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<blockquote data-quote="HarbingerX" data-source="post: 7906423" data-attributes="member: 53951">We're really just arguing over styles of play. I like to have a setting in which stuff happens over time, initially regardless of what the players are doing. The setting NPCs and monsters will react to their actions as the PCs become involved. I also have randomly generated encounters because it's a waste of time to track where every possible actor is at a given time. So if they're in a particular woods on their way to a logger's camp about a murder, there's a 15% chance of meeting an Orc patrol. But if they go into the canyon over in the hills to investigate reports of a monster attacking miners, they'll stumble upon an orc encampment preparing for the attack. If they don't find the encampment or the patrol, they won't even know orcs are around until the attack. And that's ok if they miss it by going to a different town. They'll hear about it as refugees make it to other town and then decide what to do.The story approach would say that I want the players to find the orc encampment and I will either steer the adventurers so they get wind of the orcs and an NPC guides them where to find it, or I will simply drop it in their path whichever way they decide to go.Neither approach is invalid. The first is what I prefer, as I find it more fun as a DM to not know how things will evolve - players can make bad choices they don't even know about. The second doesn't interest me as I'd feel like I'm just leading the players around. I also think neither is 'non-fun', there are still plenty of opportunities for players to enjoy themselves in both styles.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="HarbingerX, post: 7906423, member: 53951"] We're really just arguing over styles of play. I like to have a setting in which stuff happens over time, initially regardless of what the players are doing. The setting NPCs and monsters will react to their actions as the PCs become involved. I also have randomly generated encounters because it's a waste of time to track where every possible actor is at a given time. So if they're in a particular woods on their way to a logger's camp about a murder, there's a 15% chance of meeting an Orc patrol. But if they go into the canyon over in the hills to investigate reports of a monster attacking miners, they'll stumble upon an orc encampment preparing for the attack. If they don't find the encampment or the patrol, they won't even know orcs are around until the attack. And that's ok if they miss it by going to a different town. They'll hear about it as refugees make it to other town and then decide what to do. The story approach would say that I want the players to find the orc encampment and I will either steer the adventurers so they get wind of the orcs and an NPC guides them where to find it, or I will simply drop it in their path whichever way they decide to go. Neither approach is invalid. The first is what I prefer, as I find it more fun as a DM to not know how things will evolve - players can make bad choices they don't even know about. The second doesn't interest me as I'd feel like I'm just leading the players around. I also think neither is 'non-fun', there are still plenty of opportunities for players to enjoy themselves in both styles. [/QUOTE]

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