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10-28-1998, 11:43 PM #1Kenneth GauckGuest
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
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10-29-1998, 10:10 AM #2Even =?iso-8859-1?Q?S=F8Guest
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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