Name dropping NPCs that they haven't met yet is always fun. Then you can do any kind of reveal you want to either subvert their expectations, or reward them for gathering information and preparing properly.
I do the same thing, I consider how the pc's role-playing and/or combat affects the wider world. My players delved too deep and came across an armored Kraken (sentient beings in my world) in arcane powered suspended animation. A bit of a puzzle they solved to deactivate the device without blowing up the whole cavern. Then instead of fighting the Kraken, they roleplayed making peace with it and it departed into the deeps. Later in the campaign one of my player's nemesis discovered their hidden seaside refuge and brought an OVERWHELMING naval force to destroy them. The pc's scrambled to the defence wondering how they were going to defeat such a horde. At the eleventh hour, up from the waves breaches not only the Kraken, but it's floating island/dragon sea turtle friend. A moment of despair became an epic encounter as a direct result of earlier role play!
I'm currently running an Eberron campaign, and that party came into the city of Sharn and were told about problems with the criminal organization known as Daask immediately. They knew they'd have to deal with them eventually, however, they didn't expect one of their best friends to get kidnapped by the organization that very same night. Now they're charging into the Daask hideout to get their friend back, but there's two other hostages in there as well, plus two random encounters in the hideout that are completely unrelated to the plot at hand, but could spawn spinoff quests if they encounter them. You can't not run into the plot when everything is the plot
I can relate, just "watched" half this video 3 times 😅 I've been watching DM advice videos for the last 2-3years, only managed to get playing year and a half ago (wanted actual tabletop experience before even attempting online) and now been DMing one-shots since late November (DnD night at games cafe) and since then any related video sends me deep in thought and I have to rewind so many times... nobody warned me it was so addictive 😅
I had one encounter just a few weeks ago, where the players had captured a couple of evil clerics alive, and moral quanderies had prevented the players from killing their prisoners in cold blood, so they reached a deal where the Clerics would receive safe passage through dangerous and hostile waters in exchange for magical services. Over the course of that travel segment, i made those clerics the most arrogant, self-absorbed pricks i could manage, and by the time they were about to arrive at their destination, most of the party was begging one last holdout to "please just let us murder them". They agreed to maroon them on an island instead of murder. the Clerics found out, objected, and a fight ensued, in which the players killed their passengers/prisoners, and then gave them the most disrespectful funeral they could manage. I've never seen a party so eager to go into combat.
I love that last bit and it is something I use pretty regularly because I don’t like the idea of running a game where the protagonists can get away with taking lives. An example I’ve had was when Kali, our resident hobo, decided to put three child thugs 6ft under because they took him hostage, even though they had thrown their weapons down and surrendered. So a couple sessions later Kali gets knocked out doing some reconnaissance and this time wakes up in front of a mob boss who just happens to have been the father of one of those the kids. I gave Kali a believable escape path but from then on the PCs started to really take the world seriously.
I usually have a rubric for encounter building Mechanics, Environment, Objectives, and Roleplay I try to have all four of these heavily invollved in each combat I run, and it usually makes for high stakes encounter every time.
The players get very excited up on realizing what they are doing connects back to something in the past (sometimes far in the past), revealing there was more involved. They also perked up when they realized they were intentionally blown out an airlock- now the mystery is much more personal.
very cool, i also create some suspense y adding sounds they may hear or smells, or maybe npcs running away form the area or body parts, maybe bones or armour and weapons strewn about, blood splatter etc
My D&D party of 5 level 7 characters have been escorting a high-profile prisoner for a LONG time (about 10 sessions) from Phandalin to Waterdeep. Much longer than expected, but I'd like to think the pacing has still been good with a lot of fun things along the way, including the prisoner being rescued and the party had to track him down and capture him again. At the beginning I had 3 assassins who were much stronger than the party attack with the hopes they would run and not stand and fight. Good thing they did. They have killed 2 of these assassins so far at different times and the 3rd, a goblin equal to a level 10 rogue, is still out there. They think this goblin is out of the picture, but I planned an ambush about a day's ride out of Waterdeep on the High Road triggered by an "Assasinate" shot which would take about 90% of one of the player's HP, then a small group of goblins and bugbears would storm after them. This should be a fair but deadly fight, but I am trying to think of ways to make this encounter more "Grand" as Guy puts it and tease it a bit without compromising the ambush. I like the idea of this surprise ambush, but I am not 100% attached to it. Any thoughts?
I do love the bits that Professor Dungeonmaster adds. Much like your antimatter containment field. And yes there is a prisoner to rescue and extra bads who show up 1-4 rounds after the encounter starts and an unexpected but inevitable betrayal. Yes flesh out the encounter.
Preparation time working both ways. If the party takes a few days to plan out their advance, have the bad guys do the same. Maybe the party are sneaky and manage to ambush the bad guy, or maybe they get spotted doing Recon, and now the bad guy brings the fight to the party.
Hey Guy, I really like your content... I have been watching for some time, and I am working on a new RPG that fits a lot of your gaming philosophies called Sidequests of Byorn. I am finalizing some things before releasing it on kickstarter and I would like to send you a digital copy in advance. I would love to hear any thoughts you have if you have any time to do so. would you mind if I emailed you a copy?
![[ADD] Add a village to your next TTRPG session, here's why!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UsmyKoURi6o/mqdefault.jpg)
Name dropping NPCs that they haven't met yet is always fun. Then you can do any kind of reveal you want to either subvert their expectations, or reward them for gathering information and preparing properly.
I do the same thing, I consider how the pc's role-playing and/or combat affects the wider world. My players delved too deep and came across an armored Kraken (sentient beings in my world) in arcane powered suspended animation. A bit of a puzzle they solved to deactivate the device without blowing up the whole cavern. Then instead of fighting the Kraken, they roleplayed making peace with it and it departed into the deeps. Later in the campaign one of my player's nemesis discovered their hidden seaside refuge and brought an OVERWHELMING naval force to destroy them. The pc's scrambled to the defence wondering how they were going to defeat such a horde. At the eleventh hour, up from the waves breaches not only the Kraken, but it's floating island/dragon sea turtle friend. A moment of despair became an epic encounter as a direct result of earlier role play!
I'm currently running an Eberron campaign, and that party came into the city of Sharn and were told about problems with the criminal organization known as Daask immediately. They knew they'd have to deal with them eventually, however, they didn't expect one of their best friends to get kidnapped by the organization that very same night. Now they're charging into the Daask hideout to get their friend back, but there's two other hostages in there as well, plus two random encounters in the hideout that are completely unrelated to the plot at hand, but could spawn spinoff quests if they encounter them. You can't not run into the plot when everything is the plot
Love your videos Guy. Only problem is halfway through you get me to think about something then I always miss the other half of the video haha
You are not kidding this happens to me all the time.
I can relate, just "watched" half this video 3 times 😅 I've been watching DM advice videos for the last 2-3years, only managed to get playing year and a half ago (wanted actual tabletop experience before even attempting online) and now been DMing one-shots since late November (DnD night at games cafe) and since then any related video sends me deep in thought and I have to rewind so many times... nobody warned me it was so addictive 😅
I had one encounter just a few weeks ago, where the players had captured a couple of evil clerics alive, and moral quanderies had prevented the players from killing their prisoners in cold blood, so they reached a deal where the Clerics would receive safe passage through dangerous and hostile waters in exchange for magical services. Over the course of that travel segment, i made those clerics the most arrogant, self-absorbed pricks i could manage, and by the time they were about to arrive at their destination, most of the party was begging one last holdout to "please just let us murder them". They agreed to maroon them on an island instead of murder. the Clerics found out, objected, and a fight ensued, in which the players killed their passengers/prisoners, and then gave them the most disrespectful funeral they could manage. I've never seen a party so eager to go into combat.
I've gotten in the habit of dropping clues multiple sessions before important encounters, and adding to those clues as the encounter gets closer.
I love that last bit and it is something I use pretty regularly because I don’t like the idea of running a game where the protagonists can get away with taking lives. An example I’ve had was when Kali, our resident hobo, decided to put three child thugs 6ft under because they took him hostage, even though they had thrown their weapons down and surrendered. So a couple sessions later Kali gets knocked out doing some reconnaissance and this time wakes up in front of a mob boss who just happens to have been the father of one of those the kids. I gave Kali a believable escape path but from then on the PCs started to really take the world seriously.
I usually have a rubric for encounter building
Mechanics, Environment, Objectives, and Roleplay
I try to have all four of these heavily invollved in each combat I run, and it usually makes for high stakes encounter every time.
The timing could not be better, thank you
The players get very excited up on realizing what they are doing connects back to something in the past (sometimes far in the past), revealing there was more involved. They also perked up when they realized they were intentionally blown out an airlock- now the mystery is much more personal.
very cool, i also create some suspense y adding sounds they may hear or smells, or maybe npcs running away form the area or body parts, maybe bones or armour and weapons strewn about, blood splatter etc
My D&D party of 5 level 7 characters have been escorting a high-profile prisoner for a LONG time (about 10 sessions) from Phandalin to Waterdeep. Much longer than expected, but I'd like to think the pacing has still been good with a lot of fun things along the way, including the prisoner being rescued and the party had to track him down and capture him again. At the beginning I had 3 assassins who were much stronger than the party attack with the hopes they would run and not stand and fight. Good thing they did. They have killed 2 of these assassins so far at different times and the 3rd, a goblin equal to a level 10 rogue, is still out there.
They think this goblin is out of the picture, but I planned an ambush about a day's ride out of Waterdeep on the High Road triggered by an "Assasinate" shot which would take about 90% of one of the player's HP, then a small group of goblins and bugbears would storm after them. This should be a fair but deadly fight, but I am trying to think of ways to make this encounter more "Grand" as Guy puts it and tease it a bit without compromising the ambush. I like the idea of this surprise ambush, but I am not 100% attached to it. Any thoughts?
maybe there's some goblin scouts tracking the party or evidence of a bugbear camp - so they know these guys are out there, but where and how many...?
I do love the bits that Professor Dungeonmaster adds. Much like your antimatter containment field. And yes there is a prisoner to rescue and extra bads who show up 1-4 rounds after the encounter starts and an unexpected but inevitable betrayal. Yes flesh out the encounter.
Second (for engagement 👀)
First time gm in like 5 days. Thank you for the videos
His energy is incredible, scrumptious videos
Celery sticks are yummy... for rabbits.
Great advice! Thank you
First! More great content . Thanks for the upload
Preparation time working both ways.
If the party takes a few days to plan out their advance, have the bad guys do the same.
Maybe the party are sneaky and manage to ambush the bad guy, or maybe they get spotted doing Recon, and now the bad guy brings the fight to the party.
Nice Sword!
Great advice, as always
Follow the money!
Hey Guy, I really like your content... I have been watching for some time, and I am working on a new RPG that fits a lot of your gaming philosophies called Sidequests of Byorn. I am finalizing some things before releasing it on kickstarter and I would like to send you a digital copy in advance. I would love to hear any thoughts you have if you have any time to do so. would you mind if I emailed you a copy?
There are no small plot hooks / encounters, only small player dreams.