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<blockquote data-quote="Mentat55" data-source="post: 4763683" data-attributes="member: 14840">Interesting quandary, and great name for it, btw.&nbsp; But let me stretch the analogy to its breaking point <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Luke went after Vader, lost, and one of the great twists in movie history was revealed.&nbsp; The saga didn't end -- instead, it set things up for a grand conclusion in Return of the Jedi.In general, I'd say a few things:1. So long as you don't force it, having a twist, like having the PCs actually fail, can be a really spectacular event in your campaign.&nbsp; They're racing to stop the yuan-ti -- and things go wrong.&nbsp; Suddenly, the situation is more dire than ever.&nbsp; They are forced to retreat, lick their wounds, and regroup.2. Just as the war doesn't wait for the PCs, so too can events in the world influence the war in ways that the PCs can't.&nbsp; To continue to use your game as an example, it could be a bitterly cold winter that temporarily slows the yuan-ti, and gives everyone (including your PCs) some breathing room.3. Sometimes, the key is hiding the ultimate goal.&nbsp; Having shorter ranger objectives for the players, which eventually feed into the overarching storyline, but which have natural breaks that allow them to explore the world or their own characters, is really important in an extended campaign.&nbsp; My DM for the Shackled City game I am still playing (2 yrs, not even half way, I think) does this really well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mentat55, post: 4763683, member: 14840"] Interesting quandary, and great name for it, btw. But let me stretch the analogy to its breaking point :) Luke went after Vader, lost, and one of the great twists in movie history was revealed. The saga didn't end -- instead, it set things up for a grand conclusion in [I]Return of the Jedi[/I]. In general, I'd say a few things: 1. So long as you don't force it, having a twist, like having the PCs actually fail, can be a really spectacular event in your campaign. They're racing to stop the yuan-ti -- and things go wrong. Suddenly, the situation is more dire than ever. They are forced to retreat, lick their wounds, and regroup. 2. Just as the war doesn't wait for the PCs, so too can events in the world influence the war in ways that the PCs can't. To continue to use your game as an example, it could be a bitterly cold winter that temporarily slows the yuan-ti, and gives everyone (including your PCs) some breathing room. 3. Sometimes, the key is hiding the ultimate goal. Having shorter ranger objectives for the players, which eventually feed into the overarching storyline, but which have natural breaks that allow them to explore the world or their own characters, is really important in an extended campaign. My DM for the Shackled City game I am still playing (2 yrs, not even half way, I think) does this really well. [/QUOTE]

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