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Why we like plot: Our Job as DMs
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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5006924" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>CR's 3-4 adventures:</p><p>I cheat on my first adventure, i tend to make 1 problem that tries to get all the PCs introduced and roped into a problem to solve that relates to them. The worst format being "you all hear that Timmy has been kidnapped by Kobolds, being good PCs y'all are obliged to help." (My initial plots strive for a bit more quality than that....</p><p></p><p>After that, usually enough interaction has happened with the village and party that the PCs start getting ideas or generating their own hooks, and the next session will be based on that.</p><p></p><p></p><p>RC's sketched out sites:</p><p>I hear a keyword 'sites'. That implies that you sketch out a few dungeons, drop a few hints and see which one the PCs go to. The extreme of this idea is that there is 1 dungeon for each compass point, and you drop maps and motivations for the PCs to pick one. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I would estimate that many DMs are lazy like me. We only want to write the "next" adventure. We want it to be the right one, that the PCs want to do. We don't want it to be a railroad. We don't want it to be a crappy novel or DMPC love-fest. We want the players to enjory it and be challenged.</p><p></p><p>for me, that means understanding the players and the PCs and making sure the adventure has elements they're interested, and that each session is "about them". On the first game, it means making some assumptions of likely player choices to prime the pump. On any subsequent game, it's a continuation of player preferred plotlines, and course corrections based on player choices between sessions.</p><p></p><p>that means at the end of session #4, the players just learned that the BBEG has two different evil plans in place, and Player#1 found a clue to who murdered his father. Ask the players what their basic intent for the next session will be. They say try to stop plan#1, and while there look into the clue. So I go home and write the stuff I need to challenge them for that as session #5. We meet, play it, and I get surprised by how they solve it. Lather, rinse, repeat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 5006924, member: 8835"] CR's 3-4 adventures: I cheat on my first adventure, i tend to make 1 problem that tries to get all the PCs introduced and roped into a problem to solve that relates to them. The worst format being "you all hear that Timmy has been kidnapped by Kobolds, being good PCs y'all are obliged to help." (My initial plots strive for a bit more quality than that.... After that, usually enough interaction has happened with the village and party that the PCs start getting ideas or generating their own hooks, and the next session will be based on that. RC's sketched out sites: I hear a keyword 'sites'. That implies that you sketch out a few dungeons, drop a few hints and see which one the PCs go to. The extreme of this idea is that there is 1 dungeon for each compass point, and you drop maps and motivations for the PCs to pick one. I would estimate that many DMs are lazy like me. We only want to write the "next" adventure. We want it to be the right one, that the PCs want to do. We don't want it to be a railroad. We don't want it to be a crappy novel or DMPC love-fest. We want the players to enjory it and be challenged. for me, that means understanding the players and the PCs and making sure the adventure has elements they're interested, and that each session is "about them". On the first game, it means making some assumptions of likely player choices to prime the pump. On any subsequent game, it's a continuation of player preferred plotlines, and course corrections based on player choices between sessions. that means at the end of session #4, the players just learned that the BBEG has two different evil plans in place, and Player#1 found a clue to who murdered his father. Ask the players what their basic intent for the next session will be. They say try to stop plan#1, and while there look into the clue. So I go home and write the stuff I need to challenge them for that as session #5. We meet, play it, and I get surprised by how they solve it. Lather, rinse, repeat. [/QUOTE]
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