I do use rival parties. Generally, at the start of the campaign, there will be roughly 50-60 individuals in the same part of the world that are just about to embark on careers as adventurers. I do randomize the actual number, and would usually bump up the number if the player party is larger than 4-7 characters. Over time, those individuals will, with a high degree of probability, resolve themselves into five adventuring parties...possibly with few "lone wolf" outlier type. There's no real guarantee that they will cross paths with the player party, but chances are better if the parties are all following up the same notable occurrences happening in the region. Additionally, as the party starts out, there will be three intermediate level parties, and one high level party adventuring in that same part of the world. I've never been too specific about what I mean by "that part of the world:" roughly, let's say I'd divide each hemisphere into quarters or thirds...of course, not all have significant land masses, so I'd attenuate the number assigned to that section. If it plays out that the non-player parties start losing too many members, then I'll probably bring in some "foreigners" from one of the other sections. Needless to say, mine is not a world where the players start out as the one group that everyone pins their hopes on to save the world. Most people would assume the one high level party is going to be the one doing all the world saving...I mean they have Dirk Stunning the paladin, and he's like one notch below Superman....
Great to hear that the players were engaged and the game section went well! In my opinion, you just leveled up as a Game Master, because including rival parties is no small feat to pull off effectively. For me, the inclusion of additional NPC adventuring groups and lone adventurers makes the world feel more alive and immersive. The fact that your players are emotionally invested in the rival party makes them even more committed to the game. One idea for your group is to give the rival party a name. For example, "The Four Clover" - a group that seems unlucky at first but always ends up being saved by your players. The players could encounter the group again after a quest or two. Perhaps the Four Clover has made significant progress on a quest but is found nearly defeated, with one member missing or kidnapped. Something like that :)
@FamilyTableTop sounds like it was a blast, and between that and graffiti you got your players engaged. Good show, huzzah 👏 I usually treat this as part of dark factionalism. Different Houses/ Factions have different PCs Groups or ummm Death Squads. And they serve Factions be they Thieves Guild or House Taergean
Well, this is something I haven't done yet because I haven't had a reason to do so. I might be asking you for advice on how to do this in the future :D
Yes these types of scenarios work well if done right
I do use rival parties. Generally, at the start of the campaign, there will be roughly 50-60 individuals in the same part of the world that are just about to embark on careers as adventurers. I do randomize the actual number, and would usually bump up the number if the player party is larger than 4-7 characters. Over time, those individuals will, with a high degree of probability, resolve themselves into five adventuring parties...possibly with few "lone wolf" outlier type. There's no real guarantee that they will cross paths with the player party, but chances are better if the parties are all following up the same notable occurrences happening in the region.
Additionally, as the party starts out, there will be three intermediate level parties, and one high level party adventuring in that same part of the world. I've never been too specific about what I mean by "that part of the world:" roughly, let's say I'd divide each hemisphere into quarters or thirds...of course, not all have significant land masses, so I'd attenuate the number assigned to that section. If it plays out that the non-player parties start losing too many members, then I'll probably bring in some "foreigners" from one of the other sections.
Needless to say, mine is not a world where the players start out as the one group that everyone pins their hopes on to save the world. Most people would assume the one high level party is going to be the one doing all the world saving...I mean they have Dirk Stunning the paladin, and he's like one notch below Superman....
Great to hear that the players were engaged and the game section went well!
In my opinion, you just leveled up as a Game Master, because including rival parties is no small feat to pull off effectively.
For me, the inclusion of additional NPC adventuring groups and lone adventurers makes the world feel more alive and immersive. The fact that your players are emotionally invested in the rival party makes them even more committed to the game.
One idea for your group is to give the rival party a name. For example, "The Four Clover" - a group that seems unlucky at first but always ends up being saved by your players.
The players could encounter the group again after a quest or two. Perhaps the Four Clover has made significant progress on a quest but is found nearly defeated, with one member missing or kidnapped.
Something like that :)
@@ProZeidon that is a great idea. I named them the Veil Guard because the location of the adventure is called “The Misty Veil”.
Shadow Dark has it as a random dungeon feature, so the randomizer does that... But how he set it up so both Teams work together....
@@satori2890 it was really cool.
@FamilyTableTop sounds like it was a blast, and between that and graffiti you got your players engaged. Good show, huzzah 👏
I usually treat this as part of dark factionalism. Different Houses/ Factions have different PCs Groups or ummm Death Squads.
And they serve Factions be they Thieves Guild or House Taergean
Well, this is something I haven't done yet because I haven't had a reason to do so. I might be asking you for advice on how to do this in the future :D
Now set up those moral challenges. The rival party has the same goal but thinks the end justifies the means.
@@MidwestMalachi lol - I can’t, my players are those guys already. 😂