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Post by vwilliams32407 on Mar 3, 2017 7:25:07 GMT -9
I am currently running Hoard of the Dragon Queen (pics over in the gallery) and am having two new players join us as we wrap up episode 4: On the road. They (a husband and wife) asked me which adventure I am running and upon telling them they said "We are pretty familiar with the plot line thanks to Neverwinter (video game)." I have not played Neverwinter so I don't know how closely it follows the written adventure. If anyone has played it and are familiar with the written adventure, how much of the adventure will be spoiled for them?
Thanks for any help.
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Post by jeffgeorge on Mar 5, 2017 10:29:59 GMT -9
I haven't played Hoard of the Dragon Queen on video or face to face, but just in general, I'd make two points here, regarding the adventure being "spoiled" for them:
First, I would expect that the online version of the adventure is pretty different from the tabletop adventure as written--and that's before you customize it for your own group and campaign setting. Things that work face to face--complex character interactions, betrayals and reveals, and especially puzzle-type encounters--tend not to work well in MMO video games, so they are often de-emphasized or excised completely when a story is converted for a video game treatment. On the other hand, things that video games do best--real-time combat challenges, mostly--play out completely differently on screen than at the table. The point is, I very much doubt that these players will have significant advance knowledge of anything aside from very general, view-from-10,000-feet information. They may know who the ultimate bad guy is going in, if that's not clear to everyone, or the name of an ancient artifact macguffin, but familiarity with specific encounters from the video game version is unlikely to apply directly to circumstances at your table.
Second, the question of the adventure being spoiled for them is secondary to whether they will, deliberately or inadvertently, spoil it for the other players. When they show up to play, they have already made the decision to have fun at your table, regardless of having some prior knowledge of the adventure. No one is making them play with your group; if they thought it wouldn't be fun to play this adventure "again," they could just opt out until your group finishes it, and join afterwards. What you don't want to have happen is for them to let something slip that erodes the fun or undermines the sense of accomplishment that your existing group is entitled to for playing the adventure. You're going to have to have a fair amount of trust in them not to spill the beans in order to let them play with your group, but to their credit, they've already told you that they may have some knowledge of the adventure you're running. I'd just ask them to be careful not to say anything to the group that they know as players that their characters couldn't know.
Bottom line, it's their problem, not yours, if the adventure is spoiled for them; they could have just decided not to play if that was their concern. Your responsibility is to your other players, being sure that their time is not wasted and their fun is not ruined by having someone in the group that might know some of the answers in advance. I wouldn't make any more accommodation to the situation that perhaps tying the backstory for their new PCs to stuff in the adventure, to rationalize their knowing a little more than the average person in your world about what's going on.
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Post by vwilliams32407 on Mar 6, 2017 7:39:40 GMT -9
Thanks jeffgeorge for the reply. Both of your points make a lot of sense to me. I have never had this situation before and was unsure of how to handle it. The new players were recruited by one of my players and I have not as of yet met them face to face. I fully trust my player’s judgment in bringing in mature and compatible folks. I will have an aside with them prior to our session and discuses the points you mentioned about keeping prior knowledge to themselves. Again, thanks for your advise.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 6, 2017 8:48:14 GMT -9
Even though it is 'scripted' a bit, we all know how things get sideways in games because of character interactions and dice rolls. Having some 'travel rations' available at the start of the meeting as a time to talk to them a little, will give you more of an idea of how to approach things. Food is always a great start
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