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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ralts Bloodthorne" data-source="post: 2928234" data-attributes="member: 6390">Anyway...Now that you have the basics of the party makeup, the characters, their backgrounds, and the player's desires, you can come up with adventures based on what they know, what they have written in their background, character description/goals, and you can start tailoring adventures to the group.IF you possess what is considered a serious dog, the Hero Builder's Guidebook, this can actually be of use. Offer players the option of using the past history to help them out. This can even give you filler for history, and make history intersect and affect the PC's back story.Grab about 20 names from each race and attribute a famous deed to them, making it a family line. Perhaps the PC's know one of the descendants, or are rivals of that house, or were betrayed by that house.If someone wishes to play a Paladin, then in the name of all the Gods, CODIFY THE CODE THAT THE PC PALADIN FOLLOWS! Introduce the Paladin's mentor, the chapter house they started their career in, and a back story on why they are adventuring rather than guarding the faithful or places important to the church.Rule #5 fits in here...Be flexible. Allow the campaign to be derailed quickly if the PC's want to, BUT KEEP THE ORIGINAL STORY ARC PROGRESSING WITHOUT THEM! If they knew they were to stop an goblin shaman from gaining the ancient skull of their totem, and they blow it off to kill pimps in the alleys, then after awhile, have them hear news of a tribe of goblins that are destroying the King's Guard, or have managed to take over a major military fortification.Have 2 notebooks. One should have section separators. Separate each section as being wholly devoted to a PC. Jot down favorite strategies, notable events, favorite sayings, etc, for each PC in there, including who did the killing blow on major NPCs.In the other notebook, jot down the parties accomplishments.After the game, while it's still fresh in your mind, go through and decide what BBEG's or even LBEG's might have noticed what actions, what enemies they might have made, who they might have impressed, etc.This can be especially important in role-play/diplomacy heavy games.Don't be afraid to pass notes:Sometimes, I have prepared notes. Major combats/encounters, I have spot check results based on the individual PC ranked out per possible results, and these are handed out on a spot check.Don't be afraid to pass a note to the rogue that reads: "Roll a d20 and jot down the number, then give this back to me." What does it mean? Nothing. Or maybe it's their Will Save to resist a curse that a villager they'd offended hired a hedge wizard to cast on the PC.A Failure Isn't Always ObviousAt the opening of the combat, the PC makes a spot check. The player rolls a 1. Does that mean he doesn't see anything?No. That means he's completely off track.How many times, in historical battles, have there been series cases of mistaken identities. Pass a note to the player with a 1 that it looks like the area's clear for a ray attack or fireball, when a PC is in the way.Miscount the number (too high or low) of enemies. Have the PC completely miss the fact that there is TWO wizards in that group, not two.It's the Fog of War, baby!A critical failure on a Craft (alchemy) check doesn't mean the potion is bad. Of course, if you drink that Cure Light Wounds potion, your hair falls out and your skin turns green.It's good in a pinch, but is it worth it?If you do something campaign setting altering, you better have a DAMN good reason for itThis goes along with the PC's being able to get advance warning for it.Let's take, for example, the:Player: "I use my craft skill to make a potion"GM: (without rolling or asking for a roll) "You fail. As you're making the potion, it suddenly melts through the bottom of your kettle and eats a big hole in your lab floor!"Player: "WTF? I have 14 ranks in Craft (Alchemy)!!!"You can turn this into a beautiful campaign side-arc by the following:GM: "Startled, you check your ingredients and recipe. Yup, everything is OK. You begin brewing another potion, one you learned when you first began to learn alchemy. Suddenly, the vapors ignite, ruining the equipment!"Player: "What the hell? This isn't right. I'm going to go check with some other craftsmen to see if everything is OK."GM: You check with the glass maker and the blacksmith, and both of them admit they aren't able to make anything good since this morning. Something is definitely wrong.NOW, is when you listen to player supposition, and decide the real cause. Is it the Gond is horribly injured and dying somewhere on the astral plane? Was the village cursed? Did an evil wizard curse all the craftsmen?More than likely, the PC's will come up with something fantastic on their own.Don't want the PC's to create items, but a player took the feat anyway?Easy solutions:You can make ONE magic item of the type per time you take the feat.You can make a single magic item of the type for every level above the level you took the feat at.Require exotic components/locations/creation methods.Placing controls/restrictions on a campaign can actually add depth and flavor to it.Did a player lose their character due to some misfortune early in the fight?Have the player help YOU by taking the part of the opposition, and you just adjudicate. If the PC is dead, let the player know that the level of his next PC depends on his performance.This will result in balls to the wall combats, without a GM VS Players mentality creeping in. It also keeps the players of dead/out of action characters involved.I actually saw a player have a goblin rogue coup de grace his own PC during a fight to keep the cleric from bringing him out. It was a logical decision, and perfectly within the goblin's mentality, but it still startled me.If the players are bored/unhappy, the game will suck. Always make sure that on the average, everyone is having a good time.</blockquote>

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