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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yora" data-source="post: 6279833" data-attributes="member: 6670763">I think the main point that makes Sword & Sorcery more difficult than other types of fantasy, is that whatever the PCs are doing, they should do for their own benefit, and not out of the goodness of their hearts.You can offer them payment, but that's again just regular dungeon crawling without any intrigue or backstabbing. Simply quitting the job and finding money elsewhere should never be a viable way to solve the characters problems. Having a powerful NPC forcing them to do as they are told by threatening enprisonment or death is only fun once or twice. And the fact that there won't be any game to play if the PCs don't go along and finish the quest isn't a better motivation either.Both the players and the PCs need to have to want to get the reward and to defeat the villain. How can a GM plan an adventure that does provid this?S&S Motivations:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Money, biatch! The most basic of hooks. The PCs are broke and long for luxury. Great as a filler between stories or an introductory adventure, but while it's an easy enough to grasp motivation for the characters, it probably isn't really doing a lot for the players by itself. There's only so much you can say about how your character is spending his fortune until it runs out.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clear a debt: Slightly more personal. The PCs are again going to some place and kill monsters and look for treasure, but they are compelled to do so by an obligation and not for their own benefit. Probably works best if they are paying of a debt to an NPC who did them a big favor earlier in the campaign, so the players are more invested in setting things straight. Alternatively, the employer might hold someone close to the PCs hostage, which will probably lead to an interesting situation once the hostage is back to safety and the PCs seriously angry.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Revenge: Some people killed someone close to the PCs. The PCs pursue with the simple, but often highly entertaining goal of killing them in return.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rescue: Similar to revenge, but instead of someone close to the PCs being killed, they have been kidnapped. The stakes are somewhat higher, since worse things can still happen, and the PCs are probably under time pressure to reach their destination in time before they are too late. They also don't just have to get inside the villains stronghold, have a fight, and then get out somewhat more alive than dead, but they also have to get the hostage back to safety as an additional concern, which can be a quite significant problem.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clear your name: People are hunting the PCs because of something they didn't do (or since it's Sword & Sorcery, actually did!), and they have to set things right again so they don't have to worry for their lives all the time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lift a curse: Similar to clearing your name and rescuing a relative, but with a stronger supernatural element. Either the PCs got corrupted by something magical, or someone close to them, and they have to set out to end the curse before they can return to their normal life or their relatives are save again.</li> </ul>You can always have a curse or kidnapping affecting someone unrelated to the PCs and have them dealing with the situation for someone else, but in those situations it's probably a case of payment, debt clearing, or name clearing that actually motivates the PCs.It's actually not that short of a list and it could take quite a long campaign to use each of these just once. However, I feel that most of these come down with the GM setting up a situation in which someone is held hostage in some way, to force the PCs to comply with the task. Deal with the situation, or you or someone close to you will suffer. I wonder if there isn't more that could be done to motivate characters.</blockquote>

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