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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 3406708" data-attributes="member: 9254">So kill the PCs.&nbsp; Look, in the teens &quot;death&quot; is the new &quot;poisoned.&quot;&nbsp; It's debilitating and can result in problems but it isn't the end of the world.&nbsp; Well, unless it is.&nbsp; As I see it, an adventure is composed of multiple parts.&nbsp; The earliest parts are figuring out WTF is going on.&nbsp; Divinations provide terse bits of information and while ad noseum &quot;yes/no&quot; divinations can help narrow down suspects, it can be very misleading, especially if NPCs act with knowledge of divinations. I have NPCs use traditional methods of information gathering; spies &amp; carrier pigeons.&nbsp; Most players have no concept of counter intelligence, as shown by the relative dearth of &quot;bluff&quot; skill.&nbsp;&nbsp; That's a table control/experience issue.&nbsp; I provide a limited amount of time for people to act or they get delayed until later in the round.&nbsp; If the guy who forgets how to roll&nbsp; damage (he's a monk, it's always d20+7!!!!!) decides to do something unusual, I tell him to sum up his character's goal/intent and then I give him the check &amp; DC.&nbsp; If he doesn't like it, he gets delayed until he figures something else out.&nbsp; Rules lawyering is verboten during combats unless it's life or death for a PC at that moment.&nbsp; I make a mechanic ruling in the combat and, assuming neither of the two players who sometimes GM don't look at me like I'm crazy, that stands until there's a break.&nbsp; I also trust my players to roll their attack sequences before their action is up.&nbsp; Combats do take a while IMC but I've got 8 PCs and 3 cohorts, which is just a lot of die rolling.&nbsp; That actually works in my favor as other players can look up the rolls during long die rolling bouts.&nbsp; During lags (when the fighter manages to fight something critable and his dice are being nice) I'll recap the situation so everyone is aware of what's going on and stays interested.Matter of opinion, since there's a pure-melee, no-casting, no-Bo9S, character in the party.&nbsp; Besides, that's what PrCs are for.&nbsp; The first is a matter of experience.&nbsp; DMs who level PCs quickly will have trouble because they can't ease into it.&nbsp; The second is a matter of approach.&nbsp; At low levels, being at half hitpoints is scary because you could be killed and magic won't necessarily heal you all the way up without bleeding the cleric dry.&nbsp; At 16th level the fighter has ~90 hp remaining.&nbsp; Mass Heal cures those wounds quickly.&nbsp; The solution is to &quot;injure&quot; the party with something other than HPs.&nbsp; Use more creatures/effects that cause stat/level drain/damage.&nbsp; Something that inflicts -4 Con damage will cause about 30% hp loss in a teen-level fighter but is felt much more viscerally than a 30 or even 50% hp loss.&nbsp; Napping is a matter of timing.&nbsp; I try to avoid the &quot;24&quot; syndrome of relentless action but bad things tend to occur in groups.&nbsp; Heck, each fight should raise a ruckus that could potentially attract other problems.&nbsp; It's not critical at high levels but it is a great nuisance when the party gets attacked by jackals.&nbsp; And the use of great magic, like high level adventurers use, can draw the attention of regional high level creatures that use daily divinations as a matter of course.&nbsp; Druids IMC with access to Commune with Nature use it daily to make sure no powerful creatures have entered the territory, no one is burning the forest, and what people are nearby.&nbsp; A 9-mile radius is good for finding those spell-blasted battle sites, the loss of a local monster, or the slim chance the party is in range.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; I cheat.&nbsp; I recycle the player's old character sheets as baselines for NPCs.&nbsp; I need a lich?&nbsp; Fine, I'll use the PC wizard from 6 levels ago, change a couple feats &amp; skills, and add a few levels.&nbsp; Tada, mostly done.We use PCGen so I can quickly stat up 2 or 3 different variants, which I save since even if it doesn't get used now it might be a good basepoint later.&nbsp; &quot;wizard-transmuter8th&quot;, &quot;rogue5/lasher6&quot;, &quot;archer-f6/rgr6/rog3&quot;&nbsp; Combine that with a change in race &quot;Frost Giant wizard-transmuter8th&quot; and NPCs form quicker.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 3406708, member: 9254"] So kill the PCs. Look, in the teens "death" is the new "poisoned." It's debilitating and can result in problems but it isn't the end of the world. Well, unless it is. As I see it, an adventure is composed of multiple parts. The earliest parts are figuring out WTF is going on. Divinations provide terse bits of information and while ad noseum "yes/no" divinations can help narrow down suspects, it can be very misleading, especially if NPCs act with knowledge of divinations. I have NPCs use traditional methods of information gathering; spies & carrier pigeons. Most players have no concept of counter intelligence, as shown by the relative dearth of "bluff" skill. That's a table control/experience issue. I provide a limited amount of time for people to act or they get delayed until later in the round. If the guy who forgets how to roll damage (he's a monk, it's always d20+7!!!!!) decides to do something unusual, I tell him to sum up his character's goal/intent and then I give him the check & DC. If he doesn't like it, he gets delayed until he figures something else out. Rules lawyering is verboten during combats unless it's life or death for a PC at that moment. I make a mechanic ruling in the combat and, assuming neither of the two players who sometimes GM don't look at me like I'm crazy, that stands until there's a break. I also trust my players to roll their attack sequences before their action is up. Combats do take a while IMC but I've got 8 PCs and 3 cohorts, which is just a lot of die rolling. That actually works in my favor as other players can look up the rolls during long die rolling bouts. During lags (when the fighter manages to fight something critable and his dice are being nice) I'll recap the situation so everyone is aware of what's going on and stays interested. Matter of opinion, since there's a pure-melee, no-casting, no-Bo9S, character in the party. Besides, that's what PrCs are for. The first is a matter of experience. DMs who level PCs quickly will have trouble because they can't ease into it. The second is a matter of approach. At low levels, being at half hitpoints is scary because you could be killed and magic won't necessarily heal you all the way up without bleeding the cleric dry. At 16th level the fighter has ~90 hp remaining. Mass Heal cures those wounds quickly. The solution is to "injure" the party with something other than HPs. Use more creatures/effects that cause stat/level drain/damage. Something that inflicts -4 Con damage will cause about 30% hp loss in a teen-level fighter but is felt much more viscerally than a 30 or even 50% hp loss. Napping is a matter of timing. I try to avoid the "24" syndrome of relentless action but bad things tend to occur in groups. Heck, each fight should raise a ruckus that could potentially attract other problems. It's not critical at high levels but it is a great nuisance when the party gets attacked by jackals. And the use of great magic, like high level adventurers use, can draw the attention of regional high level creatures that use daily divinations as a matter of course. Druids IMC with access to Commune with Nature use it daily to make sure no powerful creatures have entered the territory, no one is burning the forest, and what people are nearby. A 9-mile radius is good for finding those spell-blasted battle sites, the loss of a local monster, or the slim chance the party is in range. I cheat. I recycle the player's old character sheets as baselines for NPCs. I need a lich? Fine, I'll use the PC wizard from 6 levels ago, change a couple feats & skills, and add a few levels. Tada, mostly done. We use PCGen so I can quickly stat up 2 or 3 different variants, which I save since even if it doesn't get used now it might be a good basepoint later. "wizard-transmuter8th", "rogue5/lasher6", "archer-f6/rgr6/rog3" Combine that with a change in race "Frost Giant wizard-transmuter8th" and NPCs form quicker. [/QUOTE]

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