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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 2273161" data-attributes="member: 19675">I have said elsewhere:I have run so many campaigns (good and bad)...but here are 2 things I do that REALLY work:1) Taking the time to print up game world news-sheet of some kind.  When I ran a 1900's superheroic game, it was a memo sheet from the PC's organization, the "G.A.I.A Gazetteer."  For a D&D campaign, it was a printout of all the various proclamations in the town square...including one in Zapf Dingbats for the illiterate Barbarian (but only once-he quickly took a language).  The sheets get placed wherever your players can just look it over.  In it, there are "reports" of the last session's events as if it were news, as well as little news blurbs (read: plot hooks) from all over your game world.  Your players will read these blurbs and reminice over their actions, then read the blurbs, thinking of them as flavor...but eventually, they'll start to wonder about the news as if it were real.  The first time I did this, the players' table talk about the Gazetteer was so full of specualation and conjecture, I didn't have to think of another plot line.  Essentially, they spun off so many theories, all I had to do was turn the theories into adventures.It is, in a sense, a great way to satisfy all 3 criteria I mentioned above, especially with all that feedback you'll get.2) The running battle.  These are tricky, but they add a lot of realism to the game...and it is something I've noticed is lacking in most modules.  Any time you have the PCs fighting while keeping in motion, it increases tension.  It will remind the players (at least subconsciously) of the action sequences from all of their favorite movies.  It will also (almost) get them operating in real time.  They'll be more submerged in their roles, and may make decisions in haste (heh heh heh).You'll have to think this kind of encounter out carefully.  Most players (in my personal experience) unlikely to move or retreat  their characters unless they have to.  They will stand toe-to-toe with a beastie until its clear they can't...like when the last guy falls dead.  So first, you need to have the PC's in a situation where motion is REQUIRED, like the classic burning house or flooding room.  Sometimes, just overwhelming numbers or attackers from unusual angles will work.  Forcing a character to run because of Fear effects ALWAYS works, but its hard to do.However, once you do it a couple of times, your players will be more accustomed to moving and fighting, and may even do so on their own volition, turning a set encounter into a moving battle because of tactical reasons (getting the horde of goblins to move into a choke point, etc.)</blockquote>

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