Once upon a time, my gaming group played through Storm King’s Thunder, very slowly. When we got the first McGuffin, and realized where it would take us, we became afraid to use it. Afraid we weren’t high enough level and would die if we went there. We proceeded to visit literally every other location in the module, collecting several more McGuffins along the way. It wasn’t until we had visited every tribe of giants, to varying degrees of success or murder, that we finally used our McGuffin. This frustrated our DM to no end, she was exceptionally relieved when we finally furthered the plot.
The last game we played, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, my group spent a lot of time doing random Crime. From simple midnight shop burglary, to assassination, to real estate scams. Every character joined a different faction, so we did a lot of side quests, as well. The DM also decided to play through an entire year, rather than a single season, so we had four McGuffins to find instead of just one. We had a great time, but several members of the group were very ready for the end by the time we got there, even after getting the DM to give us a couple extra levels.
Now, my game, Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep. If you look even at the first chapter on playing the adventure, you see that this is a fast-paced game. The levels come quickly, often two in a chapter. My group is eager to build up their characters, and not repeat the mistakes of the past. Promising to use the McGuffin as soon as they get it, and not wait around or get too distracted by side quests.
Being my first game, as you’ve seen, if you’ve been reading this blog, I wanted to start a little slower. I started them a few levels early, and had some introductory adventures, and introduced a plot of my own making, which we will (hopefully) return to later. True to their word, however, when I dropped the first hints of the module, they were off to the races, even avoiding the NPCs I created to get them to the starting line.
This week, they were in Bazzoxan, charging through conversations with the NPCs, splitting up to make sure everyone was spoken to, even going to bed before a non-module, but character-important, NPC came back to The Ready Room for the night. Charging forward towards Betrayer’s Rise the next morning without even looking about for the supplies they had talked about the night before. I appreciate their enthusiasm, but it was all feeling a bit rushed last night.
They did talk to all the important NPCs, though not fully, and not completely openly. While the book doesn’t assume anything, it does give options and information for a much more open and trusting group than my players. On the other hand, I should have read up on information about the various factions, but instead, had to make stuff up on the fly. (Although, looking ahead just now, I’m not sure there’s much more information for the questions she asked.) She’ll have to see if Aloysia was lying or not later on. Always expect the unexpected (questions) from your players.
Fortunately for me, the two fights that bookend the characters’ time in Bazzoxan proper kept them from delving into the dungeon this week, and have given me a bit more time to prepare.