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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 6088916" data-attributes="member: 463">When I'm running 4e D&D I use CaS and seek to de-emphasise CaW as far as possible. With 4e I use enemy NPC strategy more as a source of Bangs, Hooks, Cool Scenes, I'm not aiming for a "You Lose, Suckers! Ha! Ha!" type denouement, unless the players were to actively Turtle, in which case they get what they deserve.If I'm running a different edition of D&D I run it much more CaW process-sim, and if the PCs screw up in the CaW against a serious threat then yes, they are gonna get pwned. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" />Example in my 4e Loudwater game: The PCs are on a trip downriver to Daggerford. They were attacked in the ruins of Zelbross by a Zhentarim strike team led by Vale, their old enemy. Because I'm running it CAS I used the 4e encounter-building rules to create a balanced encounter. The players killed Vale, searching his corpse they discovered coded letters. A '20' on an INT check from a guy with Secret Language and I declared that the code reminded him of Westgate Thieves' Cant. They were able to decipher the code, and it turned out the Zhents were in the Southwood, building a fort around an old Teleport Circle. They were planning eventually to attack Loudwater.If the PCs had not discovered this info, I don't think I'd have had them all wake up in Loudwater with slit throats and the town burning. Something bad might have happened, eg a friendly NPC disappears in the Southwood, and they could have investigated and found the fort. If they take no prompt action vs the Zhents then something like that will still happen. Only if they actively turtle and ignore the Zhent threat will they eventually have to deal with a major invasion. And if they STILL took no action, then some other bad-but-foreshadowed stuff will happen, as Lady Moonfire, Loudwater's ruler, uses her Dark Pact with the Failed God Karsus in a last ditch attempt to save Loudwater from annhilation... lots of potential for drama, either way. But along the way, whatever way the PCs go, I'll be running combat CAS and EL-balanced. Even if they use the Zhent Portal to attack Darkhold, they'll be facing fundamentally CaS, more or less EL-balanced, battles when they get there. Likely they'll quickly run out of resources against the hundreds of Zhents there and have to retreat, and indeed they could well be TPK'd - always a risk in my games - but there will be no single "You Lose, Suckers!" type event.</blockquote>

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