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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6529088" data-attributes="member: 97077">Once the hook is accepted, it's time to identify the Big Problems. Before the would-be thieves can even get close to the vault, these Big Problems must be resolved. There are a couple of ways to do this: You can, as one blog suggests, collaborate with the players and have them establish what the Big Problems are. Or, you can use the Big Problems I suggest below. The point of the Big Problem is to identify an obstacle that must be overcome with an Outlandish Solution. (See this blog for more on that.) No matter what, the Big Problem will be resolved by the Outlandish Solution; however, depending on how the scene(s) involving that Big Problem play out, other stakes are in play. Using the example Big Problems below, the characters have a tough time of getting to Korunda Gate, but they will definitely get there. As the scenes play out - actions taken, ability checks made - it may just cost them something in the process. BIG PROBLEMS Getting to Korunda GateWar and winter turn a fairly simple task into a logistical nightmare with the added risk of having one's head put on a spike by fearsome orcs or suspicious dwarves. Freezing to death on the mountain is also a possibility. While the Outlandish Solution will definitely work, the stakes in play might be the adventurers' hard-earned gold, the threat of exhaustion, or the expenditure of hit dice. Access to the VaultThe Warding Guild of House Kundarak have security measures that can thwart even the most concerted of efforts to rob their vaults. Even getting close to the vault, let alone getting inside, is a major challenge. The stakes in play here might be gold, the promise of favors that must be fulfilled, or leaving incriminating evidence behind that may come back to haunt the adventurers. The Other KeyAs part of their security measures, the Warding Guild uses a system of dual control when it comes to locks and keys. In order to open very secure vaults, two people must use two different keys at the same time. The quest-giver (or team leader) has but one of these keys. The stakes here might again by gold, favors, or accidentally tipping off House Kundarak who put guards in the lift just in case. An Escape PlanOnce the theft of goods in their care becomes known (and that'll happen quickly for sure), there will be precious little time to get out of the vaults and Korunda Gate. There needs to be a plan in place or else the adventurers are as good as caught. Again, the stakes here might be gold or favors or anything else that's reasonable for the situation. OUTLANDISH SOLUTIONSThis is the players' role! Don't you be coming up with solutions for them! The key thing to get across to them is that, whatever craziness they come up with, it's going to definitely work (but maybe at a cost). So encourage them to come up with Rube-Goldberg style solutions and/or cinematically pulpy actions. Try to get one character to deal with one Big Problem - that character is the "lead," and the rest of the characters act in support as "features." Set some stakes for the scene(s), then play them out, throwing some dice if you find actions to have uncertain outcomes. Cut the scene when it's been resolved and jump to the next one. For example, if a player proposes he or she calls upon his or her Criminal Contact to get The Other Key, present a social interaction scene with that contact. If the player does well (and rolls well) in the scene, then he or she gets the key, no problem. If he or she doesn't do so well (or rolls poorly), then he or she gets the key but it costs something. THE TWIST At a point that most makes sense in the action (after the PCs are in the Lift or Vault), one of the four Big Problems come back to threaten the whole scheme. As it turns out, one of te adventurers' Outlandish Solutions just doesn't work out even when they thought it would. Choose one that'll be most interesting or just pick one at random. Then throw that monkey wrench at the characters and see how the players deal with it. It might be that The Other Key doesn't work or the airship they arranged for their Escape Plan isn't at the docking port. Whatever it is, give the players a fair chance of resolving it, rolling ability checks or the like when the outcome of their actions are uncertain.</blockquote>

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