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paddyfool
2009-12-08, 10:30 AM
So, my character, and the animal companion of another character, are the party scouts.

Trouble is, if a mission calls for scouting, the other players have to sit and wait while we play. I try to play to the crowd with what I do and not drag things out, but it seems a tad unfair on them. Suggestions?

valadil
2009-12-08, 10:37 AM
I've seen rogues have this problem too. They want to go rob a house, but it bores the other players to sit and wait.

I have two ideas.

What you learn has to be relevant. The players will be more okay with having to sit out if it benefits them later.

What if you had some way to communicate with the party. You mentioned an animal companion. Does anyone have a familiar that could come too? Or maybe some spells for communicating while you're away?

Cyrion
2009-12-08, 10:46 AM
Another way to make it a bit more palatable is to have the party still at the table and assume that they get a complete and accurate report from the scouts so that you eliminate repeating it. Doesn't solve the problem, but it gives them a chance to see what's going on and think about how they'll respond when they get back in on the action. A couple of other options I've seen work: Do the scouting via a few die rolls but don't roleplay it; then just have the DM give everyone at once a summary and map. Do the solo stuff before everyone gets there; then at the appropriate point you get sent off to scout and reveal the results of the solo work you did earlier. These won't suit in all cases, but they might be worth thinking about.

And keep the solo stuff short. The other players will be willing to sit still, read spell or PrC descriptions or do bookkeeping for 10 minutes or so, but don't drag it out.

This is more something the DM has to solve rather than you as the character.

Ormagoden
2009-12-08, 11:22 AM
Do the solo stuff before everyone gets there; then at the appropriate point you get sent off to scout and reveal the results of the solo work you did earlier. These won't suit in all cases, but they might be worth thinking about.

And keep the solo stuff short. The other players will be willing to sit still, read spell or PrC descriptions or do bookkeeping for 10 minutes or so, but don't drag it out.


Those are the suggestions I would have added.
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