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<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 2227759" data-attributes="member: 30001">My advice is general:&nbsp; encounters are interesting where there is something to gain and something to lose.&nbsp; That's why combat is so popular - because it comes with these two things built in.&nbsp; &nbsp;In general, encounters that don't follow this rule become boring quickly.&nbsp; Now the &quot;it&quot; that they stand to gain/lose can be allies, money, information, status, etc.&nbsp; Some of these things are hard to use depending on the nature of the campaign.&nbsp; For example, status won't mean much to players if the campaign world isn't developed to the point where they can use it for anything.&nbsp; So if you really seem to be in a dead-end, considering developing some of these other attributes of the campaign.&nbsp;And as always in an encounter - Leave some mystery:&nbsp; A horseman rides up within 100 yards of PCs &quot;what are you doing in the domain of such and such&quot; he says.&nbsp; The PCs answer.&nbsp; He turns and rides away, saying nothing else.&nbsp; Now the PCs have to wonder - is the guy going to sell us out to our enemies?&nbsp; Should we ride after him and question him?&nbsp; &nbsp;So in this example, the PCs stand to gain or lose information (information about their whereabouts, information about the rider's purpose, etc.)&nbsp; There doesn't have to be any combat - the rider might try to escape and just give up after some opposed ride checks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 2227759, member: 30001"] My advice is general: encounters are interesting where there is something to gain and something to lose. That's why combat is so popular - because it comes with these two things built in. In general, encounters that don't follow this rule become boring quickly. Now the "it" that they stand to gain/lose can be allies, money, information, status, etc. Some of these things are hard to use depending on the nature of the campaign. For example, status won't mean much to players if the campaign world isn't developed to the point where they can use it for anything. So if you really seem to be in a dead-end, considering developing some of these other attributes of the campaign. And as always in an encounter - Leave some mystery: A horseman rides up within 100 yards of PCs "what are you doing in the domain of such and such" he says. The PCs answer. He turns and rides away, saying nothing else. Now the PCs have to wonder - is the guy going to sell us out to our enemies? Should we ride after him and question him? So in this example, the PCs stand to gain or lose information (information about their whereabouts, information about the rider's purpose, etc.) There doesn't have to be any combat - the rider might try to escape and just give up after some opposed ride checks. [/QUOTE]

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