Timeline for As DM, how do I deal with PCs that expect everything in the game to be relevant to the story?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 19, 2018 at 15:20 | comment | added | Sardathrion - against SE abuse | "Quantum Ogre" is an example of illusion of choice: no matter what you do, you get X then Y then Z. While a useful technique when applied correctly, it is still harking back to rail roading. It is a topic for a different question. | |
| Nov 19, 2018 at 14:56 | comment | added | Codes with Hammer | @JohnMontgomery: Yes it is. As R says, it's also improvising. When the PCs have two boxes and haven't opened either one yet, the ogre can be in the box where it's needed, even if that isn't the box that the GM intended. | |
| Nov 19, 2018 at 8:26 | history | edited | Sardathrion - against SE abuse | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Three clues rule.
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| Nov 18, 2018 at 18:43 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | @JohnMontgomery: I'm not sure it's "quantum ogre" unless you've presented the players a false choice. Reusing prepared content in a new context after players have made unexpected choices that made the originally-intended context irrelevant seems like just a reasonable GM optimization for improvising. | |
| Nov 17, 2018 at 2:33 | comment | added | Dale M | Don’t exclude saying “no” but make sure your players know that “no means no!”. As in, what you want to do is simply not possible. | |
| Nov 17, 2018 at 0:27 | comment | added | John Montgomery | @CodeswithHammer That sounds more like the "Quantum Ogre" to me. | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 18:36 | comment | added | Codes with Hammer | It's good for the GM to have a plan. It's better for the GM to modify the plan on the fly when the PCs do something different. That encounter with goblins later in the cave? Now the goblins are based in the castle's old stables! The plot coupon that was on the far side of the goblins? Now it's somewhere in the inner ward! (If you want to risk going to TV Tropes, look up Xanatos Speed Chess.) | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 18:32 | comment | added | Wibbs | You might want to mention the 3 clue rule that comes up more in investigative games. Basically, for any important clue, you try to have three versions of if lying around in different places for the players to find | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 15:23 | comment | added | Sardathrion - against SE abuse | @GPPK Many of my players would say "nothing good whatsoever". Personally, I would go a scene of carnage heralded by the smell of rotting flesh. Maybe a few orcs with a "Wizard Soup" cauldron welcoming the PCs for dinner. Or maybe suddenly all those dead empty socketed skulls turning towards the PCs and crying out "Why did you leave us to die!". Or after some exploring and finding many dead people, a chime maiden rings her bell and The One Reborn rises… So, yeah nothing good. | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 15:14 | comment | added | GPPK | I really want to know what happens next in your last example... | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 13:59 | history | edited | Rob | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
typos fix
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| Nov 16, 2018 at 13:42 | history | answered | Sardathrion - against SE abuse | CC BY-SA 4.0 |