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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 6470761" data-attributes="member: 6786839">Tip of the hat to the thread on Monster Tactics. Anything which happens when PCs *first* fight the monster/villain probably belongs in that thread.Do you ever run master villain NPCs - humanoid or otherwise - as taking strategic measures to prevent heroes from foiling their plans, and as specifically targeting PCs who have become a hindrance? For example, say an aggressive, ambitious leader in the Cult of the Dragon notices that the same band of 4-6 "meddling kids" of various races and classes has ruined two of their projects so far, and the leader decides to nip this trend in the bud, sending a minion (or a familiar, perhaps in raven form) to go find out who these people are and where they're going next."Tales Trees Tell" has a minor example of this kind of strategy. If you've run it, you'll know which one I mean. (Well, it's not targeted specifically at the PCs, but it's a precaution for any Meddling Kids who might get involved.)One way for you, as the villain, to get rid of PCs: have someone (perhaps an actor hired on a one-shot basis) approach them, posing as a person asking them for help, and send them on a wild goose chase to some hard-to-reach, dangerous location which is far away from any of your projects. If you're lucky and they're stubborn, they might trek to the inner reaches of the Great Desert, and spend days searching for the Sand-Burrowing Fortress of Fulano, which exists only in your imagination, and on the map you drew to mislead them. (Bonus points if the map was dipped in scorpion pheromones, and its smell attracts enraged Giant Scorpions.)Of course, it's no fun for players if this just blindsides and torments them. Perhaps a Harper agent, who has been keeping an eye on them for Harper reasons, figures out that something's wrong and raises the question of "so who exactly gave you this map?". If the players will respond with "Oooh, that was fiendish, next time we're making Insight checks and asking for faction passwords and casting divination magic", then you've nudged your group towards more of a thinking player's campaign. If, on another hand, they can't distinguish between "An NPC lied to us" and "hey, the DM lied to us!", then ruthless villain strategy is probably not right for this particular table of players.</blockquote>

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