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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6730095" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Yes, exactly. Ubiquitous high-level NPCs are only a symptom, not the cause. So far in this thread we've heard suggestions to gate advancement behind a &quot;PC-only&quot; gate, to increase advancement costs (in time or XP), to make combat harder and deadlier by tossing encounter difficulty as a convention, and to just accept it and not worry about the implications.After thinking about it for a while, I think I just need to run a deadlier and more uncomfortable game. E.g. if HP loss *hurts*, and monster killing is not generally lucrative, NPCs will be less motivated to seek power for its own sake. Then when the rare lucrative treasure-hunting opportunity occurs, only PCs will be well-placed to take advantage of it.Shadowrun may be on to something by making runners broke and dangerous by default.As part of this, I think I need to build adventures to be deadlier for PCs. If the average 10th level PC played with mediocre skill has about a 50% chance of coming out of a level 10 adventure alive, but very wealthy, I'll be pretty happy with the world that results. More deathtraps, more ancient horrors.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 6730095, member: 6787650"] Yes, exactly. Ubiquitous high-level NPCs are only a symptom, not the cause. So far in this thread we've heard suggestions to gate advancement behind a "PC-only" gate, to increase advancement costs (in time or XP), to make combat harder and deadlier by tossing encounter difficulty as a convention, and to just accept it and not worry about the implications. After thinking about it for a while, I think I just need to run a deadlier and more uncomfortable game. E.g. if HP loss *hurts*, and monster killing is not generally lucrative, NPCs will be less motivated to seek power for its own sake. Then when the rare lucrative treasure-hunting opportunity occurs, only PCs will be well-placed to take advantage of it. Shadowrun may be on to something by making runners broke and dangerous by default. As part of this, I think I need to build adventures to be deadlier for PCs. If the average 10th level PC played with mediocre skill has about a 50% chance of coming out of a level 10 adventure alive, but very wealthy, I'll be pretty happy with the world that results. More deathtraps, more ancient horrors. [/QUOTE]

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