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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kengar" data-source="post: 851713" data-attributes="member: 3230">There are some wonderful pieces of advice in the LOTR RPG by Decipher about making an epic adventure. I don't have the book with me, but here are a few observations of my own:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Usually things like scenery and terrain aren't going to mean a lot to the party in general. Sure, you may have one or two players that are interested in the flavor text, but unless it's affecting their rate of travel or they are taking damage from things like frostbite, quite often it's just so much fluff to the party. That's not to say you should skip the flavor text, but it's not necessarily going to set the tone by itself. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">What makes these journeys epic in feel isn't necessarily the distance traveled, it's the hardships and challenges that must be overcome. These challenges aren't all necessarily combat. Getting a useful piece of information from an NPC, locating a hidden path through the swamp, etc. The difficulty here is that these challengees are -all too often- simply resolved by a quick die roll ("Okay, my Gather Information is +11, I take 20, what rumors do I find out?"). DMs need to keep things on a narrative level as much as possible. You're trying to make the campaign feel like a literary epic, then lean towards the story and away from the dice a bit. Have them roleplay it out and describe what they do a bit more. Roll the dice for them behind the screen when necessary. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Players should be encouraged to stay in character. XP should be geared towards the quest and achieving goals. Combat/CR experience should be greatly de-emphasized. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make sure this is the kind of campaign your players want to play. Explain up front what kind of feel you are going for. They're supposed to have fun too; so if they are expected a dungeon-crawl, don't be surprised if they aren't helping support the epic mood. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Give them setbacks. Make them work for their progress. If they reach A Dwarf Door and none of them read Elvish, they're going to be out of luck until they go back and get a Comprehend Languages scroll, and even then they still need to solve the riddle. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make sure the characters have good reasons for undertaking the quest. "Loot" does not qualify. Hoping to find lost treasure is all well and good, but lacks "epic" qualities. Maybe if they need the money for some purpose, then it will work. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Avoid too much bookkeeping except when relevant to the story. Don't make them measure every drop of water they drink unless they're crossing a desert. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Keep a tight rein on the magical resources you allow the party, especially items. You want the party to be relying on things like wits and knowledge and bravery more than a Big-@$$ sword to win through a challenge. A few key items can add flavor, but if it's overdone, they might lose sight of the goal amidst all the trinkets. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have more than one way to move forward. You don't want to railroad the PCs, but nor do you want to trash your saga-in-the-making because they fail to find a secret door. If they fail their Search roll, have some other way for them to find out about the hidden passage (a partially burned map in a fireplace, etc.). Don't feed them the answers, but a backup clue or method will make life easier on you. Sometimes, of course, they simply must succeed; but that's normally reserved for "final battle" kinds of things. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Similar to above, try to avoid making any one creature or NPC the lynchpin to the story's success; especially for things like minor villains. If the minion keeps "miraculously" escaping despite good rolls and tactics by the players, they will feel resentful and railroaded (and justly so). Better that such things happen "behind the scenes" so that the party doesn't find out until later. i.e. Attacked by gnolls on road out of town. Party defeats them and searches the bodies. Finds a note with their descriptions, orders to kill them, and the bad guy's initials. [/list=1]</li> </ol></blockquote>

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