Paranoia, the new ketchup
A quick word about creating Paranoia, it can easily be overdone and completely destroy your game. Paranoia is a topic that I do like to pepper into my game, but there are degrees. If you're PC's spend the entire game completely on the run from the law and unable to trust any NPC's whatsoever, then you aren't playing the game fairly. While this can be tons of fun for the DM, PC's get really fed up with it quickly and get discouraged.
Subtle paranoia is best, especially if you want to really bring something within the story to light, which leads to my first point, Make sure that the paranoia that you create within your players is directly related to the story that you are telling. An element of it.
A murderer seems to be following the party around, no matter what village they go to somebody turns up dead, is it somebody in their own party, or perhaps an old enemy that is stalking them? An assignment to deliver an important message to a politically powerful NPC, upon arriving to his fortress they are invited to stay the night while the NPC writes a response to the person who hired them, but this turns into a few days before the PC's realize that they aren't guests, but political prisoners. PC's are admitted into an insane asylum, perhaps they are hired with transporting a prisoner but find out that a mistake was made and now they are locked in with the inmates and must some how prove that they are not insane to the Doctor who may or may not be a villain himself.
Turning the PC's into fugitives should be a last resort of the villain, you want to use it to emphasize the darkness consuming all before they win the game, destroy the evil and restore light to the universe. Reserve this kind of stuff for your BIGGER THAN THE BIGGEST GAMES, because it will be a long time before you get to try it again.
You can also spread paranoia with magic items, some have more uses then what is listed, perhaps a mystic Bastard Sword+2 also has a curse where it must taste blood once per week else it attacks a random victim on it's own. Be creative, don't just do the same thing over and over, repetition is boring! We aren't computers, that is the one thing that DM's have over videogames.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
|
Labels:
campaign ideas
|
- campaign ideas
- NPC's
- combat
- Miscellany
- encounters
- rants
- Ripper's Gaming Sessions
- monsters
- money and equipment
- Reviews
- pc classes
- magic
- Proficiencies
- Treasure
- Time and Movement
- Sunday Supplemental
- experience
- campaign add-ins
- Alignment
- races
- Mechanic Series
- vision and light
- Ability Scores
- wizard spells
- Supplemental
- priest spells
My Blog List
-
All the holidays, all the prices ... (and some news!) - *The short of it is: all my games are on the cheap from now on until January. It is the season, after all. And while I'm here, I might as well talk a bit...14 hours ago
-
The Great North - Visual Delights - In the background, quietly, as my Yoon-Suin 2nd edition projects nears final fulfilment, work has been going on in relation to The Great North. Behold, s...2 days ago
-
25 Years Ago I Posted My Wish List For D&D. How’s it Going? - At Gen Con in 1999 Wizards of the Coast revealed plans for a third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, scheduled for release in 2000. The upcoming release would...3 days ago
-
-
Star Trek Video Games With Mat Bradley-Tschirgi – Episode 280 – 10/23/2024 - Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #280 – 10/23/2024 Star Trek Video Games: An Unofficial Guide to the Final Frontier with author Mat Bradley-Tschirgi. There ...4 weeks ago
-
Modena Play che trasloca a Bologna e i Settembre dell'Innocenza (Stand by me) - *"Non riuscirò mai ad andarmene da questo posto, vero Gordie?"* *"Puoi fare tutto, basta volerlo."* *(Stand by me - Ricordo di un'estate)* Salve a Tutti, ...1 month ago
-
The Mystery of the First Blackmoor Map - In this POST from a few years ago, I was concerned with the issue of scale and distance in Blackmoor in the course of which I attempted to determine the...2 months ago
-
Grimdark vs. Eucatastrophe - Noisms has some interesting ideas in this post about his desire for some depth to his grimdark, and turns to Gene Wolfe and Tolkien for relief. Now, it ...5 months ago
-
Attronarch's Athenaeum - Over at the forum El Borak mentioned Attronarch in his thread Hirelings, loyalty, and morale which you should take a look at. Attronarch has a website Att...8 months ago
-
Last move - to self-hosting! - As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to self-hosting. I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at) Blog: ht...10 months ago
-
Sex-Crazed Falling Stars, Free Weather Magic, and Adventures: News of the Hill Cantons - *Grandma Gaya, the Rav-Witch of High Kezmarok*, seeks the stout of limb and humble of mind in the *obtaining of fallen stars* from an upcoming prophesied ...10 months ago
-
Thanks for your comments, friends! - Dear friends and followers of the blog, Thanks for all your comments over the years. When Google+ opened, I decided to jump on board. Everything got coupl...1 year ago
-
GUARDIANS OSR Superhero RPG- DC Heroics House Rules - It's been a rough year with sickness. But here I am. Let's go. Guardians is a fun little game from Night Owl Workshop games. They have a lot of fun OS...1 year ago
-
Coming Fast! 50th Anniversary of OD&D January 2024 (OGL comments) (& how Wizbro is stupid) - The 50th Anniversary, the 50th Birthday of OD&D is approaching and will be here in January 2024. Wizards of the Coast, instead of preparing for something s...1 year ago
-
Original Dungeons & Dragons Has Its 50th Anniversary In January 2024 (Feb 2023) - The countdown to the 50th Anniversary of the Original Dungeons and Dragons in January 2024 continues. Give the drama with Wizards during January 2023, it...1 year ago
-
I'm In!! The monthly posting challenge leadup to the 50th Anniversary of OD&D in 2024 - I am inspired by this post found here, to be part of the monthly posting during 2023 and 2024 to highlight the 50th Anniversary of OD&D. We were challeng...1 year ago
-
It's been a decade, now... - This is a tough time of year for me. So, with your indulgence, here's this link to a post I did a decade ago... EDIT: I have no idea why it didn't take. S...2 years ago
-
This Blog is now on Indefinite Hiatus - Greetings, I haven’t been able to post except sporadically for a while. I just found out I will need to find a new place to live within the next few months...3 years ago
-
Ind of the Year - The Colors of Magic - On December 1st, there will be a nice bundle of small, indie itch RPGs from around the world called the *Ind of the Year Bundle 2020* that includes *The Co...3 years ago
-
Be The DM, 1 - OK, I've run plenty of games and I've talked with and read the thoughts of many other DM's. One thing is certain; No two DM's are the same. I have seen ...4 years ago
-
The Crowning of King Harold - Here is a spooky story that comes from my latest novel, Lions Red and Gold, available now in digital and dead tree only on Amazon. I post it here in ho...4 years ago
-
MIDLANDS CHARACTER GENERATION - Character development (of Player via imagined formative experiences) in my dog in DMing. Placyer character development is a huge part of my sandbox. I use ...4 years ago
-
Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ... - Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ...: LINK to Description and Ordering: https://www.tlbgames.com/colle...4 years ago
-
Character Concepts: Planescape pt 3 - Part 1 Part 2 Continuing my series on oddball Planescape Faction Personalities... Harmonium Sidby the Stick (LG/halfling/fighter) - Sidby's a good enough b...5 years ago
-
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...5 years ago
-
Announcing the Contest Winner! (Plus Some Interesting US Coin Facts) - The third semi-annual Save Versus All Wands contest - What is the Value of this Coin Hoard - is over. $1,000 was the winning guess, only a bit below the ...6 years ago
Statcounter
Contact me at Ripx187@gmail.com
Search This Blog
Blog Archive
-
►
2018
(5)
- ► October 2018 (1)
- ► September 2018 (1)
- ► April 2018 (1)
- ► February 2018 (1)
- ► January 2018 (1)
-
►
2017
(39)
- ► November 2017 (1)
- ► September 2017 (3)
- ► August 2017 (2)
- ► April 2017 (6)
- ► March 2017 (5)
- ► February 2017 (5)
- ► January 2017 (4)
-
►
2016
(58)
- ► December 2016 (4)
- ► November 2016 (6)
- ► October 2016 (5)
- ► September 2016 (4)
- ► August 2016 (4)
- ► April 2016 (4)
- ► March 2016 (4)
- ► February 2016 (4)
- ► January 2016 (7)
-
►
2015
(24)
- ► December 2015 (6)
- ► November 2015 (7)
- ► October 2015 (7)
- ► September 2015 (4)
-
►
2010
(14)
- ► March 2010 (5)
- ► February 2010 (5)
- ► January 2010 (4)
-
►
2009
(123)
- ► December 2009 (3)
- ► November 2009 (4)
- ► October 2009 (6)
- ► September 2009 (4)
- ► August 2009 (13)
- ► April 2009 (15)
- ► March 2009 (14)
- ► February 2009 (5)
- ► January 2009 (10)
-
▼
2008
(73)
- ► December 2008 (3)
- ► November 2008 (4)
- ► October 2008 (5)
- ► September 2008 (4)
- ► August 2008 (4)
- ► April 2008 (18)
2 comments:
Good post. Too many hostile or backstabbing NPCs are prone to lead to player turtling; trying to keep the character as safe as possible and disengaging from anything looking vaguely threatening (interesting).
Great addition to your previous Paranoia discussion in your villain post. I agree completely!
Post a Comment