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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 7895269" data-attributes="member: 72555">Part of the above can be solved with the three clue rule.There are 3 clues that the BBEG will use fire magic.&nbsp; There are 3 clues that will turn their world upside down and lead to the next adventure.Not 1 you move to where they are looking.And you can recurse; you can have 3 clues pointing at one (or each) of those important clues.If there is a treasure you want to reward exploration (and not 3 treasures) offer 3 clues to that treasure. One fireplace has a brick with letters describing the secret room.&nbsp; At the room itself, there is a bookcase where one book is inappropriate (pushing it opens the door). There is an air vent with a foul smell coming from it that leads to that secret room.The brick?&nbsp; There are 3 clues to it; a bundle of papers mentions it obliquely, it is the biggest and fanciest fireplace and has a elemental memphit guarding it, and there are blueprints of the house with notes working out how safe fireproof bricks are for storage of paper behind them.The effect of this 3 fold thing is that it populates more of the situation.&nbsp; A whole pile of content was added as a side effect to adding clues.&nbsp; And recursing adds even more.You can also use the rule that everything serves two purposes.&nbsp; One of them can be verimissitude (that the world feels real), but that can be a cop out.&nbsp; Each of those clues we can connect to something else plot wise.The stinking air vent can have a fungus encounter in it.&nbsp; The architectual papers can.have notes about the ritual circle in the basement, or on magic-resistant construction techniques and how to bypass them.&nbsp; The papers that mention the letters in the fireplace can also provide the information that upends the PCs world view (or clues about it).&nbsp; The treasure room itself can have a clue about something different.This can help avoid railroading tendencies we all have.&nbsp; The world becomes full of connections, and not just the path we preplanned.&nbsp; Players could end up approaching our next plot arc along a 3 different directions!And as a bonus, players sometimes see confirmation of their exploration information.&nbsp; Which can add to enjoyment and encourage exploration.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 7895269, member: 72555"] Part of the above can be solved with the three clue rule. There are 3 clues that the BBEG will use fire magic. There are 3 clues that will turn their world upside down and lead to the next adventure. Not 1 you move to where they are looking. And you can recurse; you can have 3 clues pointing at one (or each) of those important clues. If there is a treasure you want to reward exploration (and not 3 treasures) offer 3 clues to that treasure. One fireplace has a brick with letters describing the secret room. At the room itself, there is a bookcase where one book is inappropriate (pushing it opens the door). There is an air vent with a foul smell coming from it that leads to that secret room. The brick? There are 3 clues to it; a bundle of papers mentions it obliquely, it is the biggest and fanciest fireplace and has a elemental memphit guarding it, and there are blueprints of the house with notes working out how safe fireproof bricks are for storage of paper behind them. The effect of this 3 fold thing is that it populates more of the situation. A whole pile of content was added as a side effect to adding clues. And recursing adds even more. You can also use the rule that everything serves two purposes. One of them can be verimissitude (that the world feels real), but that can be a cop out. Each of those clues we can connect to something else plot wise. The stinking air vent can have a fungus encounter in it. The architectual papers can.have notes about the ritual circle in the basement, or on magic-resistant construction techniques and how to bypass them. The papers that mention the letters in the fireplace can also provide the information that upends the PCs world view (or clues about it). The treasure room itself can have a clue about something different. This can help avoid railroading tendencies we all have. The world becomes full of connections, and not just the path we preplanned. Players could end up approaching our next plot arc along a 3 different directions! And as a bonus, players sometimes see confirmation of their exploration information. Which can add to enjoyment and encourage exploration. [/QUOTE]

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