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Nov 30, 2012 -- 10:03AM, Fardiz wrote:

..."window.parent.tinyMCE.get('post_content').onLoad.dispatch();" contenteditable="true" />If I could not tell the difference at all, why should it make a difference to me as a diner (or a player)? That's why I eat meat, not quorn. When they make a meat-replacement substance that actually tastes like meat I will happily switch and wouldn't care which was served to me.

What difference? You paid for it.

Unless you like paying lobster-prices for chicken dinners.

Nov 30, 2012 -- 10:04AM, Kailmung wrote:

My problem is ... maybe I am not explaining it  properly .... how to put fear of certian NPC into the hearts of the PC? This might be a bad example but it is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. In FFVII, Cloud and his group meet Sephiroth at several point early in the game. At first you are like who is this guy? Then he displays his "power" to you and you realize you are no where near ready to face him. So when he shows up again you are actually some what scared of him, he kills Aeris and now you have your own personal reasons for going after him, not just because he is the BBEG.

Of which I have gotten some good responses; have NPC display power in front of the party but not at the party, have rumors and what not of the NPC power and what it can do ... etc.

In the weeks that followed since then I have given them several choices and have had the world go on around them, not because of them. Hence the Death Knight attack and burning of an entire town that the PC could only see in the distance.

The best way to do this is to NOT do it in a forced way. Do not seek to merely do that.

If there is someone powerful, have them do their thing. Just have that NPC go about what they're doing. Have a plan in mind for them...have goals for them...know how those goals interact with the world. When they accomplish things, if the PCs hear or know of these things and the world is fleshed out around them, they will understand the context of it.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily work if they are just running into this guy for the first time and it's very early on.

For that, do not be afraid to have fear checks or intimidation checks. Now, those DO NOT need to result in control over the players but they can experience it just like they can experience anything else in the world through their senses.

For those that are effected you describe thusly - "...you can feel something palpably dangerous about this being. The clanking of his armor is not metal on metal but the sound of souls quietly shrieking as if ghosts bound the steel rather than leather. A primal feeling of 'wrongness' comes over you when confronted by this...thing and a little voice in the back of your head tells you 'you shouldn't be here'."

I had to do something similar for the rogue in my group when he was the only one to fail a mummy's fear-aura. The important thing when imparting information like that is to give the person an INFORMED description. Not just "you're scared of him"...that is too little information and it immediately hijacks the persons character. note in the description given, all that is told to the player is WHAT they feel, not HOW they feel about it. The player is still more than capable of saying "This thing needs to die! Kill it!". And, at that point, it is their decision what they do about it. It is their choice to make after weighing their options.

However, if they want to ask you more questions about it to get a better gauge, feel free to let them know...but do not just say things like "This guy's so uber-strong!". It has to be more evocative. Paint a picture of the thing they're confronted with..engage as many senses as you can.

Ultimately, however, the decision lies with the player.