Storminator
First Post
In my Goblins of Eberron game, we had a near TPK. Rather than add new PCs to the shattered remnants of the group, we restarted, at Paragon tier, back where the campaign began.
It was essentially a brand new campaign. So we started with a round of DM questions to get to know the new PCs, and to get the players to mesh their characters. It went for 2 hours, and was an excellent grounding.
Then, because the new campaign is a political game, I had an exposition scene. It's the anniversary of the founding of Darguun, and there's a bunch of speeches, followed by a parade. The speeches (paraphrased all) and the NPC commentary outline the state of the politics in the campaign. The parade demonstrates the relative power of the various blocs. That took about an hour.
At the end of the parade is a party. I have NPCs drawn up that more or less exemplify each power group described during the speeches and parade. I'm ready for whichever pressure point the PCs want to apply themselves.
I started off running the party freeform, but quickly switched to formal Skill Challenge, as I recognized I was going to be overwhelmed by organizing the spotlight time. The energy at the table immediately picked up, and players started keying off each others' actions. I feel really, really good about this move - it saved the last hour of the game session.
One of the NPCs the players singled out for interaction was the focus of a kidnap attempt, and the session ended with everyone jumping thru the portal to who-knows-where.
The bitter? Looking at our schedule, we may not be able to play again until May. So much fantastic momentum, such a great cliffhanger, and now we wait . . .
PS
It was essentially a brand new campaign. So we started with a round of DM questions to get to know the new PCs, and to get the players to mesh their characters. It went for 2 hours, and was an excellent grounding.
Then, because the new campaign is a political game, I had an exposition scene. It's the anniversary of the founding of Darguun, and there's a bunch of speeches, followed by a parade. The speeches (paraphrased all) and the NPC commentary outline the state of the politics in the campaign. The parade demonstrates the relative power of the various blocs. That took about an hour.
At the end of the parade is a party. I have NPCs drawn up that more or less exemplify each power group described during the speeches and parade. I'm ready for whichever pressure point the PCs want to apply themselves.
I started off running the party freeform, but quickly switched to formal Skill Challenge, as I recognized I was going to be overwhelmed by organizing the spotlight time. The energy at the table immediately picked up, and players started keying off each others' actions. I feel really, really good about this move - it saved the last hour of the game session.
One of the NPCs the players singled out for interaction was the focus of a kidnap attempt, and the session ended with everyone jumping thru the portal to who-knows-where.
The bitter? Looking at our schedule, we may not be able to play again until May. So much fantastic momentum, such a great cliffhanger, and now we wait . . .
PS
