X_the_Unknown's page

Luna - fantastic idea about the albatross. I will do something similar next time. My players are adherents to Fate playing a hand as much as they like to rail against that.

In answer to the question regarding styles of play my players are a very efficient combination of min-max (all characters are specialized at what they do and very good at it), deep role-playing (great back-stories, great PC and NPC interaction, complex interwoven plots) and clever planning (meticulous details and inspired long term vision). On top of this they think well on their feet and have the devils own luck.

The problem? No moral compass of any kind. They are as likely to go halves (or is that thirds?) with Demagorgon as to fight against him. Their problem is motivation. By natural inclination they dislike goodie-two-shoes-types. They're not fans of demons either, but most would not step aside to let one pass. The fact that they don't scare at all, let alone easily, cause some problems with regards to plot progression.
"Deadly storms? Demonic hordes? Evil pirates? Impossible odds? Cool!"
As GM I do not pull my punches either and play the villains as villains and present the challenges as realistically as I can. And still the players triumph again and again and again. I want to reward their efforts but I still want to make the game challenging and that is becoming more and more difficult.

My current plan is to draw them into the larger conflict through the oft-overused GM fiat of having villains kill off favoured NPCs with extreme prejudice. I dislike doing so but I can guarantee the viscious hateful reaction will mean the players propell themselves in the required plot direction. The trouble then becomes keeping the villains alive long enough to be a challenge!

The railroad storm and its resolution presented one of the problems I have with my players - they are really really good!

Even though they are running characters at or below the prescribed power levels of the adventure path, they easily crush every problem or obstacle no matter how much of a railroad it is. As a result I end up raising the power-level of the villains and challenges in order to coerce the players along the adventure path. My players are way too random to be left to their own devices, but when I try to coerce them they just meet, and then beat, ever more impossible challenges.

How do you channel players likke this?

My group prepared the defences very well. The defences were layered and everything was very planned out. But as great as that was, the defensive planning WAS glossed over so we could concentrate on the set-piece battles with which the PCs were involved.

Think back to Hollywood films. You don't see all the action, you just see the parts which involved the heroes. Everything else is just colourful background.