Well, as I reported earlier, my first session was a success, for the most part. We weren't able to pull it together this last weekend that just passed because of too many things going on, but we are scheduled to play again this coming weekend. What planning do I need to do?
For my outline of what I expected from the prologue, I have enough to fill about half a session. They'll probably go to Gynne's place in town, look for clues, meet Renwick Bennett, and then make their way to the barrows in the swamp outside of town, face the Master of the Pack and conclude the prologue stuff. I have two goals for this; how can I make sure that I don't rush through this stuff (which I do have a tendency to do) and maybe even see if I can bulk it out to a full session's worth (3 hours or so) of material so that the session ends on a good ending point rather than partway into something else, or early because I just got done and didn't know what else to do.
One thing that I'm thinking of, although this will have to be done right to not deflate the tension of the game, is to have them meet with each of the four patrons. I have Sir Liamond Wrelley, the old commander of the Shadow Division of the Rangers, who is the ideal quest giver, but I've also got the old tower witch, I've got Fredegar de Vend, and I've got Shule the goblin criminal.
Who, in my son's mind, seems to have become some kind of criminal mastermind rather than a nuisance, pickpocket and possible informer and information broker of sorts. Ultimately, the question is: why are all of these guys so concerned, and how can I use that to up the stakes for the final confrontation? Because if that's not what I'm focused on doing with them, it's just filler to kill time.
Secondly, it would seem very unusual if all four of these patrons summoned them for a talk at the same time, or if they all worked together, either one. So I need to find a way to space it out. I'm thinking
1) The tower witch's tower is on the way to the place that they're going.
2) After they meet Renwick Bennett, Shule will be on hand ready to give them some more information, and
3) It actually makes sense that Fredegar de Vend and Liamond Wrelley might know each other and be at least friendly acquaintances and colleagues in the same business, so to speak. They can be together, and they've asked their respective agent PCs to meet with them.
What is this all about? Well, they're concerned about this murder, and some of the stuff that's come out. The City Watch, while unable to devote resources to the investigation, have given some information to Liamond Wrelley in particular, and he's cleared the way for the PCs to be able to do the investigation.
Between the discussion with the sponsors, I've got a few potential goals to accomplish:
1) Make sure the PCs have enough resources to successfully tackle the Master of the Pack. I'm not trying to send them to their deaths. They need some research assistance and some other stuff so that they can be prepared for the combat and not get killed trying.
2) Build up the danger and threat of the Master of the Pack. What I did the last session probably helped a lot there, but if people who are more experienced and worldly than they are are also worried, that should encourage them to be careful and cautious rather than reckless about how they approach him.
3) Point towards the greater threats that the main campaign will feature, or at least give some early foreshadowing of them.
4) Have some natural world-building opportunities. It's best if you dribble little things out here and there rather than big info-dumps, but this gives me a few dribble opportunities, so that the next effect is to help establish the setting and the PCs' place in it.
5) And yes, take a bit more time so that I can get to the climax of the prologue at the natural end of the session instead of too early. Pacing is an important part of running a successful session too.
I also want to make sure that the final combat is a good one. I tend to think that a really good combat has a couple of elements to make sure that it isn't just "I attack. Now I attack now he attacks, etc."
1) A unique setting which provides some kind of flavor or challenge to be overcome, or opportunities to do something more interesting.
2) A three act structure; i.e., maybe it starts off as a regular combat in an unusual place, but it has a second act where something changes. Maybe reinforcements arrive. Maybe the setting that the combat is in changes and becomes more harrowing (catches on fire, starts flooding or collapsing, etc.) and a third act where things change again. These changes don't have to always twist the knife more; I actually think that a change that favors the PCs, at least on occasion, is a good play too.
3) It doesn't overstay its welcome. If the outcome is starting to become obvious, then it's tedious to play it out for several more rounds, for instance. Use your judgement to keep the pace and tension of the combat at its best rather than let it slip just for the sake of mechanical fidelity. "I ran it correctly, 100% by the rules" is a poor consolation prize to "I ran a great combat that the players were really jazzed about and were still talking about days later."
Here's some STL files for some ape-daemons that I could use as a description of his newest servitor daemons.
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