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Troubleshooting slow narrative? (ToA, spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7487302" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Hand-waving / rail-roaring is certainly a possible measure of last resort. Don’t think I’m quite in that desperate of a situation yet. There are other players in the group who would likely react negatively to such a last resort move also.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What I’ve done is shoot for the “middle path.” My version of Death Curse works slower (-1 max HD per 2 weeks) and involves a timeline of increasing badness/complications over the course of 11 months. So while it’s definitely the big campaign driver, there isn’t an overwhelming urgency discouraging exploration.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes. While they left Port Nyanzaru quickly (where there were readily available sources of external info), there’s been lots of information and lore they’ve uncovered. Syndra Silvane. The lich’s Skull. Their guides. An elven ruin. Mezro’s Library & Wizards College. The clues have been of the “small/vague kind” however. It seems like there is a design flaw in ToA with *how* the clues were constructed...they seem to lack depth... It is hard to put my finger exactly on the problem.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes, that’s exactly what aim noticing as well. The clues are spread too thin, are easy to miss, and lack the depth to make them very clear to players. Moving some of the clues that can be found in Port Nyanzaru to other jungle encounters might work; thanks for the idea!</p><p></p><p>I’ve already been massaging the random encounters to create a better sense of narrative, both compressing encounters into “eventful days” (whereas uneventful days are given travel montage treatment) & incorporating clues of my own.</p><p></p><p>Main issue seems to be that hardly anyone (only 3 NPCs) know what is causing the Death Curse or how it might be stopped. PCs breezed out of Port Nyanzaru before I could introduce Grandfather Zitembe. They haven no idea about the Heart of Ubtao, and haven’t yet encountered any NPCs who would know about Valindra Shadowmantle. And they haven’t yet learned about Saja N’baza in Orolunga, so I’m creating a clue in Artus Cimber’s Home in ruins of Mezro pointing to Saja N’baza.</p><p></p><p>The clues about the Death Curse - it’s cause/origin and how it might be stopped - seem “all or nothing.” There’s no steps to discovery. You either talk to the right NPC or you don’t. Wish I’d recognized that earlier on!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7487302, member: 20323"] Hand-waving / rail-roaring is certainly a possible measure of last resort. Don’t think I’m quite in that desperate of a situation yet. There are other players in the group who would likely react negatively to such a last resort move also. What I’ve done is shoot for the “middle path.” My version of Death Curse works slower (-1 max HD per 2 weeks) and involves a timeline of increasing badness/complications over the course of 11 months. So while it’s definitely the big campaign driver, there isn’t an overwhelming urgency discouraging exploration. Yes. While they left Port Nyanzaru quickly (where there were readily available sources of external info), there’s been lots of information and lore they’ve uncovered. Syndra Silvane. The lich’s Skull. Their guides. An elven ruin. Mezro’s Library & Wizards College. The clues have been of the “small/vague kind” however. It seems like there is a design flaw in ToA with *how* the clues were constructed...they seem to lack depth... It is hard to put my finger exactly on the problem. Yes, that’s exactly what aim noticing as well. The clues are spread too thin, are easy to miss, and lack the depth to make them very clear to players. Moving some of the clues that can be found in Port Nyanzaru to other jungle encounters might work; thanks for the idea! I’ve already been massaging the random encounters to create a better sense of narrative, both compressing encounters into “eventful days” (whereas uneventful days are given travel montage treatment) & incorporating clues of my own. Main issue seems to be that hardly anyone (only 3 NPCs) know what is causing the Death Curse or how it might be stopped. PCs breezed out of Port Nyanzaru before I could introduce Grandfather Zitembe. They haven no idea about the Heart of Ubtao, and haven’t yet encountered any NPCs who would know about Valindra Shadowmantle. And they haven’t yet learned about Saja N’baza in Orolunga, so I’m creating a clue in Artus Cimber’s Home in ruins of Mezro pointing to Saja N’baza. The clues about the Death Curse - it’s cause/origin and how it might be stopped - seem “all or nothing.” There’s no steps to discovery. You either talk to the right NPC or you don’t. Wish I’d recognized that earlier on! [/QUOTE]
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