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<blockquote data-quote="bardolph" data-source="post: 4352641" data-attributes="member: 2304">You can actually accomplish the exact same goals with narrative carrots.&nbsp; For example, using the &quot;stop the evil cultists&quot; example, perhaps the cultists have a certain number of hostages, which they sacrifice at a rate of 1 per day.&nbsp; When the PCs complete the scenario, they get bonus XP for each hostage they save.&nbsp; Obviously, the faster they complete the scenario, the more bonus XP they get from saving the hostages.Or perhaps the cultists release some minor demons, again at a rate of 1 per day (or whatever).&nbsp; The demons create some storyline problems (burning Joe's farm, stealing Alice's goat or whatnot), and results in an XP penalty at quest's end.Or perhaps the Lord of the Castle has promised a reward to the PCs, but the evildoers rob one of the Lord's caravans on day X, which includes the PCs reward money.Or, if the PCs are taking out rooms in the dungeon one by one, maybe the cultists recognize the danger and pack up and leave while the PCs are resting.&nbsp; Or maybe they lay down traps and alarms, or move stuff around while they are gone, or maybe they take all their valuable treasure and hide it in the woods somewhere, so they can make a quick escape when the PCs return.It seems, infocynic, that if your problem is that your players metagame too much for your tastes, the solution can't be to metagame right back at them.&nbsp; The only thing you're doing is presenting more rules for them to try to exploit.&nbsp; What you want to do is engage their imaginations more, so that they get swept up in the story and don't care so much for metagaming.This doesn't always mean you have to rewrite the whole module.&nbsp; Just throw in a few surprises whenever the PCs give the enemies time to strategize.&nbsp; You don't have to make up systems or rules for this, you just have to be able to improvise a little.&nbsp; If time can work in the PCs favor, by allowing them to rest and recharge, then time can also work against the PCs, by giving the bad guys more time to plot and scheme.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bardolph, post: 4352641, member: 2304"] You can actually accomplish the exact same goals with narrative carrots. For example, using the "stop the evil cultists" example, perhaps the cultists have a certain number of hostages, which they sacrifice at a rate of 1 per day. When the PCs complete the scenario, they get bonus XP for each hostage they save. Obviously, the faster they complete the scenario, the more bonus XP they get from saving the hostages. Or perhaps the cultists release some minor demons, again at a rate of 1 per day (or whatever). The demons create some storyline problems (burning Joe's farm, stealing Alice's goat or whatnot), and results in an XP penalty at quest's end. Or perhaps the Lord of the Castle has promised a reward to the PCs, but the evildoers rob one of the Lord's caravans on day X, which includes the PCs reward money. Or, if the PCs are taking out rooms in the dungeon one by one, maybe the cultists recognize the danger and pack up and leave while the PCs are resting. Or maybe they lay down traps and alarms, or move stuff around while they are gone, or maybe they take all their valuable treasure and hide it in the woods somewhere, so they can make a quick escape when the PCs return. It seems, infocynic, that if your problem is that your players metagame too much for your tastes, the solution can't be to metagame right back at them. The only thing you're doing is presenting more rules for them to try to exploit. What you want to do is engage their [i]imaginations[/i] more, so that they get swept up in the story and don't care so much for metagaming. This doesn't always mean you have to rewrite the whole module. Just throw in a few surprises whenever the PCs give the enemies time to strategize. You don't have to make up systems or rules for this, you just have to be able to improvise a little. If time can work in the PCs favor, by allowing them to rest and recharge, then time can also work against the PCs, by giving the bad guys more time to plot and scheme. [/QUOTE]

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