Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Belen" data-source="post: 2179073" data-attributes="member: 1405">Which is exactly what I do.  That does not mean that I do not create a plot.  Plot is essential to a good campaign.  When I am writing for my campaign, I consider the character histories of my players and then weave them into the plot.  In my current campaign, the players are the driving force, but I have made them want to do what I have planned, by keeping the focus on their characters, tying them into the world and background of the events, and throwing out carrots whenever possible.They always go rushing in.   Actually, I am having a lot of fun with it because they are intensely interested in the campaign.  One NPC peed them off early, so our barbarian's main goal is to see him dead.  It helps that the NPC has also sent assassins after them.  Another PC has a family secret (that she does not know), which has really allowed me to leave clues that get her to chase them.The great thing about last session is that they completed a major party goal.  They finally got to meet the local sage (after many sessions worth of attempts and sidetracks) after they killed his apprentice (evil mystic theurge who had been keeping him locked up and enslaved for the last 4 years).When I wanted to encourage them to leave the city, their thief found out that the local assassins guild had been contracted to take their lives and now he is the driving force in getting them to leave.  (The guy is terrified of the Black Guild.)A canny GM can direct the game toward his goals as long as he knows how to interest/ influence the characters.  As a GM, I have goals.  There are things I want out of the game.  I can see those goals fulfilled and still engage the characters as you tie them to the events.Granted, I did not start the game with a defined story line.  It started with an adventure and it grew from there, but the game still has a plot.I agree.  That is why I enforce the rules for encounters and challenges.  I break the rules only to help provide a sense of wonder and never break them during combat etc.  I like providing events that are beyond the character's abilities or that they cannot necessarily point to a rule and say "this is what he did."  This usually has to do with weird magical effects or the like that have no corresponding spell in the PHB, although should they get high enough level and wish to do the research, then I can always make something up at that point.</blockquote>

Verification