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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Phlebas" data-source="post: 3793775" data-attributes="member: 23810">I have a lot of politics IMC, so here's some hard lessons learnt (its written mainly from a DM's perspective - sorry about that)1 - don't expect huge interest from the players in the minutiae - be prepared to Fast forward meetings to the interesting bits2 - prepare hand outs to speed things up - I have a weekly paper in my city so every now and then i print out a single sheet of A4 with a mix of plot clues, background info and flavour fluff. players then have handy reference material without the DM making clues too obvious 3 - xp reward the players who get involved either for solving plot clues or winning diplomatic challenges4 - make every PC involved - either by church, guild or family. make sure that their stories start intertwining. Decide how influential churches are especially as you're bound to end up with at least one cleric5 - Keep the number of NPC's to the minimum (I created a few famous families and can always bring out new relatives to fill out plot lines). long lists would limit my enthusiasm...6 - remember that PC's get 'famous' as they rise in levels. that means they will be recognised and get a reputation. Personally i wouldn't bring in a reputation metric - mainly 'cos i'm lazy rather than it being a bad idea - but i would keep note of their last few actions and apply conditional modifiers to skill checks as appropriate7 - it should be made clear at the start wether a half-orc barbarian will fit into this campaign - either it should have a mix of combat & intrigue or PC's should be pre-warned to pick swashbucklers rather than tanks. basically all PC options need to be spelt out from the start - eg will paladins fit? 8 - Try to have a mix of skill checks and RP clues. its annoying if you have a high diplomacy character but you get no benefit, its equally annoying if you come up with good ideas but are forced to roll for anything.9 - try and rough out what the players know when they start (or what they can find out easily) and make a reference sheet - it keeps things simple if you don't have to remind everyone who does what on a regular basis. it also helps the DM keep track10 - make laws and attitudes to magic clear - especially enchantments. IMC they count as assault and have stiff penalties. otherwise you could end up with a beguiler playing havoc. I'm not saying ban them, but make sure they're not a default option (Unless your playing a mage-ocracy in which case it might be a status symbol to have lots of charmed servants) unless you really want that type of game11 - decide wether your playing PH2 organisations or not & decide what impact leadership will have. I've spent quite a bit of time on the thieves guilds but it could equally apply to wizards, clerics etc12 - even the darkest plotline should have its moments of humour.....above all, make sure its still a fun adventure and ensure you have the odd 'break' - such as find the monster in the sewer, or go out hunting orc bandits for a day otherwise even the most intriguing political system goes stale</blockquote>

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