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Observations on high-powered games
Juergen Hubert
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Last year, I started an Exalted campaign, and the player characters in that campaign are the most powerful PCs I ever had to deal with.
But curiously, it has turned out that this campaign has the least combat of any campaign I have run - often two or three sessions pass without a single combat!
One reason for this might be that the characters are so powerful in many ways that violence is only one of the options they have in many situations. The PCs can simply avoid the fight by hiding (with little chance of detection) or (more popularly) simply talk the enemies into not fighting them or even converting to their side!
But that doesn't mean that the sessions are boring. The players are fully aware of the might of their characters, but they are also aware that they can't be everywhere at once, and they are constantly planning how to use their powers to the greatest effects. They are far more proactive than PCs in other campaigns - they try to anticipate the movements of their enemies and take steps to nip their plans in the bud. And they realize that they can't just run to a more powerful authority and ask them for help - in many ways, they are the most powerful authority around, and if anyone is going to do anything, it's them.
What are your observations on high-powered games - either games where you start powerful (Exalted, Abberrant) or where you become very powerful after a long campaign (D&D)? How do they differ from low-powered games? What do you enjoy about them, and what didn't work for you?
But curiously, it has turned out that this campaign has the least combat of any campaign I have run - often two or three sessions pass without a single combat!
One reason for this might be that the characters are so powerful in many ways that violence is only one of the options they have in many situations. The PCs can simply avoid the fight by hiding (with little chance of detection) or (more popularly) simply talk the enemies into not fighting them or even converting to their side!
But that doesn't mean that the sessions are boring. The players are fully aware of the might of their characters, but they are also aware that they can't be everywhere at once, and they are constantly planning how to use their powers to the greatest effects. They are far more proactive than PCs in other campaigns - they try to anticipate the movements of their enemies and take steps to nip their plans in the bud. And they realize that they can't just run to a more powerful authority and ask them for help - in many ways, they are the most powerful authority around, and if anyone is going to do anything, it's them.
What are your observations on high-powered games - either games where you start powerful (Exalted, Abberrant) or where you become very powerful after a long campaign (D&D)? How do they differ from low-powered games? What do you enjoy about them, and what didn't work for you?
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That, and the DM got help from the rest of the forums to create horrible nasties to throw against the party. :winky:
I think it was that campaign that coined the term "baby shield" - the bad guys strapped live babies to themselves!
And yet when I think about it it makes perfect sense! Say you're a grunt in the army, and you work your arse off. Years later, you don't sever all your ties with your past: you could end up being a high-ranking professional negotiator... who, incidentally, still remembers all their old tricks.
As Jürgen says, at the higher reaches of ability practically anything becomes a an option
Out of curiosity, which campaign was that? I read a lot of the ENWorld story hours (not to mention writing two of my own,) and that sounds a lot like Wizadru's game. If so, I was one of the forummers who contributed the horrible nasties.
D&D is somewhat problematic in that regard, since it demands increasing amounts of prep time as the characters rise in level. Working out high-level NPCs can take a long, long time...
Other games, which were designed with powerful characters as the default assumption, often fare somewhat better.
This is DnD btw.
Anyway, while I was itching for my first combat to try this puppy out, now that I've had it and saw how much rape I could dole out, now I'm mostly more interested in seeing just how often I can AVOID combat, because combat, unless agains some horrible nasty beastie or a god, is no longer a challenge.
High powered games are fine if the rule set keeps things simple, but DnD just keeps adding abilities on abilities. My tiny mind cannot cope!
caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
I created the d20 NPCs Wiki for just this reason - it serves as a repository for all kinds of d20 NPCs. Sure, it won't have an NPC for every occasion, but it's better than nothing...
He's actually pretty strong for a CR 1558
Heh.
I have to admit that I only stop by the site every other month or so, since I don't run a D&D campaign at the moment. The whole thing has taken on a life on its own - by now there are probably more than a thousand entries in it. I guess many DMs had similar problems...
That's definitely Piratecat's campaign, not Wizardru's.
So many ideas there to steal for my own game.