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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5656929" data-attributes="member: 42582">[MENTION=463]S'mon[/MENTION] - we have a "quorom" rule - at least 3 of the 5 players (other PCs are then played by the table as NPCs, and where it is feasible for them to slip into the background they do so).My solution to the problem is to build situations that speak to multiple players/PCs: the hobgoblin mage who is guarding the captured villagers has an imp familiar. The dwarf and wizard hate goblins. The paladin want to rescue villagers. The imp will taunt the chaos sorcerer with promises of techniques to "master the chaos".Or: the hag exiles from the Feywild live in the ruined manor of a former archmage which has spider-filled pits and tunnels beneath it. The drow sorcerer is obsessed by the Feywild (and hates spiders). The wizard wants to learn about the archmage, and also wants to be cured of slavering canker. The dwarf is wondering whether he is cut out to be a pit fighter (as it turns out, he wasn't - he's now a warpriest of Moradin instead).The principal villain in the current scenario also ticks multiple boxes: he is a wizard cultist of Vecna who is also a leader of goblin and hobgoblin armies which capture villagers and enslave them, knows secrets of the ancient minotaur empire that was overthrown by non-fallen Nerath, and has done a deal with the aforementioned hags to gain access to their  world-crossing tower. The PC wizard is also an invoker of Ioun, Erathis and Vecna, who want to restore Nerath. The dwarf hates goblins and hobgoblins - ancient enemies of the dwarves - and has an ambiguous relationship to the minotaurs, having discovered that the dwarves served a long period of tutelage under them. The paladin (of the Raven Queen) wants to save the villagers, stop the marauding armies, and defeat Vecna. As a tiefling, he also has a passing interest in fallen empires. The drow chaos sorcerer wants to make his way to the Feywild via the world-crossing tower, to pursue his goal of reuniting the sundered elves. This will probably require learning some secrets of the ancient days.I find it's all about interweaving things into a complex mess, such that multiple players have something at stake in every situation, and all have something at stake in the overarching scenario.</blockquote>

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