Tailoring the world to the party. How much do you do?

Steerpike · Post by **Steerpike** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:54 am

This topic came to mind after reading the thread on 1-on-1 games.

I've DMed many 1 person sessions. They take a little getting used to, but can be tremendous fun. They also require the player to use quite a bit more forethought and care than a group, at least in my games.

I tend toward the idea that the campaign world needs to be a living, breathing world that doesn't often artificially configure itself around the players. I won't railroad the players into certain death, but the world doesn't automatically fall out into level 1 encounters, then level 2 encounters when they level up, etc.

For example, if an area near where my players are based is known to be the haunt of an ancient dragon - well, I'm not going to construct my storyline such that the players need to venture into that area at level 1. BUT, if the players do go there at level 1, they may very well run into the dragon. It can happen.

The party may encounter dungeons or other areas that they need to steer well clear of at lower levels, because they simply can't take on whatever monsters live there. If they decide to go into said dungeon anyway, it isn't suddenly going to be filled with only level 1 encounters.

Anyway, I'm curious how other people handle this. Doesn't it make the world seem artificial if a level 1 party miraculously only ever sees level 1 monsters?

GameOgre · Post by **GameOgre** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:05 am

Quote:
I tend toward the idea that the campaign world needs to be a living, breathing world that doesn't often artificially configure itself around the players. I won't railroad the players into certain death, but the world doesn't automatically fall out into level 1 encounters, then level 2 encounters when they level up, etc

I'm the same way. I do tend to not have the pc alone though. One way or another he/she has her own party.
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Steerpike · Post by **Steerpike** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:07 am

I have used NPCs on occasion when there is only one or two PCs, but often the people I have had as players wanted to be loners in those circumstances, I just let them go on their own for the most part, though allies might come and go from time to time.

SirClarence · Post by **SirClarence** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:59 am

Same thing here. I even let 1st level players encounter dragons and giants when they travel through the wilderness although I always give them the chance to avoid confrontation when they move around cautiously - either the monsters don't notice them, are far away or probably not in the mood for a fight.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:58 pm

The way I run games, the world is a living, breating part of the story that evolves based on what the PCs do. But more often then not, the world continues to go on despite the actions of the PCs. Dragons continue to hoard, villages might be plundered, etc., If the PCs are low level, I explain to them what might be happening, but also the danger that is involved. Personally, I beleive that the more alive the world feels, the more immersive the roleplay experience. That can be a very important aspect to the game, and makes the players remember or experience the game more then just going from unlinked module to module.

~O
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Post by **finarvyn** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:14 pm

Sometimes I do this a lot. I have a party of 6 and find that their tastes change as their mood changes. For example, one time when creating new characters most of the party wanted to be wizards so I adjusted the world so that wizards were more common. Just a shift in my way of thinking, and I like each campaign to be a little distinctive from the others anyway.

I guess I don't want to totally fall into the "too bad nobody decided to be a thief because this dungeon is full of traps" syndrome.
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Steerpike · Post by **Steerpike** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:52 pm

Ah...this is what is fun about talking with old-school type games (regardless of age). Looks like we're all of like minds on this topic.

As for the thief issue, I've had some interesting sessions where the thief-less party went into the dungeon that happened to be heavily trapped. It took a lot of creativity to get through that one.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:28 pm

I think I fall in line most closely with Omote.

My world does what it does, and keeps on going, occasionally being effected when the PC's do things significant enough to create ripples.

Now as for the adventure itself, I'll bend it and twist it however I have to to fit in with what the party does, even completely scrapping it when I have too.

Now I will not get rid of traps if the party has no thief. They can get through the traps with luck and smart thinking, its just likely to be a bit more painful than it would have been with a thief present. Now I have cut down on the number of them, but thats simply to cut down on the time spent figuring out how to find or bypass them, IE so the game will move along faster.
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CKDad · Post by **CKDad** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:31 pm

For me, the world goes on, and sometimes, player characters either reach sufficient levels of power and influence, or are simply in the right place at the right time, to have a hand in shaping the course of events.

What I try to do up front, though, is match the world to my players. Not that I won't try to jolt them out of their comfort zones from time to time, I'm going to run a different kind of game for, say, a bunch of 11 & 12 year-old boys, than for a bunch of experienced adult players - even though I may use the same campaign milieu.

The trick is finding that balance that results in things being a challenge with success possible if they are smart & lucky (or at least do something particularly cool, if not smart or lucky) without it being a pushover for either PCs or the opposition.
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Sundog · Post by **Sundog** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:28 pm

I certainly am guilty (if that's the word) of not simply designing the world around the players. I get too much fun out of world-design, for a start. Like some others here, I usually have a world with some ongoing events that the players can choose to be a part of, or choose to avoid. Both approaches have merits, and a good game will be fun either way. speakign persoanlly I get a kick myself when the players decide to partake in the big Events of the day, and it's even better when they derail those vents completely. But that's me; I like it when the players become the movers and shakers of history, but I only like it when they choose to.