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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 1709610" data-attributes="member: 2205">Some great advice here.  Let's see; my own game is fairly investigative, although I do throw combat at my players a fair amount as well.  I'll be echoing a lot of things already mentioned here in this thread, but here's what I do.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Yeah, I got rid of XP as well.  Levelling is arbitrary in my game.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You need to have some method around the "solve the mystery in one quick flash" type of spells.  In my case, I've changed the magic system entirely; I only have one spell that my PCs have access to; it's a direct damage spell, and my PC is afraid to cast it unless things are really desperate as he's pretty much guaranteed to go insane every time he does.  <img src="http://jdyal.cheapwindows.us/smilies/evil.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At the start of my campaign, I had to have a somewhat linear adventure set-up because my PCs didn't yet have any strong roots in the setting, but by the end of the first adventure a few sessions in, I had all kinds of potential mysteries and plot hooks for them to follow, and it's up to them to pursue what they're interested in.  In fact, I'm trying to get a read on what they want to do next before we meet again so I can prepare a little better...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">All of my NPCs that are more than simply throwaway extras have some kind of secret associated with them.  For some, the secret is merely a clue that the PCs need to find, but for others it's much more sinister.  NPCs that the PC may think are allies are often simply using them for their own ends, and will throw them under the bus when their usefulness is at an end.  My players are a bit paranoid, but I think I've got them trusting all the wrong people, for the most part.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  Of course, since hardly anyone in my setting is trustworthy, they can't go too wrong being paranoid.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">And you have to know your players.  My players will jump on potential plot hooks with little encouragement from me, but I've known a lot of people that really want a more heavy handed "tell me what I'm supposed to be doing now" approach.  In general, these types of players aren't going to be great at the investigative play anyway, but a lot of specifically D&D players do this, because D&D is often about simply getting together with friends and bashing some orc heads after a week at the office.  Keep in mind your players interests and acuity for the type of game you want to run.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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