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  1. #1
    Kenneth Gauck
    Guest

    Pacing PC`s (preventing and co

    - -----Original Message-----
    From: Even Sørgjerd
    Date: Wednesday, October 28, 1998 7:34 AM


    >That the little barony of Medoere has manged to beat the quite militaristic
    >Diemed is quite unlikely in just two years. But if it has happened to cry
    >about it. Did I hear counter attack? A major part of the Dimean army lands
    >from sea in the middle of Medoere, just finished from training camp in the
    >darkest forest of Mieres. Or there might be some spiritual disturbance
    >making the priests unable or unvilling to perform an investiture ceremony.
    >
    >As you see the opsibilities are endless, and the choice are yours to make.
    >Give things a little time before they happens and give a little more
    >character to the story. Don't let the characters make decisions out of whim
    >and chance.
    >
    >And to all those GM's out there:
    >It's a cruel world!!


    If the DM has planned poorly, then these kinds of solutions (reserves that
    come out of nowhere, sudden failing of reliable resources) are sometimes
    neccesary. But its far better to have a plan for the opposition, so that
    you can be confident as a DM that the players actions were sufficent to
    achive the ends that they did. Did Diemed build up her army to match
    Medoere? Did Diemed perform (or have performed) espienage actions to keep
    appraised of Medoere's strength and intentions? Did Medoere have the
    benifit of PC's and leveled commanders, while Diemed had none?

    With regard to the present situation, don't just have a bunch of other
    states gang up on the players. That is too one-dimentional. Ask yourself
    if the newly enlarged Medoere is in the interest of other states in Anuire,
    or whether it threatens others. If the players have wisely made friends and
    offered favors, if they are owed assistance for past assistance, then it is
    probable that most states are happy to see dangerous Diemed brought low. If
    the players have never bothered to forge links to their neighbors, then
    assume that these states are wary of the new power and will support Diemed
    covertly. Keep track of motives and exchanges between NPC realms because it
    can help explain their behavior.

    Give your players the sense that consequences are related to what they have
    done, not to correct your mistakes.

    Kenneth Gauck
    c558382@earthlink.net

  2. #2
    Even =?iso-8859-1?Q?S=F8
    Guest

    Pacing PC`s (preventing and co

    >If the DM has planned poorly, then these kinds of solutions (reserves that
    >come out of nowhere, sudden failing of reliable resources) are sometimes
    >neccesary. But its far better to have a plan for the opposition, so that
    >you can be confident as a DM that the players actions were sufficent to
    >achive the ends that they did. Did Diemed build up her army to match
    >Medoere? Did Diemed perform (or have performed) espienage actions to keep
    >appraised of Medoere's strength and intentions? Did Medoere have the
    >benifit of PC's and leveled commanders, while Diemed had none?
    >
    >With regard to the present situation, don't just have a bunch of other
    >states gang up on the players. That is too one-dimentional. Ask yourself
    >if the newly enlarged Medoere is in the interest of other states in Anuire,
    >or whether it threatens others. If the players have wisely made friends and
    >offered favors, if they are owed assistance for past assistance, then it is
    >probable that most states are happy to see dangerous Diemed brought low. If
    >the players have never bothered to forge links to their neighbors, then
    >assume that these states are wary of the new power and will support Diemed
    >covertly. Keep track of motives and exchanges between NPC realms because it
    >can help explain their behavior.
    >
    >Give your players the sense that consequences are related to what they have
    >done, not to correct your mistakes.
    >
    >Kenneth Gauck
    >c558382@earthlink.net

    I think kenneth has a lot of good points here, but I do not agree that a
    counter attack has to be only a one-dimentional happening. There is of
    course a reason for the Dimean army to be i Mieres. And what did I just
    hear? The army commander of the invading Dimean forces is no other than
    Kandaele Shaem, the same character the players tried to turn into a
    lieutenant. And it also seems that Shaem's uncle is the great grandson of of
    om Diemed most supportive nobles in an area outside Alamier. They have come
    to reclaim their land for their beloved lord. And whats even worse is the
    fact that your sister in law is married to Shaem's nephew. There seems to be
    a lot more going on than just a casual counter attack. Heirl Diem has just
    been waiting for a attack from Medoere for several years now.

    Yes, I too think that a war can be a very boring event if there is no reason
    or plot behind it. Just throwing in a few more warcards is a terrible way of
    trying to balancing things a bit. And if you made a mistakem, of course you
    can do something to correct it if it couses problems for your campaign. The
    point about letting the players learn the consequenses is very good, and it
    helps making your campaign more real if you let the characters hear some new
    about the other regents' ractions. This is perhaps the most difficult part
    about running a BR campaign as there as so many different characters with
    widely varying motives. When something unexpected comes up, it often
    requires severl hours of intense brooding over the campaign notes to find
    out how the would behave in a most natural way.

    Thanks for your excellent thoughts Kenneth

    Even

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