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Aravine
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  13:16:58  Show Profile  Visit Aravine's Homepage Send Aravine a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
in my campaign, the characters met El. the question is how do you run character/NPC meetings?

The brave don't live forever,the cautious don't live at all

Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore

Germany
1720 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  13:22:08  Show Profile Send Ergdusch a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I usually introduce VIPs of the setting either as a side note or if they actually meet them they try to convince the players to take specific actions being the motivating person. Howeer, tehy neversave them from peril themselves. If the plyers are not able to solve hte quest on their own, so be it. No magical apperances of the omnipotentgray bearded Mage in my games, ever!

"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht."
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Matthus
Senior Scribe

Germany
393 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  13:54:11  Show Profile Send Matthus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
My players are allowed to ask questions about anything they could know in-play.

Anything else is banned, ignored, punished .

In general I like to introduce messengers, not the big EL himself – and the last one even got himself crowned.



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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  15:57:05  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah, I'm with the last two--meeting a major NPC could be a lot of fun, but be careful about using them extensively. Of course, it's a matter of taste as well--maybe your players aren't the type to have knee-jerk reactions to big NPCs getting involved out of fear that said NPCs are "stealing the spotlight" from their PCs.

Of course, you don't want to put the PCs in the position of spectators, either (ie. they are just watching NPCs make all the decisions). That goes for pretty much any NPC character though, not just characters like Elminster. If the DM has their pet NPC show up to "one-up" the PCs, it doesn't matter if said character is famous or super-powerful--it's still annoying.

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)
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Jorkens
Great Reader

Norway
2950 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  17:17:51  Show Profile Send Jorkens a Private Message  Reply with Quote
"celebrity" NPC's are treated as every other NPC. If it is logical that they will interact with the PCs then they will. And the players will (ideally) treat them as they would any other character.
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Aravine
Senior Scribe

USA
608 Posts

Posted - 26 Nov 2007 :  17:19:08  Show Profile  Visit Aravine's Homepage Send Aravine a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Matthus

My players are allowed to ask questions about anything they could know in-play.

Anything else is banned, ignored, punished .

In general I like to introduce messengers, not the big EL himself – and the last one even got himself crowned.







Dare I ask how they are punished?

The brave don't live forever,the cautious don't live at all
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Matthus
Senior Scribe

Germany
393 Posts

Posted - 27 Nov 2007 :  13:26:54  Show Profile Send Matthus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Aravine

Dare I ask how they are punished?



Well actually it never happened in my campaign, cause I think I was clear in this regard beforehand …

But when I was dm’ing in a convention, a player was pestering me with demands of showing “great magic”. I used a telekinesis spell to get his magic sword and “burned” it in really terrific spell as component (I don’t remember exactly, but I think I made an illusion sword-storm hacking a straw-dummy, something like this). It was a ruse, but I didn’t let the player know this until after some fights without his sword.

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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 27 Nov 2007 :  16:31:57  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens

"celebrity" NPC's are treated as every other NPC. If it is logical that they will interact with the PCs then they will. And the players will (ideally) treat them as they would any other character.



That's how I've always run it and I've used Khelben, El, Storm, Laeral, and others more then once. The interaction with the PC's was the same as it would be towards any NPC.

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe

USA
527 Posts

Posted - 28 Nov 2007 :  06:08:14  Show Profile Send GRYPHON a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Once in a great while my players interact with 'celebrity' NPC's...although they never get them out of trouble. They are basically there for a source of information if desperately needed...

'Everyone dies...I only choose the time and place for a few.' --Eric Destler
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore

Germany
1720 Posts

Posted - 28 Nov 2007 :  10:53:18  Show Profile Send Ergdusch a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I just started reading Cron of Fire and it has a very nice passage about how Elminster thinks about getting involved too much in ongoing events. That really nailed it down for me! If I find the time tonight I will post it here for everyone to read.

"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht."
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