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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 2232208" data-attributes="member: 463">Lots of good advice there.&nbsp; I'd rephrase:1.&nbsp; Minimise the likelihood of PC death.&nbsp; Not just TPKs.&nbsp; In an epic novel series, the death of a major character is a rare thing.&nbsp; Avoid siccing lethal encounters on the PCs.&nbsp; D&amp;D is a difficult system for this because it uses the threat of PC death as a major component of play.&nbsp; Two possible approaches are (a) start the PCs out at high level, as powerful heroes, and ensure their battles are with lower CR foes; and/or (b) use a Fate Point system (see eg Conan RPG) where PCs can spend FPs to avoid death and can gain FPs for achievement of major goals.&nbsp;&nbsp; FPs are a particularly good idea if you're starting at low level and if you're using a &quot;desperation&quot; theme where PCs start out outmanned and outgunned as in Dragonlance or Midnight.2. Characters with defined personality, yup.&nbsp; I wouldn't require 2 pages of background, but PCs need to be interesting &amp; cool to both player &amp; GM.3.Stable continuing NPCs that aren't quickly outgrown are good.&nbsp; Again D&amp;D system causes problems here.&nbsp; Tweaking the rules so eg the blacksmith can make magic weapons is a good idea.&nbsp; Don't make important NPCs too weak, and let them rise in power over time, but allow the PCs to gradually outstrip them.&nbsp; Eg when PCs are 1st level, the Lord they serve is 6th; wen they're 8th, he's 9th, but when they're 15th he's 12th. 4. Encouraging players to contribute to the setting with background details is good, yup.5. &quot;Covenant&quot; items that grow in power with the PCs are a great idea.&nbsp; They greatly reduce the need for magical loot, and give a great high-fantasy flavour.&nbsp; Eg a weapon could be +1 per 3 PC levels and gain other powers at certain levels.&nbsp; The GM doesn't even need to define the powers in advance, tweak them to suit the PC.6. Breaks from the campaign are good to avoid burnout.&nbsp; I find around 2 breaks/year at Christmas &amp; summer is about right for me, but this will vary a lot by GM and by frequency &amp; level of play - high-level play is much more likely to cause burnout IME.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 2232208, member: 463"] Lots of good advice there. I'd rephrase: 1. Minimise the likelihood of PC death. Not just TPKs. In an epic novel series, the death of a major character is a rare thing. Avoid siccing lethal encounters on the PCs. D&D is a difficult system for this because it uses the threat of PC death as a major component of play. Two possible approaches are (a) start the PCs out at high level, as powerful heroes, and ensure their battles are with lower CR foes; and/or (b) use a Fate Point system (see eg Conan RPG) where PCs can spend FPs to avoid death and can gain FPs for achievement of major goals. FPs are a particularly good idea if you're starting at low level and if you're using a "desperation" theme where PCs start out outmanned and outgunned as in Dragonlance or Midnight. 2. Characters with defined personality, yup. I wouldn't require 2 pages of background, but PCs need to be interesting & cool to both player & GM. 3.Stable continuing NPCs that aren't quickly outgrown are good. Again D&D system causes problems here. Tweaking the rules so eg the blacksmith can make magic weapons is a good idea. Don't make important NPCs too weak, and let them rise in power over time, but allow the PCs to gradually outstrip them. Eg when PCs are 1st level, the Lord they serve is 6th; wen they're 8th, he's 9th, but when they're 15th he's 12th. 4. Encouraging players to contribute to the setting with background details is good, yup. 5. "Covenant" items that grow in power with the PCs are a great idea. They greatly reduce the need for magical loot, and give a great high-fantasy flavour. Eg a weapon could be +1 per 3 PC levels and gain other powers at certain levels. The GM doesn't even need to define the powers in advance, tweak them to suit the PC. 6. Breaks from the campaign are good to avoid burnout. I find around 2 breaks/year at Christmas & summer is about right for me, but this will vary a lot by GM and by frequency & level of play - high-level play is much more likely to cause burnout IME. [/QUOTE]

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