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View Full Version : Published capmaigns for experienced players



137beth
2010-10-16, 07:21 PM
So, for beginning players it is usually easy to use published adventures, with little chance of them being familiar with the material. For experienced groups it is often plausible to work a published adventure in if you are short on time. But how about an entire published campaign? Usually this isn't a problem, because experienced players can usually come up with an experienced DM. But there are some nice published campaigns out there that are very difficult to use.

Normally if you tried to use a published setting for an experienced group, you'd end up with a situation like:
DM: after the end of (insert long adventure), you discover the secret: King Kaius III is actually--
Player interrupts: yea yea, he's really Kaius I, and he's a vampire.
DM: ...yea

Or even worse, the player (while still level 1) goes to his patron/allied faction and says "Kaius III is actually Kaius I, and he's a vampire."
Patron: how could you possibly know that?!?
PC: If you don't believe me, use divination magic to determine if I'm lying.


The "great secrets" of Eberron would be totally mute.
One possibility would be to modify certain details, or major ones like Kaius's true identity. But you couldn't change everything (or rather, you could, but that would be making an entire new campaign, which defeats the purpose of this thread), and if the players "learn" a huge "secret" that you DIDN'T change, it would feel rather anti-climatic.

Probably the best thing to do is simply to make your own campaign. Any other ideas?

NOTE: this is purely hypothetical, its not like you would ever need to use a published campaign for an experienced group. just something I thought up. Then again, if anyone CAN come up with an idea for this, it would certainly improve the usefulness of published campaigns substantially.

Valameer
2010-10-16, 07:26 PM
Uhh... don't metagame? That pretty much clears it up.

Edit: Alternatively, just make all those "secrets of the settings" to be well known rumours, and then spin a lot of them on their head... like Kaius III is actually... Kaius III! And the vampire thing is a ruse! That will keep em guessing, and it's not too hard to pull off.

jmbrown
2010-10-16, 07:27 PM
I allow a certain amount of meta-gaming at the table but unjustifiable plot breaking and spoiling the adventure for everyone else is not only rude but also has me using the offender's character sheet as toilet paper.

137beth
2010-10-16, 07:27 PM
Yea, I was exaggerating it. Its still not as dramatic to learn a terrible secret if you already know it, though, regardless of what your character previously knew.