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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Upper_Krust" data-source="post: 9596896" data-attributes="member: 326">Hey there Nevin, interesting post....the Abyss...if you are talking about Throne of Bloodstone, although I vaguely recall stopping off in Hell somewhere in that adventure to meet Tiamat so you may well be right.I like to believe most of the solutions (other than enough content) are fairly simple.Shorter, Epic Level Adventures alleviate this issue. Less prep. Less of an issue if the PCs somehow manage to rollover one of the Encounters.I agree with this point. There are not enough resources for such campaigns, especially for inexperienced DMs.If a Player ever abuses a rule (in the GM's eyes) that seems to flat out break the game, applaud their ingenuity the first time and just rule it won't work again.If a Player ever abuses a rule (in the GM's eyes) which is annoying, have that tactic come back to bite them, have enemies use it, have enemies immune or prepped for it, etc.I have some specific counters for PCs who abuse (GM's discretion) items or spells like Simulacrum or Summoning. But it could be a simple fix of an NPC with a Ring of 3 Wishes (1 wish left) might turn all the Wizard's Simulacrums or the Druid's Summoned Creatures against them.Some gamers are more invested in the rules than others. Some love their tactics more than others. But overall, assuming everyone is the same level, then they all have the potential to "take over the scenario", even if its the power gamers who do this more often. If Players have some experience playing the same character then they should have a decent idea what works for them.Never personally played in a campaign like that, but I would never advocate nerfing the game outside of clear game-breaking exploits - which players probably won't know about unless they frequent CharOps boards.Agreed. When the DM injected a bit of politics into our campaign, then the PCs were always fighting a battle on multiple fronts and their sheer power doesn't solve every issue. High Tier: Add running a Fortress/Keep, w. Local PoliticsEpic Tier: Add running a Country, w. National PoliticsImmortal Tier: Add running a Religion, w. Pantheon PoliticsWasn't it Mike Shea who said DM's should "Be a Bastard at Epic".If the amount of PC Options are slowing the game give Players 1 minute to state their actions...otherwise they miss a turn. Dithering = Death!Keep things to 3 'Bad Guy' factions 'active' at a time (from a pool of 1 faction per PC, with narrative links to that PC). Lets call them A, B, and C. (although I always liked the Greyhawk factions of Iuz (CE), Great Kingdom (LE) & Scarlet Brotherhood (NE) for visualizing things).The PCs only have time to act against 2 (of the 3 active) factions, the 3rd (their choice) succeeds in its current plot whatever that might be - the PCs won't know (invade territory, assassinate a King, open portal, find an artifact, etc.) and that Faction gets a "power up" - meaning its more difficult next time.If a faction is temporarily defeated, swap in one of the other factions (if the Scarlet Brotherhood plot is foiled bench them and bring in Rary the Traitor, etc.) If a faction is permanently defeated (though some elements may escape and join up with other factions later), create a new faction (if Iuz is defeated the Barbarian Tribes to the North amass with a flight of White Dragons and Frost Giants - but who is behind them? Is it Cryonax, Kostchtchie, Father Llymic...or an unholy alliance of all three? ) <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f633.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":oops:" title="Oops!    :oops:"  data-smilie="10"data-shortname=":oops:" />With this method the GM only has to think how did the PC's Actions affect each Faction or have those actions inadvertently created a new antagonistic Faction. Totally agree. Its coming soon, give me another month or two. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />It doesn't need to be a 'large part', it just needs to be 'a' part.Those interested in Epic Tier Campaigns are not looking for "equal representation" with Low Tier or Mid Tier Campaigns, they just want more than a few scraps from the designers; enough to build and sustain a campaign. Maybe that's not possible in the Core Rulebooks, but there is no reason a Player's Handbook 2, Dungeon Master's Guide 2 or Monster Manual 2 could not lean heavier into High and Epic Tier.</blockquote>

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