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Finding an Animal Companion

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
naturax
Feb 16, 2011 13:35:09 I'm running a game in which the party's halfling ranger has just leveled up and needs to find their animal companion. I want to make it a bit of an event, since it's like adding another member to the party, but I'm having trouble thinking of a way to fit it into the story.

The party is in Sharn at the moment and the player has decided that they want to get a clawfoot with wings - and I'm totally okay with that, so no need to worry about that detail. The halfling grew up as a hunter in the Talenta Plains and moved to Sharn in the last few months because she wanted to get away from her family.

One idea I had might be that one of her family members comes to visit her and it ends in her getting a new pet, but I haven't been able to think of the details. That's where YOU come in. Thanks!
#2
Ogiwan
Feb 16, 2011 15:28:18 A clawfoot with wings? As an animal companion? I just want to be sure I'm reading that right.

Uhhhh, for something that wierd.....Vadalis escapee? Daelkyr escapee?
#3
naturax
Feb 16, 2011 15:32:50
A clawfoot with wings? As an animal companion? I just want to be sure I'm reading that right.

Uhhhh, for something that wierd.....Vadalis escapee? Daelkyr escapee?

My player claims it's from one of the novels, though I don't know which. I don't actually care that it doesn't happen to be listed in the ECS, it exists in my version of Eberron.

But sure, Vadalis makes a lot of sense, especially in my game. I need details, though! It just escapes and randomly the PCs are nearby?
#4
Ogiwan
Feb 16, 2011 19:11:01 I've read almost all the novels. Unless its in Sea of Death, I've never read of such a creature in the novels. It could be a Couatl (Winged Serpent), which made an appearance in Claws of the Tiger, or he could just be confusing the dinosaurs and he's talking about a glidewing (essentially, a pterodactyl).

But, for something that wierd, well, yeah, escapes from Vadalis, and the party happens to be nearby.

Another option, I guess, is that it could have been changed in the Mourning, and it's brought to Sharn by a freak show. Again, if its a winged clawfoot, and not a glidewing.
#5
weenog42
Feb 17, 2011 18:16:14 I'd make it a Glidewing. A Glidewing rides in the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn, so maybe your PCs run into it in that context. Perhaps this particular glidewing is forced to race in the smaller circuits as part of some kind of indentured servitude, and the PCs rescue it.
#6
Madfox11
Feb 22, 2011 7:10:02
I'd make it a Glidewing. A Glidewing rides in the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn, so maybe your PCs run into it in that context. Perhaps this particular glidewing is forced to race in the smaller circuits as part of some kind of indentured servitude, and the PCs rescue it.

And aren't glidewinges basically clawfoot with wings? ;) They are the flying kind of dinosaurs. As Weenog42 points out, there is a large Talenta plain community within Sharn (at least big enough for a neiborhood of their own), and I am sure finding the right type of dinosaur there should be no problem. (Note that I think the glidewing in itself is a little bit too powerful for a 4th level ranger, and I would go for something more like a spiredrake from the 4E material which is not too different from an eagle or falcon in 3E in regards of stats.)

#7
naturax
Feb 22, 2011 8:42:34 Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc.
#8
Madfox11
Feb 23, 2011 4:44:41
Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc.

No, although that is certainly an option. You could also have the ranger deal with an investation of vermin in the district, a disease that infects the local dinosaur population, a conflict between a halfling trainer and the Boromar clan, Daask having stolen a bunch of eggs and young animals and so on. All I am pointing out is that there are dinosaurs in Sharn ;)

#9
naturax
Feb 23, 2011 7:29:36
Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc.

No, although that is certainly an option. You could also have the ranger deal with an investation of vermin in the district, a disease that infects the local dinosaur population, a conflict between a halfling trainer and the Boromar clan, Daask having stolen a bunch of eggs and young animals and so on. All I am pointing out is that there are dinosaurs in Sharn ;)

Yes, thank you! That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

Of course the Boromar Clan is going to want their share of bets being placed for the Race of the Eight Winds, and this year the Daask is funding one of the teams, and the poor dinosaur mounts are caught in the middle. Or something.
#10
Madfox11
Feb 23, 2011 7:44:08
Two questions:
(1) How complicated do you want the adventure to be? Do you want it to be a short side track involving just the ranger? A short-side tracking involving the whole group? Or a full fledged adventure involving the whole group? The answer decides on the size and complexity of the adventure.

(2) Do you want the ranger to form a personal bond with the animal companion during the adventure? Or don't you mind the bond to form afterward? If the answer is during the adventure, than the adventure needs to focus on the animal in question. The PC need directly interact with it, likely rescuing it. If the answer is after, the adventure can be about something else that results in the animal being given to the PC as a form of payment.
#11
naturax
Feb 23, 2011 11:23:34

Two questions:
(1) How complicated do you want the adventure to be? Do you want it to be a short side track involving just the ranger? A short-side tracking involving the whole group? Or a full fledged adventure involving the whole group? The answer decides on the size and complexity of the adventure.

(2) Do you want the ranger to form a personal bond with the animal companion during the adventure? Or don't you mind the bond to form afterward? If the answer is during the adventure, than the adventure needs to focus on the animal in question. The PC need directly interact with it, likely rescuing it. If the answer is after, the adventure can be about something else that results in the animal being given to the PC as a form of payment.

1. I want it to involve the entire group for one session. They *just* finished a plot arc and using this as a mini side-quest would be a great breather from the aberrants/dragonmarked stuff they've been in the middle of lately.

2. I'd like the animal sticking around with the ranger afterward to be a natural consequence of the plot of the adventure, not something randomly tacked on at the end. So I'd like the dinosaur to feature in the adventure, and I'd even like the opportunity to show off it's personality before it becomes a part of the group.

#12
phoenixrevival00
Feb 23, 2011 14:00:00 I'm not sure if you want to keep it around Sharn or not, but I'd have it be something tribe related. He get's summoned home to the Plains because it's time for his rite of Passage... a hunt to tame a (insert interesting dino here). He must complete a series of challenges (read skill challenges) in order to track and gain the trust of the creature. His friends can help as tribal law states usually a hunting party with at least one elder would do so anyway. Hope this helps.
#13
naturax
Feb 23, 2011 19:03:58
I'm not sure if you want to keep it around Sharn or not, but I'd have it be something tribe related. He get's summoned home to the Plains because it's time for his rite of Passage... a hunt to tame a (insert interesting dino here). He must complete a series of challenges (read skill challenges) in order to track and gain the trust of the creature. His friends can help as tribal law states usually a hunting party with at least one elder would do so anyway. Hope this helps.

That's definitely one way to do it! Thanks!

I'm really excited about tying in the Race of the Eight Winds in Sharn. I'm just having trouble thinking of why the PCs of all people would suddenly get thrown into the race. Any ideas?
#14
Madfox11
Feb 24, 2011 4:46:23
I'm really excited about tying in the Race of the Eight Winds in Sharn. I'm just having trouble thinking of why the PCs of all people would suddenly get thrown into the race. Any ideas?

The ranger in question observes one of the racers mistreating his mount badly off-stage, likely so badly that any ranger worth his salt would intervene. Assuming the ranger does the expected thing, the rider (whether the PCs steal it or use the authorities to do so) looses his mount. The backers of the rider really don't like it. They react very threatening, but offer the PCs a cope-out: ride the race with the mount. The original rider (or his relatives/friends) of course does not take kindly to the meddling, and bribe other racers/the crowd/set up ambushes. Now the ranger PC has to race, while the rest of the PCs has to find out in a race against the clock who is planning what.

Another option would be that the Daask (or any other criminal rival) steal a bunch of eggs, young animals and mounts both for profit, and to irk the Boromar clan. The rider is killed in the raid, his wife/husband and children might get killed by stragglers if not because the PCs wander by. After rescuing the tribal halfling's family, they are asked to quickly hunt down the Daask. When they do so, they observe that the Daask are covered with scratch marks and that one of the mounts is chained to the walls, badly treated. Apparently it did not took kindly to being robbed. The ranger can befriend it. Once back, the spouse sees the new bond and has no problem with the PC keeping it. It was supposed to ride the race, and the spouse suggest the PC does the same since it is a good way to strengthen the bond and it would bring honor to the spouses clan. Of course, the original thieves have friends and they would also want to saboutage the race.

Note that personally I am not a big friend of making the hunt for the animal companion a quick side track to the Talenta plains. Even in Eberron it takes days (if not weeks) to get from Sharn to the Talenta plains (assuming 4th level rangers have no easy access to Lyrandor flying ships). By treating the visit as a one-session adventure you are doing a disservice to the setting ;)

#15
naturax
Feb 24, 2011 6:24:09 Awesome! Thanks for this! I really like the first idea, I just need to make sure the other 5-6 PCs at the session have plenty to do.

So let's say the halfling ranger is contacted by a relative that lives in Sharn who is competing as "The Glidewing" and has the backing of the Boromar Clan. That relative has just suffered and injury, and the Boromars are going to murder them unless they compete in the race (kind of like the way the boxers HAVE to box for Brick Top in Snatch). The relative, desparate, asks the PC to race, and warns them that they are suppose to take out Rider X and make sure that they don't beat Rider Y. The other PCs get a day to investigate the other riders and the track and make preparations, then the race happens.

In another post in these forums someone wrote about letting the PCs make decisions for the other riders in the race, so maybe I'll use that kind of system too. Has anyone seen a map of the course for the Race of the Eight Winds?
#16
Madfox11
Feb 24, 2011 8:11:39 When we used the race we actually worked a lot with flash back scenes that involved most of the group. The DM started with handing us a list of names of racers, giving a bit of info on them and than let us pick a shorter list of people we would focus on and how. The next session he ran the race, where he created scenes were the PC in the race encountered one of those persons. At that point, he would run the actual scene the group had with that NPC as a flashback. It prevented the race from becomming a boring string of dice rolls and allowed the whole group to be actively involved. It certainly was one of the top sessions in my many years of playing roleplaying games ;)
#17
naturax
Feb 24, 2011 10:50:26
When we used the race we actually worked a lot with flash back scenes that involved most of the group. The DM started with handing us a list of names of racers, giving a bit of info on them and than let us pick a shorter list of people we would focus on and how. The next session he ran the race, where he created scenes were the PC in the race encountered one of those persons. At that point, he would run the actual scene the group had with that NPC as a flashback. It prevented the race from becomming a boring string of dice rolls and allowed the whole group to be actively involved. It certainly was one of the top sessions in my many years of playing roleplaying games ;)

That's exactly the sort of thing I'm going for, but I need to cram it into one session. So what I'm thinking is that the players will get to do a sort of "Bill & Ted's Adventures" during the race and say things like, "but then the saddle on the pegasus snaps" and we'll run a scene of the PCs sneaking into the stables and cutting a notch into the straps, etc. Is that pretty much what you did? I have a question for you about how you kept up the pace of the race if you kept breaking the scene: how did you keep the adrenaline pumping if every round there was another flashback to run?

Another idea I had, and I'd like to hear some feedback on this, is to hand the list of NPC racers to the PCs and let them each pick one. I'd then have a sheet with their stats and goals during the race, and let the PCs run the NPCs instead of me. I'd also make it so that any time one of the NPCs accomplishes their goal (like firing a bolt at the PC's mount), then the PC gets another action point, so the other players have incentive to get their NPCs to do their thing, even if the goals of the NPC make things harder for the PC. Do you think the players will resent having to bench their charaters for most of the session, though?
#18
Madfox11
Feb 25, 2011 3:26:39 It depends on your players, but my experiences with handing NPCs to players for one-time sessions do not work very well. The players have no investment in them, making it a harder to role-play, and at the same time you are letting them compete against their fellow player. The few times I saw it used, the sessions always felt a bit bland. Mind you, I am a storyteller at heart, and I personally dislike to spend valuable game time on something else than my own PCs so I am a bit biased. Whether or not your players will resent it, that is something you can simply ask your players.

In any event, the race took two sessions for us. One session of planning and one for the race. We picked one NPC per two PCs, dealt with a saboutage event before the race, one during the race and a group of Boromar lackeys trying to convince the crowd and judges our PC cheated.
#19
Magicstar1
Feb 25, 2011 17:13:34 Naturax,

This thread describes it somewhat better: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
#20
naturax
Feb 27, 2011 8:41:01
Naturax,

This thread describes it somewhat better: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

Thanks, Magicstar. I'm still a little nervous about the pacing of engaging the other PCs in the flashback threads in the middle of the race, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to share the notes you used when you ran the Race of the Eight Winds with me.
#21
Magicstar1
Feb 27, 2011 9:32:51 Sure naturax of you PM me your email I can send you my notes.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 naturax Feb 16, 2011 13:35:09	I'm running a game in which the party's halfling ranger has just leveled up and needs to find their animal companion. I want to make it a bit of an event, since it's like adding another member to the party, but I'm having trouble thinking of a way to fit it into the story. The party is in Sharn at the moment and the player has decided that they want to get a clawfoot with wings - and I'm totally okay with that, so no need to worry about that detail. The halfling grew up as a hunter in the Talenta Plains and moved to Sharn in the last few months because she wanted to get away from her family. One idea I had might be that one of her family members comes to visit her and it ends in her getting a new pet, but I haven't been able to think of the details. That's where YOU come in. Thanks!
#2 Ogiwan Feb 16, 2011 15:28:18	A clawfoot with wings? As an animal companion? I just want to be sure I'm reading that right. Uhhhh, for something that wierd.....Vadalis escapee? Daelkyr escapee?
#3 naturax Feb 16, 2011 15:32:50	A clawfoot with wings? As an animal companion? I just want to be sure I'm reading that right. Uhhhh, for something that wierd.....Vadalis escapee? Daelkyr escapee? My player claims it's from one of the novels, though I don't know which. I don't actually care that it doesn't happen to be listed in the ECS, it exists in my version of Eberron. But sure, Vadalis makes a lot of sense, especially in my game. I need details, though! It just escapes and randomly the PCs are nearby?
#4 Ogiwan Feb 16, 2011 19:11:01	I've read almost all the novels. Unless its in Sea of Death, I've never read of such a creature in the novels. It could be a Couatl (Winged Serpent), which made an appearance in Claws of the Tiger, or he could just be confusing the dinosaurs and he's talking about a glidewing (essentially, a pterodactyl). But, for something that wierd, well, yeah, escapes from Vadalis, and the party happens to be nearby. Another option, I guess, is that it could have been changed in the Mourning, and it's brought to Sharn by a freak show. Again, if its a winged clawfoot, and not a glidewing.
#5 weenog42 Feb 17, 2011 18:16:14	I'd make it a Glidewing. A Glidewing rides in the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn, so maybe your PCs run into it in that context. Perhaps this particular glidewing is forced to race in the smaller circuits as part of some kind of indentured servitude, and the PCs rescue it.
#6 Madfox11 Feb 22, 2011 7:10:02	I'd make it a Glidewing. A Glidewing rides in the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn, so maybe your PCs run into it in that context. Perhaps this particular glidewing is forced to race in the smaller circuits as part of some kind of indentured servitude, and the PCs rescue it. And aren't glidewinges basically clawfoot with wings? ;) They are the flying kind of dinosaurs. As Weenog42 points out, there is a large Talenta plain community within Sharn (at least big enough for a neiborhood of their own), and I am sure finding the right type of dinosaur there should be no problem. (Note that I think the glidewing in itself is a little bit too powerful for a 4th level ranger, and I would go for something more like a spiredrake from the 4E material which is not too different from an eagle or falcon in 3E in regards of stats.)
#7 naturax Feb 22, 2011 8:42:34	Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc.
#8 Madfox11 Feb 23, 2011 4:44:41	Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc. No, although that is certainly an option. You could also have the ranger deal with an investation of vermin in the district, a disease that infects the local dinosaur population, a conflict between a halfling trainer and the Boromar clan, Daask having stolen a bunch of eggs and young animals and so on. All I am pointing out is that there are dinosaurs in Sharn ;)
#9 naturax Feb 23, 2011 7:29:36	Are you proposing just purchasing the dinosaur from the Little Plains district? I was hoping to make a mini adventure out of it. I'm looking for a scenario, NPCs, encounters, etc. No, although that is certainly an option. You could also have the ranger deal with an investation of vermin in the district, a disease that infects the local dinosaur population, a conflict between a halfling trainer and the Boromar clan, Daask having stolen a bunch of eggs and young animals and so on. All I am pointing out is that there are dinosaurs in Sharn ;) Yes, thank you! That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. Of course the Boromar Clan is going to want their share of bets being placed for the Race of the Eight Winds, and this year the Daask is funding one of the teams, and the poor dinosaur mounts are caught in the middle. Or something.
#10 Madfox11 Feb 23, 2011 7:44:08	Two questions: (1) How complicated do you want the adventure to be? Do you want it to be a short side track involving just the ranger? A short-side tracking involving the whole group? Or a full fledged adventure involving the whole group? The answer decides on the size and complexity of the adventure. (2) Do you want the ranger to form a personal bond with the animal companion during the adventure? Or don't you mind the bond to form afterward? If the answer is during the adventure, than the adventure needs to focus on the animal in question. The PC need directly interact with it, likely rescuing it. If the answer is after, the adventure can be about something else that results in the animal being given to the PC as a form of payment.
#11 naturax Feb 23, 2011 11:23:34	Two questions: (1) How complicated do you want the adventure to be? Do you want it to be a short side track involving just the ranger? A short-side tracking involving the whole group? Or a full fledged adventure involving the whole group? The answer decides on the size and complexity of the adventure. (2) Do you want the ranger to form a personal bond with the animal companion during the adventure? Or don't you mind the bond to form afterward? If the answer is during the adventure, than the adventure needs to focus on the animal in question. The PC need directly interact with it, likely rescuing it. If the answer is after, the adventure can be about something else that results in the animal being given to the PC as a form of payment. 1. I want it to involve the entire group for one session. They just finished a plot arc and using this as a mini side-quest would be a great breather from the aberrants/dragonmarked stuff they've been in the middle of lately. 2. I'd like the animal sticking around with the ranger afterward to be a natural consequence of the plot of the adventure, not something randomly tacked on at the end. So I'd like the dinosaur to feature in the adventure, and I'd even like the opportunity to show off it's personality before it becomes a part of the group.
#12 phoenixrevival00 Feb 23, 2011 14:00:00	I'm not sure if you want to keep it around Sharn or not, but I'd have it be something tribe related. He get's summoned home to the Plains because it's time for his rite of Passage... a hunt to tame a (insert interesting dino here). He must complete a series of challenges (read skill challenges) in order to track and gain the trust of the creature. His friends can help as tribal law states usually a hunting party with at least one elder would do so anyway. Hope this helps.
#13 naturax Feb 23, 2011 19:03:58	I'm not sure if you want to keep it around Sharn or not, but I'd have it be something tribe related. He get's summoned home to the Plains because it's time for his rite of Passage... a hunt to tame a (insert interesting dino here). He must complete a series of challenges (read skill challenges) in order to track and gain the trust of the creature. His friends can help as tribal law states usually a hunting party with at least one elder would do so anyway. Hope this helps. That's definitely one way to do it! Thanks! I'm really excited about tying in the Race of the Eight Winds in Sharn. I'm just having trouble thinking of why the PCs of all people would suddenly get thrown into the race. Any ideas?
#14 Madfox11 Feb 24, 2011 4:46:23	I'm really excited about tying in the Race of the Eight Winds in Sharn. I'm just having trouble thinking of why the PCs of all people would suddenly get thrown into the race. Any ideas? The ranger in question observes one of the racers mistreating his mount badly off-stage, likely so badly that any ranger worth his salt would intervene. Assuming the ranger does the expected thing, the rider (whether the PCs steal it or use the authorities to do so) looses his mount. The backers of the rider really don't like it. They react very threatening, but offer the PCs a cope-out: ride the race with the mount. The original rider (or his relatives/friends) of course does not take kindly to the meddling, and bribe other racers/the crowd/set up ambushes. Now the ranger PC has to race, while the rest of the PCs has to find out in a race against the clock who is planning what. Another option would be that the Daask (or any other criminal rival) steal a bunch of eggs, young animals and mounts both for profit, and to irk the Boromar clan. The rider is killed in the raid, his wife/husband and children might get killed by stragglers if not because the PCs wander by. After rescuing the tribal halfling's family, they are asked to quickly hunt down the Daask. When they do so, they observe that the Daask are covered with scratch marks and that one of the mounts is chained to the walls, badly treated. Apparently it did not took kindly to being robbed. The ranger can befriend it. Once back, the spouse sees the new bond and has no problem with the PC keeping it. It was supposed to ride the race, and the spouse suggest the PC does the same since it is a good way to strengthen the bond and it would bring honor to the spouses clan. Of course, the original thieves have friends and they would also want to saboutage the race. Note that personally I am not a big friend of making the hunt for the animal companion a quick side track to the Talenta plains. Even in Eberron it takes days (if not weeks) to get from Sharn to the Talenta plains (assuming 4th level rangers have no easy access to Lyrandor flying ships). By treating the visit as a one-session adventure you are doing a disservice to the setting ;)
#15 naturax Feb 24, 2011 6:24:09	Awesome! Thanks for this! I really like the first idea, I just need to make sure the other 5-6 PCs at the session have plenty to do. So let's say the halfling ranger is contacted by a relative that lives in Sharn who is competing as "The Glidewing" and has the backing of the Boromar Clan. That relative has just suffered and injury, and the Boromars are going to murder them unless they compete in the race (kind of like the way the boxers HAVE to box for Brick Top in Snatch). The relative, desparate, asks the PC to race, and warns them that they are suppose to take out Rider X and make sure that they don't beat Rider Y. The other PCs get a day to investigate the other riders and the track and make preparations, then the race happens. In another post in these forums someone wrote about letting the PCs make decisions for the other riders in the race, so maybe I'll use that kind of system too. Has anyone seen a map of the course for the Race of the Eight Winds?
#16 Madfox11 Feb 24, 2011 8:11:39	When we used the race we actually worked a lot with flash back scenes that involved most of the group. The DM started with handing us a list of names of racers, giving a bit of info on them and than let us pick a shorter list of people we would focus on and how. The next session he ran the race, where he created scenes were the PC in the race encountered one of those persons. At that point, he would run the actual scene the group had with that NPC as a flashback. It prevented the race from becomming a boring string of dice rolls and allowed the whole group to be actively involved. It certainly was one of the top sessions in my many years of playing roleplaying games ;)
#17 naturax Feb 24, 2011 10:50:26	When we used the race we actually worked a lot with flash back scenes that involved most of the group. The DM started with handing us a list of names of racers, giving a bit of info on them and than let us pick a shorter list of people we would focus on and how. The next session he ran the race, where he created scenes were the PC in the race encountered one of those persons. At that point, he would run the actual scene the group had with that NPC as a flashback. It prevented the race from becomming a boring string of dice rolls and allowed the whole group to be actively involved. It certainly was one of the top sessions in my many years of playing roleplaying games ;) That's exactly the sort of thing I'm going for, but I need to cram it into one session. So what I'm thinking is that the players will get to do a sort of "Bill & Ted's Adventures" during the race and say things like, "but then the saddle on the pegasus snaps" and we'll run a scene of the PCs sneaking into the stables and cutting a notch into the straps, etc. Is that pretty much what you did? I have a question for you about how you kept up the pace of the race if you kept breaking the scene: how did you keep the adrenaline pumping if every round there was another flashback to run? Another idea I had, and I'd like to hear some feedback on this, is to hand the list of NPC racers to the PCs and let them each pick one. I'd then have a sheet with their stats and goals during the race, and let the PCs run the NPCs instead of me. I'd also make it so that any time one of the NPCs accomplishes their goal (like firing a bolt at the PC's mount), then the PC gets another action point, so the other players have incentive to get their NPCs to do their thing, even if the goals of the NPC make things harder for the PC. Do you think the players will resent having to bench their charaters for most of the session, though?
#18 Madfox11 Feb 25, 2011 3:26:39	It depends on your players, but my experiences with handing NPCs to players for one-time sessions do not work very well. The players have no investment in them, making it a harder to role-play, and at the same time you are letting them compete against their fellow player. The few times I saw it used, the sessions always felt a bit bland. Mind you, I am a storyteller at heart, and I personally dislike to spend valuable game time on something else than my own PCs so I am a bit biased. Whether or not your players will resent it, that is something you can simply ask your players. In any event, the race took two sessions for us. One session of planning and one for the race. We picked one NPC per two PCs, dealt with a saboutage event before the race, one during the race and a group of Boromar lackeys trying to convince the crowd and judges our PC cheated.
#19 Magicstar1 Feb 25, 2011 17:13:34	Naturax, This thread describes it somewhat better: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
#20 naturax Feb 27, 2011 8:41:01	Naturax, This thread describes it somewhat better: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... Thanks, Magicstar. I'm still a little nervous about the pacing of engaging the other PCs in the flashback threads in the middle of the race, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to share the notes you used when you ran the Race of the Eight Winds with me.
#21 Magicstar1 Feb 27, 2011 9:32:51	Sure naturax of you PM me your email I can send you my notes.