infiniti2000 give some excellent advice. If you have an adventure come to an obstacle where, if the players fail, the story cannot continue, then you have a poor adventure. It's a challenge, but it is best to think about all the possible outcomes for every challenge or encounter. What happens if the group gets overwhelmed and suffers a near TPK? Do you have them all fight to the death? Or do you allow the players to surrender and lead off to some other solution? Sometimes the best planning is to think about what will happen if the players fail. Same with skill challenges and the critical perception check you mentioned. If the players don't notice this critical plot element, what effect does it have on the adventure? If it stops everything cold, you've got to rethink how you are laying out the story elements. I make all the 'secret' stuff optional rewards, routes, or potential future advantages for the players. So they missed the secret door. They missed a bonus treasure parcel. They missed noticing a script of runes on a wall. Then they missed an opportunity that describes another route by-passing an encounter or two. This way, you are not punishing the players for missing some details. Also, the story does not plug up into a bottleneck. One last point, look over your player's skills and abilities. Take note of them when you are drafting your adventure. Make sure your ability and skill checks fall within a range that some of the players can succeed at. If you have a DC 28 perception check for a bunch of level 1 players, with no one being trained in perception, there is no point even having the check in the first place. Use meaningful checks that some of your players can succeed at, or don't bother having it in your game. [/QUOTE]

Verification