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Oh, Man, Do I Need Some DM Tips. . .
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7037062" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>Some ideas for each of your concerns. Some of these ideas have already been mentioned by other posters.</p><p></p><p>1) You'll have to find a balance in the RP that will satisfy you and not be too much for the players. It may be a bad idea to do too much of it in combat, so I would say to see if you can come up with some non-combat encounters that might engage the players that incorporates RP. </p><p></p><p>2) There's nothing wrong with involving h players in helping track things like initiative and spells. See if one or more of them can assist. I personally leave spells up to the caster...that player has to remind everyone of the effects. It involves them more. </p><p></p><p>3) I know you were running a prepared adventure, but there's no reason not to change things up if you think they're boring. Add in a few terrain elements to change things a bit. These can be as complex or simple as you like...large trees or rocks that block line of sight and provide cover, which can be added to just about any battle map with no trouble. If you're comfortable, you can add trickier terrain bits like varying elevation and stuff like that. Have bad guys use the terrain to their advantage...attack from range, put their backs to a wall so they cannot be flanked, etc. This will make your players respond and they will start using the terrain as well.</p><p></p><p>4) You can't avoid criticals happening from time to time. And a Paladin scoring a crit is a big deal if he can add a smite to it. So plan for it. Give the BBEG a couple of potions that she can use in the case of a huge hit. Have her minions swarm the Paladin in response to his big hit. This'll also change the fight up a bit, making it more dynamic, which may help with #3, too.</p><p></p><p>5) I don't think a cliffhanger is required, although I admit that I like to end on one whenever possible. My group plays every other week, so the cliffhanger leaves things very clear in their mind as to where things are at. And that helps them (and me) remember the rest of the session. But if the timing of things doesn't make a cliffhanger possible, then just try to do your best to come up with something else memorable. And by memorable I don't mean it has to be some major momentous thing...just something that will stick in the players' minds. It could be something as big as a major story element, or as minor as a cheesy joke...what matters is that when you start the next session, you can mention that last moment, and the players will remember it. </p><p></p><p>All in all, don't think of these problems as insurmountable. They're all pretty common and can be corrected with a bit of time and effort. But even then, ,they won't be eliminated...this stuff will always come up from time to time. I think the fact that you already recognize the problems is the first step.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7037062, member: 6785785"] Some ideas for each of your concerns. Some of these ideas have already been mentioned by other posters. 1) You'll have to find a balance in the RP that will satisfy you and not be too much for the players. It may be a bad idea to do too much of it in combat, so I would say to see if you can come up with some non-combat encounters that might engage the players that incorporates RP. 2) There's nothing wrong with involving h players in helping track things like initiative and spells. See if one or more of them can assist. I personally leave spells up to the caster...that player has to remind everyone of the effects. It involves them more. 3) I know you were running a prepared adventure, but there's no reason not to change things up if you think they're boring. Add in a few terrain elements to change things a bit. These can be as complex or simple as you like...large trees or rocks that block line of sight and provide cover, which can be added to just about any battle map with no trouble. If you're comfortable, you can add trickier terrain bits like varying elevation and stuff like that. Have bad guys use the terrain to their advantage...attack from range, put their backs to a wall so they cannot be flanked, etc. This will make your players respond and they will start using the terrain as well. 4) You can't avoid criticals happening from time to time. And a Paladin scoring a crit is a big deal if he can add a smite to it. So plan for it. Give the BBEG a couple of potions that she can use in the case of a huge hit. Have her minions swarm the Paladin in response to his big hit. This'll also change the fight up a bit, making it more dynamic, which may help with #3, too. 5) I don't think a cliffhanger is required, although I admit that I like to end on one whenever possible. My group plays every other week, so the cliffhanger leaves things very clear in their mind as to where things are at. And that helps them (and me) remember the rest of the session. But if the timing of things doesn't make a cliffhanger possible, then just try to do your best to come up with something else memorable. And by memorable I don't mean it has to be some major momentous thing...just something that will stick in the players' minds. It could be something as big as a major story element, or as minor as a cheesy joke...what matters is that when you start the next session, you can mention that last moment, and the players will remember it. All in all, don't think of these problems as insurmountable. They're all pretty common and can be corrected with a bit of time and effort. But even then, ,they won't be eliminated...this stuff will always come up from time to time. I think the fact that you already recognize the problems is the first step. [/QUOTE]
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