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<blockquote data-quote="BradfordFerguson" data-source="post: 4593978" data-attributes="member: 20048">Responding to the OP, I understand that your PCs have &quot;a reason to be together&quot; but they don't have a &quot;stated purpose&quot;.&nbsp; For example, I'm running a 4E game set in the Nentir Vale &amp; Fallcrest (back of the 4e DMG), once the players finished Keep on the Shadowfell, I got them to agree to a group purpose that their characters' goal was to restore/spread civilization throughout the Nentir Vale by (1) strengthening each &quot;point of light&quot; (2) connecting the &quot;points of light&quot; (hooray, connect the dots!) (3) founding a kingdom/duchy (4) defending the kingdom from an external threat (5) expanding the kingdom into an empire (6) defending the empire against an external threat.&nbsp; They are currently in stage #2.&nbsp; Most simply put, their purpose is to &quot;Civilize the Nentir Vale.&quot;I think another failure (a strong word, but go with it) is that the PCs are &quot;no one special&quot;.&nbsp; Not sure how you have set up your game, but perhaps the lands are too peaceful (?).&nbsp; Perhaps the players think that there will be political blowback if they decide to be proactive and &quot;carve out their own niche&quot;?&nbsp; I can see &quot;the powers that be&quot; wanting to keep tabs on a mercenary band, but if they lord over them too firmly then they may be reluctant to &quot;put down roots&quot;.Around 5th level or so, the PCs cleared a tower inhabited by undead in an abandoned town.&nbsp; The old town had the most powerful mage be its leader.&nbsp; The two arcanists in the group have laid claim to the tower and the town is in the process of being settled.&nbsp; That's fine.&nbsp; They are in the process of clearing a lord's manor in the main town they operate out of, they are already talking about claiming the manor (or at least asking to claim it).&nbsp; That's fine.&nbsp; I won't let them gain a great benefit from it in that they can just sit back and earn gold, so there isn't much harm in it.&nbsp; Since they have cleared a good number of the obvious threats in the Nentir Vale, I discussed OOC with them about doing a 10-year &quot;time skip&quot; where there is a period of relative peace while the area is settled and trade is restored.&nbsp; The two arcanists are already talking about jockeying for becoming THE Lord Mage of Fastormel, and I've asked players to let me know what their characters will be up to during the time period.&nbsp; So I will let them shape what form the region takes as a result of and during the time skip.&nbsp; Then we will resume play and new threats will emerge and they will see the fruits of their actions in the development of the region (before I attempt to destroy them). muhahaha</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BradfordFerguson, post: 4593978, member: 20048"] Responding to the OP, I understand that your PCs have "a reason to be together" but they don't have a "stated purpose". For example, I'm running a 4E game set in the Nentir Vale & Fallcrest (back of the 4e DMG), once the players finished Keep on the Shadowfell, I got them to agree to a group purpose that their characters' goal was to restore/spread civilization throughout the Nentir Vale by (1) strengthening each "point of light" (2) connecting the "points of light" (hooray, connect the dots!) (3) founding a kingdom/duchy (4) defending the kingdom from an external threat (5) expanding the kingdom into an empire (6) defending the empire against an external threat. They are currently in stage #2. Most simply put, their purpose is to "Civilize the Nentir Vale." I think another failure (a strong word, but go with it) is that the PCs are "no one special". Not sure how you have set up your game, but perhaps the lands are too peaceful (?). Perhaps the players think that there will be political blowback if they decide to be proactive and "carve out their own niche"? I can see "the powers that be" wanting to keep tabs on a mercenary band, but if they lord over them too firmly then they may be reluctant to "put down roots". Around 5th level or so, the PCs cleared a tower inhabited by undead in an abandoned town. The old town had the most powerful mage be its leader. The two arcanists in the group have laid claim to the tower and the town is in the process of being settled. That's fine. They are in the process of clearing a lord's manor in the main town they operate out of, they are already talking about claiming the manor (or at least asking to claim it). That's fine. I won't let them gain a great benefit from it in that they can just sit back and earn gold, so there isn't much harm in it. Since they have cleared a good number of the obvious threats in the Nentir Vale, I discussed OOC with them about doing a 10-year "time skip" where there is a period of relative peace while the area is settled and trade is restored. The two arcanists are already talking about jockeying for becoming THE Lord Mage of Fastormel, and I've asked players to let me know what their characters will be up to during the time period. So I will let them shape what form the region takes as a result of and during the time skip. Then we will resume play and new threats will emerge and they will see the fruits of their actions in the development of the region (before I attempt to destroy them). muhahaha [/QUOTE]

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