tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655986553938534450.post8686462028071506833..comments2023-12-28T18:30:28.647-05:00Comments on Rites of Battle: A Quick Thought on Dungeon Mastering (DM'ing)Heretichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14998180583172670653noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655986553938534450.post-68242430819466701852014-11-02T07:14:46.296-05:002014-11-02T07:14:46.296-05:00I'm generally of the opinion that overplanning...I'm generally of the opinion that overplanning ultimately leads to frustrated-novelism. I do think that if you're into mechanically dense encounters that encourage and reward good tactical engagement, a certain amount of legwork is called for, a certain sense of what the spaces are like and how the encounters will behave. The trouble lies in planning EXACTLY what an encounter's going to be like - I think it's better to have some watertight stats for adversaries, some involving maps and environments, and then mesh them in ways that respond to player choice and action.<br /><br /><br />When I DM/GM/Storytell/whatever, I spend a lot of time on NPCs and, increasingly, on maps. Ravenloft (the module, not the setting) does it right, I think; you have a few set-piece encounters that will always do X when/if encountered, a roaming and very powerful 'boss', and a lot of detailed spaces in which things could happen, and a set of things which could happen there.Vonhttp://kaptainvon.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com