Hi, so preparing to run SKT and I have another question.
You as the DM get to pick which out of the 3 cities(triboar/goldenfields/Bryn shander) the players go to. Where an encounter happens, the players use special NPC to control. So the players go to one place say golden fields, you run that part of the campaign and they get quests at the end. Which leads to the sandbox chapter. But what happens if the players go to the other cities when in the sandbox chapter. I understand you run the encounter that happens there but do you give them the special NPCs to control, also do they get the quests at the end too. Because that could lead to alot of quest. Or is that the idea?
Really depends on what you and your players want. If they’re really enjoying the sandbox part of the adventure, there’s no real reason for them not to visit more than one of the three and follow up the quests. If, on the other hand, you or they are starting to flag and want to get back into the main story, introduce Harshnag and move on.
In my campaign, I treated those other city encounters as if they happened simultaneously. So the party was there for the attack on Triboar, but they heard about the attack on Goldenfields after the fact, as a rumor while they were in Waterdeep. If they happen to visit there, they would find the city recovering from the devastation, and perhaps you can improv some ways they can help out (maybe using the follow up quests as inspiration!)
It's really up to you how you want to handle it. You can even offer the choice to the players as to the location where they would like to start since they are fairly far apart geographically. This can let the players tie the starting location to their back story.
As for the starting and subsequent events in each location - it is up to you whether you want the starter events to happen when the characters arrive there (make sure that those events still fit with the narrative and whatever else the character's have accomplished) or whether you want those events to have already happened (as suggested above). The follow on quests in each of those locations could also still be available if you want.
How you want to run it is really up to you. One thing to watch out for is a lack of direction on the part of the party. Some folks find a truly big and open sandbox to be a challenge in terms of figuring out what to do next. On the other hand, you can sometimes keep them on track by having the main quest or actions they might be expected to take next be quite clear so that the characters can explicitly choose a side quest vs following the main path and then can come back to the main path when they finish with the side quest. Communication is key :)
Hi, so preparing to run SKT and I have another question.
You as the DM get to pick which out of the 3 cities(triboar/goldenfields/Bryn shander) the players go to. Where an encounter happens, the players use special NPC to control. So the players go to one place say golden fields, you run that part of the campaign and they get quests at the end. Which leads to the sandbox chapter. But what happens if the players go to the other cities when in the sandbox chapter. I understand you run the encounter that happens there but do you give them the special NPCs to control, also do they get the quests at the end too. Because that could lead to alot of quest. Or is that the idea?
Hope someone can shed some light on it.
Thanks
Really depends on what you and your players want. If they’re really enjoying the sandbox part of the adventure, there’s no real reason for them not to visit more than one of the three and follow up the quests. If, on the other hand, you or they are starting to flag and want to get back into the main story, introduce Harshnag and move on.
Thanks for that. You make it sound so much clearer. Think I'm just over thinking and forgetting I can ask my players how they are finding the game.
This is going to be my first big campaign to run. Last one was lost mines of phandelever so just trying to get an understanding of it all.
In my campaign, I treated those other city encounters as if they happened simultaneously. So the party was there for the attack on Triboar, but they heard about the attack on Goldenfields after the fact, as a rumor while they were in Waterdeep. If they happen to visit there, they would find the city recovering from the devastation, and perhaps you can improv some ways they can help out (maybe using the follow up quests as inspiration!)
Thanks that's a different take on it. Something to think about.
It's really up to you how you want to handle it. You can even offer the choice to the players as to the location where they would like to start since they are fairly far apart geographically. This can let the players tie the starting location to their back story.
As for the starting and subsequent events in each location - it is up to you whether you want the starter events to happen when the characters arrive there (make sure that those events still fit with the narrative and whatever else the character's have accomplished) or whether you want those events to have already happened (as suggested above). The follow on quests in each of those locations could also still be available if you want.
How you want to run it is really up to you. One thing to watch out for is a lack of direction on the part of the party. Some folks find a truly big and open sandbox to be a challenge in terms of figuring out what to do next. On the other hand, you can sometimes keep them on track by having the main quest or actions they might be expected to take next be quite clear so that the characters can explicitly choose a side quest vs following the main path and then can come back to the main path when they finish with the side quest. Communication is key :)
Thanks, yeah think I'll have a chat with the players & get feedback