EoA: Killing Time Between Scenes?

[Dragonshade]

Greetings!

Recently, I just started running CotCT. First session was this past weekend, and it opened as a smashing success. The Gaedren Lamm storyline concluded neatly, and with the city in turmoil, the players are enthused to step up and restore order.

Having read some previous posts on the messageboard, I gathered that some time is meant to pass between the scenes offered (Eel's End, World's Meat, etc). I'm sure much of this could be done "off camera", and informing the players of the state of affairs between events occuring.

I'd much rather show them than tell, and while some minor events are given to help flesh these out... I'm intending to add some more in order to keep the players active and busy before diving back into the main storyline.

My current idea:

One such is in the reprocussions of Lamm's fall. Though a petty criminal running his operations, in my game I imagined Lamm at least paid some kind of fee to the Cerulean Society to operate as independently as he does. Thus, after the events of that story... I would assume that such a well organized guild would not take well to one of it's investments being cut off by some upstart do-gooders.

So, continuing that idea, I was going to have some measure of small conflict between the characters and the Society as a result. Starting not so violent (intimidation tactics) and escalating against the backdrop of the city which is having a ton of it's own problems.

I am curious if anyone else has added things to flesh out the situation and expand on the events that could happen between-scenes? I feel things like these help make the story less "Go to NPC A repeatedly for side quests until you're high enough level to continue the story" and makes those side quests flow more naturally.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I asked my PCs what they wanted to do between each scene, it got them more entrenched in the city because they decided their own actions.

From memory, my bard tried to get a job as an actress. My wizard attempted to gain membership in the Theumanexis Academy. My ranger did some work for the Sable Company. My paladin went to his temple to talk to his priestess.

[Akalsaris]

I asked each of my players to choose a Pathfinder society group, like Cheliax or Andoran, and had each of their societies give them different mini-quests within the city. As the PCs are doing their quests right now, I'm using them to set up future NPCs and introduce the PCs to the important parts of the city.