Making AD&D 2 game more interesting.

[cloneof]

So I have run a number of games in the past 10 years, but more than once I encounter a problem as the games progress. They usually turn into boring dice grinding or nonsense, which at first fun turns the game quickly off-rails. I usually have a pretty good pretext for the players to be out there adventuring, but I'm a pretty boring fellow who can't seem to be able to create non-combat encounters or flesh out combat.

Could anyone give a few pointers in order to flesh out a session or point me towards some well done adventures?

[Jay R]

Have an actual world, with politics, maps, and plot. The adventures come from that.

If there's a evil high priest slowly gathering power with the intent to conquer the world, then you can go from defending single villages to exploring wilderness for important artifacts to politicking to get two kingdoms to work together to sneaking into the priest's lair to ...

Also, read books and watch movies. You'll see lots of well-done adventures. File off the serial numbers and use them. If the king and his advisor aren't called sultan and vizier, nobody will recognize the Aladdin plot. [Or was it The Three Musketeers?]

[CharonsHelper]

If the king and his advisor aren't called sultan and vizier, nobody will recognize the Aladdin plot.

They might once the blue genie voiced by Robin Williams shows up.

[hamlet]

They might once the blue genie voiced by Robin Williams shows up.

What about a yellow genie voiced by Jack Nicholson?



Seriously, though, Jay R's answer is a good one. The area they're adventuring in needs to have a little bit of life to it, a bit of background and setup and, after a little bit, the adventures will start to largely write themselves. If you know that the neighboring area is ruled by Duke Onibaba who really hates his neighbors and closed his borders and patrols them relentlessly, suddenly you have an entire adventure designed around the PC's just getting into the area as long as they have a compelling enough reason to go in the first place.

[Mutazoia]

Keep in mind that 2nd ed was less about "I hit it with my sword" and more about finding creative ways to accomplish a goal. Combat wasn't always your first choice when it came to problem solving. Games have gotten away from this, to a large extent, with recent editions (and other titles), so throwing in a good mix of puzzle solving and other activities that don't require your party to be murder hobos, will go a long way....the ancient tomb of a long forgotten king, doesn't have to be packed with wall to wall monsters. Traps and puzzles, both magical and mechanical can entertain and perplex, without breaking out the THAC0 tables.

[CharonsHelper]

the ancient tomb of a long forgotten king, doesn't have to be packed with wall to wall monsters. Traps and puzzles, both magical and mechanical can entertain and perplex, without breaking out the THAC0 tables.

Plus that makes the game's pacing a lot better.

Wall to wall combat in any system gets mentally tiring to the players in any system. You need to mix in some slower scenes to keep it fresh.

[LibraryOgre]

I also find that adding elements to game helps a whole lot. Don't just say "You hit", look at the damage and describe the strike a bit. If someone does really well, give them a bonus, or their enemy a penalty.

Definitely, build up your plot and consider what people involved WANT. I like to establish the "ideal timeline"... what will happen without any PC intervention. If the party decides to **** off to Undermountain, then what're things going to look like in a month? I also like to establish some branching points and alternate strategies... if the PCs do X, how are the bad guys likely to respond?

For example, I'm currently running a combination of B2 and T1. Lareth the Beautiful has killed the gnomes of the Hidden Vale (now the Caves of Chaos), and intends to corrupt the Dancing Place (the Caves of the Unknown on the map). if the party doesn't stop him, that's what's going to happen this winter, when the passes into the High Dale close. But the party has already STARTED making that more difficult. Lareth doesn't know that, yet, but what's his response going to be to the goblins being killed?

Maybe he'll activate some assassins against the party. He'll use his elite troops (bugbears and gnolls) to try and force the party away from the Caves. He'll feed them false information. The point is, I've got contingency plans for what he's going to do, so the party has a harder time throwing me a curveball.

[Misereor]

Maybe he'll activate some assassins against the party. He'll use his elite troops (bugbears and gnolls) to try and force the party away from the Caves. He'll feed them false information. The point is, I've got contingency plans for what he's going to do, so the party has a harder time throwing me a curveball.

Not to be anal retentive or anything, but it should be underlined that is the DM's villain persona who makes the contingency plans.
The villain may have imperfect knowledge and screw his contingencies up, and generally make mistakes that the DM won't.
Prevents the players being annoyed by too perfect responses by the villain, and occasionally complete chaos and hillarity ensues instead. :tongue:

[LibraryOgre]

Not to be anal retentive or anything, but it should be underlined that is the DM's villain persona who makes the contingency plans.
The villain may have imperfect knowledge and screw his contingencies up, and generally make mistakes that the DM won't.
Prevents the players being annoyed by too perfect responses by the villain, and occasionally complete chaos and hillarity ensues instead. :tongue:

I disagree. Some villains simply don't make contingency plans. While Lareth certainly is the type to, others simply react, and do ****, and their contingency plans are "set everything on fire and smash it until it stops moving around so much."

But, as the DM, I have to plan for that. I have to not only know which way he's going to jump, but be ready for him to do it. Now, that means thinking like the villain, and only relying on resources (including information) that he has, sure, but *I*, as the DM, have to be ready for whatever the NPC is going to do, even if the NPC is doing it on instinct or without preparation.