At 8:55 PM -0600 6/21/01, Michael Orton wrote: >3: Remember it is not your story: it is the PC's story. You provide the >backdrop, the world for them to be in, but they say what their characters do >and it might not be what you expect. If only someone had told me this when I was first starting out. I fell into so many traps by outlining an adventure based on assumed character actions and player choices. When designing adventures, try to establish "environments of opportunities" rather than plot outlines. List the obstacles the party will face and be prepared for the players to find ways around them you haven't thought of. They may come up with an ingenious way to circumvent a fight you had laid in their path. Let them. You can always get even later. Also, don't obsess over making every adventure just the right level of challenge. I used to inadvertently sabotage my own games because I wanted the party to walk away with roughly 10% of their resources intact every time, certainly no more than 20%. Some adventures might turn into cake-walks, others might be disastrous. Let them. Plausibility and consistency are far greater tools in creating a dramatic and exciting campaign than "action movie" endings. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
