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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1567674" data-attributes="member: 9254">I've got my own weird magic distribution.  Basically, the availability of magic is inversely proportional to its power.  A 2nd level spell is twice as hard to find as a 1st, etc.   This means anything bigger than a hamlet tends to have a cleric or adept able to set broken bones but maybe not cure diseases so plagues are still a big deal.  Mages can turn the tide of battles but the ones who can do it are finite and can't win wars.  Castles are still effective most of the time and are worth the expense, etc, etc.  Regardless, once you hit a certain point your opponents have crapload of power too, but power isn't always enough.  The actions of my players have pretty directly caused a "plague" of undead leading to massive problems.  Sure, the players have little to fear from the bulk of them but the occassional corpse gatherer or other high HD creatures keep them on edge, especially since many undead can't be raised or ressurected.The tension isn't so much to "oh crap, we're going to get pounded" as "oh crap, our friend Bob might get turned into a ghoul!"  Can the players fix their screwup and safeguard their friends and allies?  How well do they deal with the fact they are being treated as heroes for warning the world of the oncoming problems while simultaneously being the guilty parties who caused it?  Does anyone catch them at it?      Does the stress of survival possibly turn an ally into someone willing to sell them out?  My players are in the creme de la creme portion of the game world; they are in the high elite category where the high level nobility and sizeable city-states would seek them out based on reputation or *for* their reputation.  They do occassionally worry about supplies (get your pack animals eaten by purple worms in the desert and have  to decide how quickly you'll heal vs. the sheer number of create food spells required for the seven person party plus the menagerie of animal companions and mounts) and its a good stress since it reminds them they're still mortal.  High level games require a bit more thinking but if you've played your way up there should be a plethora of plots hooks that have spent time leveling up and turning into plot harpoons.  Sometimes plot harpoons get to converge and either team up or just take advantage of each other.  Tension ensues.  Drama, though, is based on how much people care.  If your players don't care about the characters or the characters' friends you can't have drama.  If you haven't involved the characters in the world at low levels, you'll never have drama at the higher ones.</blockquote>

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