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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1372788" data-attributes="member: 812">Don't overestimate the dour expressions and statements of frustration. Keep the long term in mind -- a victory later over this NPC is going to have ten times more satisfaction because of the frustration they've suffered tonight. They sound like good players, and it sounds like you folks have a pretty good rapport. I'm sure they'll give you one or two annoying NPCs -- if every session ends in triumph or satisfaction, then those things lose their flavour. A frustrating night just means the next time they triumph, they'll feel like they really earned it.I know how it is, though. I struggle with the same feeling when my sessions wrap up with grumbling and frustration. I feel like I let my friends down, like I put my desire to win ahead of their need to have fun -- but you know, sometimes you just got to believe that you know what you're doing, that your players trust you, and that short-term sacrifices for long-term thrills are sometimes worth it. You're the DM; you're supposed to be thinking about the overall arc. They're the players; they're supposed to be following the quick kill and easy victory.I'm probably projecting a bunch of my own concerns and worries onto you, though. The entire last season of Barsoom has felt very much like that; I'm on hiatus right now while I recharge my batteries and build up some successes with one-off, a Skull and Bones campaign and of course Stewardess Action.I recommend stewardesses, by the way. Very cheering. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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