Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaro" data-source="post: 3416658" data-attributes="member: 48965">I'm trying to find a correct term for what I'm about  to suggest, but what about a "sense of mood" encounter.  Basically the type of encounter that doesn't really offer a conflict, reward or even a real resource, but stresses the effects and consequences of the world around them.  Something along the lines of this...A party of 1st lvl PC's know that the county of Barak-Gurn is suffering a great famine due to it's ruler squandering tax money and hoarding it's food supply.  Now upon entering said county they come upon a deserted farm-dwelling encompased by withered fields and the bodies of a family that have died(from starvation).  There are even signs that some of the bodies themselves have been gnawed upon. etc. by human teeth.The PC's don't really have anything to come into conflict with here, don't get any new information, no reward, but an encounter like this can really be used to set the type of mood that a particular DM is looking to convey, especially if there is good description involved in setting the encounter before the PC's.  I have done this with my PC's before and noticed that it gives the PC's a chance to explore themselves...perhaps one of them takes a token off one of the bodies to remember the attrocity, or another takes the time to bury the bodies, perhaps they swear an oath to eventually stop the ruler(can't do it now they're only 1st level), or maybe they feel nothing at all....Whatever they choose to do or how they react says alot about the character they're playing.  I never factor these types of "encounters" in as real encounters because they only last as long as the PC's wish to explore this aspect of the game, but if they want to do certain things or explore it further I don't rush them either.</blockquote>

Verification