High Level Games
High Level Games
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures

Welcome to the High Level Games Blog, News, and other stuff to take your games to the next level!

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

4 Tips For Running A High Powered Game

19/10/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Whether you’re introducing your table to a game like Scion or Exalted, or your players are about to hit 18th level in D&D, every GM should be prepared for high-powered play. When player characters attain these lofty heights, their options for managing situations expand greatly. The once-troublesome task of defeating a few bandits becomes trivial for these powerful characters, and the focus of the game changes from “how can we defeat them” to “how should we defeat them.” As we all know by now, “with great power comes great responsibility.” What we should also learn, however, is that absolute power can corrupt absolutely. Here’s a few ways a GM can foster these ethical discussions while still allowing their players to have a blast with their powerhouses.
 
1 . Incremental Challenges
                Demigods should have demons to fight. This means introducing sufficiently powerful enemies for your players to go up against, naturally, but it also means introducing greater problems for them to solve. Instead of solving a drought experienced by a small town, have the players restore water to an entire region by matching wits with the vengeful god who’s been withholding the rains. Keep the encounters exciting and grand. Let players experience the lasting effects of their influence over the setting, and make certain that NPCs show the appropriate amount of reverence or fear when interacting with your players. Still, power begets power. Challengers should readily rise up to face your heroes, creating epic clashes high above the world or deep within it. Every superhero needs an arch-villain, after all.
 
2 . Incredible Experiences
                In a high level game, you shouldn’t be concerned about the mundane. It’s certainly important to remind characters from whence they came, but don’t get bogged down in the minutia of everyday existence. Instead, focus your descriptive powers on injecting supernatural or superlative details into the setting. Describe amazing vistas and unreal sensations. Your characters have transcended the terrestrial and now reside amidst the ethereal; let them experience it to the fullest! Everything should be bombastic to a certain extent. Every swell of power should make characters feel their godly might. Every trip through a strange dimension or across alien terrain should be unique and captivating. One trick I like to use is synesthesia. I describe sights using flavors, and vice versa. It’s a fun trick that let’s players really experience something unique and empowering, but still relatable.
 
3 . Insightful Revelations
                When your characters wield deific or heroic powers, the story beats should be equally as lofty. Plot reveals should be powerful and well-constructed. Betrayals should occur on a grand or cosmic scale. Entire regions should be threatened with extinction. Triumphs should be heralded through the streets of large metropolises, and characters should be raised up on high and lauded for their incredible deeds. Rewards should match the characters’ deeds, be they “tangible” within the game or intriguing plot advancements. Since “more power” does not make for a great gift to an already powerful character, make certain your rewards are varied and pleasing to your players on an individual level. At the end of a long campaign, you’ll most likely be familiar with the types of things they will enjoy.

4 . Indelible Impressions
                A martial artist using her chi to soar into the sky at breakneck speeds. A god-born whose wisdom is so vast, he can solve any problem that befalls him. A sword-goddess, the power of whose blows are matched only by the strength of her convictions. These characters are the stuff of legend! If you do nothing else, let your players have fun. Let them leave impressions on your denizens that will leak into your future games. Let them shape the world that you’ve created as they go mad with power. Only by letting them experience the fullness of their characters’ potential can you help them understand the nature of power and how it applies in your setting. You might be surprised at not only how much fun they will have, but how strong of a dramatic impression such cosmic might can make.
 
                I hope you consider running a game that gives your players a chance to be almighty. It can be an incredible experience for all involved, not the least of which would be you, the GM! Share your favorite high-powered gaming stories with us, and feel free to recommend games that let out the leash.
 
David Horwitz is a gamer and freelance writer with an obsession for exploring new forms of leisure. If you’re looking for an inquisitive mind and a deft hand, or just want to chat about gaming, contact him at www.davidhorwitzwrites.com/contact

Savage Worlds: Fast, Furious, and Fun! - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    All blog materials created and developed by the staff here at High Level Games 

    ​

    Picture
    Click here to support our community for as a little as $1.00 for exclusive content, free downloadable stuff, and even discounts on role-playing game items.

    Archives

    April 2023
    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    13th Age
    2d20
    2nd Edition
    3.5 Edition
    3Deep
    4th Edition
    5th Edition
    7th Sea
    Acquisitions Inc
    Actual Play
    AD&D
    AdventureLookUp.com
    Adventurers!
    Aether Sea
    A+ Fantasy
    After Collapse
    Alignment
    Amazing Tales
    Amazon
    Anima: Beyond Fantasy
    Anime
    Apocalypse World
    Atomic Robo
    Australian
    Award Winning
    Basic Fantasy
    Belly Of The Beast
    Big Eyes Small Mouth
    Black Lives Matter
    Black Void
    Blades In The Dark
    Blood Pangea
    Board Games
    Book Of Exalted Darkness
    BrigadeCon
    Burning Wheel RPG
    Call Of Cthulhu
    Capers RPG
    Casual Roleplaying
    Changeling: The Dreaming
    Chaosium
    Character Arcs
    Character Creation
    Chris Spivey
    Cinematic RP
    Classics
    Comic-books
    Conventions
    Corvus Belli: Infinity
    Crawl
    Creators
    Critical Role
    Cthulhutech
    D100 Dungeon
    D20
    D&D
    D&D Beyond
    Deadlands
    Defenders Of Tokyo
    Degenesis
    Detako Saga
    Discord
    DMsGuild.com
    Dnd
    Dndbeyond
    Doctor-who
    Double-cross
    Dread
    Dresden-files
    DriveThruRPG.com
    Dr. Who
    Dungeon Crawl Classics
    Dungeons
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Slayers
    Dungeon World
    Dystopia Rising
    Encounters
    Era: The Consortium
    Era: The Empowered
    Esper Genesis
    Evil Hat
    Exalted
    Faith RPG
    Fandom
    Fantasy-age
    Fantasy-flight
    Fantasy Grounds
    FATE
    Fate Accelerated Edition
    Fate Core
    Fate Rpg
    Fate-rpg
    Final Fantasy
    Forgotten Realms
    Fragged Empire
    Free League Publishing
    Furries
    Game Design
    Game Lore
    Gencon
    Ghosts Of NPCs Past
    GMTips
    Golden-sky-stories
    GoodmanGames.com
    Grognards
    GUMSHOE
    GURPS
    GURPS Lite
    Halloween
    Harlem Unbound
    Harry-potter
    Hero Builder
    Heroes Against Darkness
    Heroes-unlimited
    HERO System
    High Level Games
    Historical Fantasy
    HLG Con 2018
    HLG Reviews
    Homebrew
    Humble Bundle
    Indie
    Interface Zero 2.0
    Interview
    Invisible Suns
    Japanese RPGs
    JRR Tolkien
    Kickstarter
    KoboldPress.com
    KULT
    L5R
    Lankhmar
    LARP
    Lasers And Feelings
    Legendlore
    Legend Of The Five Rings
    LexOccultum
    LOTR
    Low Magic
    Mage
    Mage: The Awakening
    Magic And Steel
    MAID
    Mayhem
    Mazes And Minotaurs
    Meikyuu Kingdom
    Mekton Zero
    Mental Health
    Middle Earth
    Mighty Narwhal
    Mini Six
    Modern Adventures RPG
    Modiphius
    Monarchies Of Mau
    Monsterhearts
    Monte Cook Games
    Morra
    Mummy: The Curse
    Mutants And Masterminds
    Mythender
    Narrative Games
    Nechronica
    Night's Black Agents
    Novel
    NPC
    Numenara
    Odyssey Of The Dragonlords
    One Shot
    Online Gaming
    Orun
    OSCRIC
    Osr
    OVA
    Palladium
    Pathfinder
    Pathfinder 2.0
    PbtA
    PDQ
    Pire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
    Play By Post
    Player Tips
    Podcast
    Powered By Apocalypse
    Power Outage RPG
    Preview
    Promethean: The Created
    Pugmire
    Pulp
    Puzzles
    Questlings
    Ravenloft
    Ravnica
    Red Markets: A Game Of Economic Horror
    Research
    Review
    Review Article
    Rifts
    Risus
    Role Play
    Roll20
    Romance Of The Perilous Land
    Ryuutama
    Satanic Panic
    Savage Rifts
    Savage Tokusatsu
    Savage Worlds
    Seeds Of Wars
    Setting
    Settings
    Settlement Building
    Shadowrun
    SIGMATA
    Snowhaven
    Social Combat
    Social Systems
    Solo Play
    Standard Roleplay System
    Star Trek Adventures
    Star Wars
    Storytellers Vault
    Suited RPG
    Summerland
    Supplements
    System Design
    Table Top
    Tabletop Simulator
    Tales From The Loop
    Tales Of Equestria
    Talislanta
    Tariffs
    Teenagers From Outerspace
    Ten Candles
    Tenra Bansho Zero
    The Dark Eye
    The End Of The World RPG
    The Great Long Dark
    The One Ring
    The Very Important Task
    Titan Effect
    To The Temple Of Doom
    Trial Of Cthulhu
    Trinity Continuum
    TSR Marvel Super Heroes
    Ttrpg
    Twitch
    USTR
    Va
    Valiant Rpg
    Vampire: The Masquerade
    Video Games
    Villian
    Volo
    Vs Ghosts
    Warhammer
    Warhammer 40K
    Werewolf: The Apocalypse
    Westbound RPG
    Wild West
    World Building
    World Of Darkness
    Writing Tips
    Year Zero
    Zweihander

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly