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<blockquote data-quote="CharlesRyan" data-source="post: 5014412" data-attributes="member: 5265">You've touched on it yourself when you've talked about, for example, foreshadowing. Putting those statues in front of the medusa's lair lets you foreshadow on the encounter or perhaps adventure level. But it's hard to do it on a larger scale if you aren't willing to work from an outline for the game.I've enjoyed a few instances when players' jaws almost literally hit the floor at the point of some grand plot twist or reveal. (Both from behind the screen and as one of those players.) A point where the events of an entire lengthy campaign were cast in a whole new light; where connections began to appear between events from the game's early days that seemed insignificant and unrelated at the time. The point at which the players start looking back and say &quot;oh my god, that was about that!&quot;These moments can only occur if they're set up in advance. In an environment where the GM has no idea where the campaign will be in a few months, things like that might happen here or there, but more by chance and never (or very rarely) with the sort of impact or resonance I'm talking about.It's worth pointing out that the impact is an important part of the experience I'm describing. A given event or encounter, objectively, might happen just as easily in either campaign style. But the resonance it has with the players varies greatly depending on what has happened before in the campaign.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CharlesRyan, post: 5014412, member: 5265"] You've touched on it yourself when you've talked about, for example, foreshadowing. Putting those statues in front of the medusa's lair lets you foreshadow on the encounter or perhaps adventure level. But it's hard to do it on a larger scale if you aren't willing to work from an outline for the game. I've enjoyed a few instances when players' jaws almost literally hit the floor at the point of some grand plot twist or reveal. (Both from behind the screen and as one of those players.) A point where the events of an entire lengthy campaign were cast in a whole new light; where connections began to appear between events from the game's early days that seemed insignificant and unrelated at the time. The point at which the players start looking back and say "oh my god, that was about [I]that[/I]!" These moments can only occur if they're set up in advance. In an environment where the GM has no idea where the campaign will be in a few months, things like that might happen here or there, but more by chance and never (or very rarely) with the sort of impact or resonance I'm talking about. It's worth pointing out that the impact is an important part of the experience I'm describing. A given event or encounter, objectively, might happen just as easily in either campaign style. But the resonance it has with the players varies greatly depending on what has happened before in the campaign. [/QUOTE]

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