Very new DM here! I'm running my first campaign and I like my encounters to include a second element/gimmick. It means the PCs have to solve a small puzzle or try to prevent something occurring whilst fighting the bad guys. Things like save the civilians as the bad guy sends his minions after them or stop the timer kind of thing. We've done a couple of combats so far and we've got a really great vibe going so I want to create really fun experiences for everyone.
The PCs are headed up into the mountains soon where the terrain is known to be shifting; landslides, crevasses etc
I have an idea that I'm having trouble executing - when the PCs reach a certain point I'd like the terrain to shift around them and open up a pit for them to fall in. I'd have them roll Dex saves, members who pass essentially manage to grab hold of each other and stick together whilst members who failed get separated and need to meet back up with the party.
Whilst this is happening the party is getting pursued by a monster that can navigate through the mountains between the groups so that the stakes remain high
I'm having a bit of difficulty with working out how to mechanically run this (we're online too). I don't want to put them through a whole maze but I do want them to have the experience of uncertainty and not knowing where the rest of the party is and potentially having to face a round or two of combat alone.
My current idea is having a couple different battle maps up (players can only see the one they are in) and splitting the party between them - when it is a characters initiative we move over to a separate call and then at the end of their turn they rejoin the main call so everyone can still banter whilst waiting their turn. (I'd ask them to not so what they encountered/experienced)
If anyone has any ideas or advice to smooth the process out it would be much appreciated!
Wow. Love this idea...might just recycle that for my campaign... Here's my two cents:
To make your job easier (and ensure everyone stays engaged) you might keep them in the same chatroom the entire time and have it so the players are in separate areas and can't see each other but they're close enough that they can shout to each other...the only downside is that the monster can hear them too and if they shout back and forth too much it brings the beast to them sooner (the snarls of the beast growing louder the more they continue to talk). This setup would still let them be able to work together but not directly. For some added fun add some puzzles that require them to do something in one room that alters something else in the other room...like maybe causing a rock slide in one area has a knock on effect of creating a ramp up for another group to proceed or breaking a damn that was blocked by the shifting terrain floods a room and lets a group float up to an exit.
I like the idea of breaking the party up and having separate dialogue but I find this stop/go-style of storytelling can be jarring. You're just getting invested into the scene and then...oh we're taking a break to go to the next group. You might just keep them together but ask that they mute their mics (or mute it for them) so that they can stay engaged but not necessarily speak to each other.
Do you play online or in person? What i'd do is seperate players if possible, in different rooms and have their characters play on different maps. For initiative, handle both groups seperately as if each was a single encounter.
Online it might be more difficult to seperate players to keep them in the dark, but if using a voice program that allow room isolation, you could still have them on seperate maps and in different chat rooms.
Matt Colville did something similar where he split his party by a gate slamming down between them. It divided them in half but they could still see each other so he treated it as a single combat encounter.
Splitting the party is fine and most players are ok if you jump from group to group. No need to put them in separate rooms or anything. I think that would just bore the people who are not "on", and break them out of the game. Better to keep everyone together and focus on one group at a time.
OR have the party split at the end of a session and run separate mini sessions with each group.
I would warn you about having different combats running at the same time tho. That can just result in people having to wait ages until their turn. Better to have one group in combat and the other doing a skill challenge or something as the rush to find them. You can jump to the skill group at the start or end of each round.
(I think the bigger issue is the players running from the monster- players are generally more lively to stand and fight than run, no matter how powerful the bad guy seems)
I second don’t have the players separated. The main reason is it stops one group getting bored or stepping out of the game, but for me the second reason is pacing. You won’t have a long period where both parties recount what happened, the players where there, they saw, all both parties have to do is say I share everything or I share everything except for X.
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Hello!
Very new DM here! I'm running my first campaign and I like my encounters to include a second element/gimmick. It means the PCs have to solve a small puzzle or try to prevent something occurring whilst fighting the bad guys. Things like save the civilians as the bad guy sends his minions after them or stop the timer kind of thing. We've done a couple of combats so far and we've got a really great vibe going so I want to create really fun experiences for everyone.
The PCs are headed up into the mountains soon where the terrain is known to be shifting; landslides, crevasses etc
I have an idea that I'm having trouble executing - when the PCs reach a certain point I'd like the terrain to shift around them and open up a pit for them to fall in. I'd have them roll Dex saves, members who pass essentially manage to grab hold of each other and stick together whilst members who failed get separated and need to meet back up with the party.
Whilst this is happening the party is getting pursued by a monster that can navigate through the mountains between the groups so that the stakes remain high
I'm having a bit of difficulty with working out how to mechanically run this (we're online too). I don't want to put them through a whole maze but I do want them to have the experience of uncertainty and not knowing where the rest of the party is and potentially having to face a round or two of combat alone.
My current idea is having a couple different battle maps up (players can only see the one they are in) and splitting the party between them - when it is a characters initiative we move over to a separate call and then at the end of their turn they rejoin the main call so everyone can still banter whilst waiting their turn. (I'd ask them to not so what they encountered/experienced)
If anyone has any ideas or advice to smooth the process out it would be much appreciated!
Thanks!!
Wow. Love this idea...might just recycle that for my campaign... Here's my two cents:
To make your job easier (and ensure everyone stays engaged) you might keep them in the same chatroom the entire time and have it so the players are in separate areas and can't see each other but they're close enough that they can shout to each other...the only downside is that the monster can hear them too and if they shout back and forth too much it brings the beast to them sooner (the snarls of the beast growing louder the more they continue to talk). This setup would still let them be able to work together but not directly. For some added fun add some puzzles that require them to do something in one room that alters something else in the other room...like maybe causing a rock slide in one area has a knock on effect of creating a ramp up for another group to proceed or breaking a damn that was blocked by the shifting terrain floods a room and lets a group float up to an exit.
I like the idea of breaking the party up and having separate dialogue but I find this stop/go-style of storytelling can be jarring. You're just getting invested into the scene and then...oh we're taking a break to go to the next group. You might just keep them together but ask that they mute their mics (or mute it for them) so that they can stay engaged but not necessarily speak to each other.
Do you play online or in person? What i'd do is seperate players if possible, in different rooms and have their characters play on different maps. For initiative, handle both groups seperately as if each was a single encounter.
Online it might be more difficult to seperate players to keep them in the dark, but if using a voice program that allow room isolation, you could still have them on seperate maps and in different chat rooms.
Matt Colville did something similar where he split his party by a gate slamming down between them. It divided them in half but they could still see each other so he treated it as a single combat encounter.
Splitting the party is fine and most players are ok if you jump from group to group. No need to put them in separate rooms or anything. I think that would just bore the people who are not "on", and break them out of the game. Better to keep everyone together and focus on one group at a time.
OR have the party split at the end of a session and run separate mini sessions with each group.
I would warn you about having different combats running at the same time tho. That can just result in people having to wait ages until their turn. Better to have one group in combat and the other doing a skill challenge or something as the rush to find them. You can jump to the skill group at the start or end of each round.
(I think the bigger issue is the players running from the monster- players are generally more lively to stand and fight than run, no matter how powerful the bad guy seems)
I second don’t have the players separated. The main reason is it stops one group getting bored or stepping out of the game, but for me the second reason is pacing. You won’t have a long period where both parties recount what happened, the players where there, they saw, all both parties have to do is say I share everything or I share everything except for X.