Open Ended Choices for Players

Cloudgatherer · Jan 27, 2002

Anyone interested in the actual game I'm running, check out the story hour link in my sig.

So I'm the DM for 7 players. As often as I can, I like to give the players choices. Wrapping up our last adventure, the players were in one of the larger cities of my campaign and I asked them a very open-ended question: "What do you want to do next?"

Being the end of the session, I let them talk it over. Naturally, different people in the party wanted to do different things. After an hour of discussion, my understanding is they are remaining in the city they are in for the time being.

I was trying to give the party a chance to interact with the world, go on an adventure of their choosing (so if they want to go sight seeing, take on the main antagonist, sneak into a large fortress, they could do so, or at least attempt it). One of those "you go and find adventure" scenarios, instead of "X happens" or "Y approaches you with an offer..." kind of scenarios.

This didn't seem to work out as well as I would have liked. Instead of the party being pro-active, they are going to be reactive on the next adventure.

How do you handle such situations? In a few of my adventures, I've listed options they uncovered during the adventure (choose route a, b, or c). Other times, the next adventure naturally follows from the previous one. This time I was trying to give the party open option: choose something, I'll plan it, and we'll see where it goes from there. Instead, I think I got indecision, so they remained where they are.

Feedback appreciated!

Humanophile · Jan 27, 2002

It depends on how far along the game is, but in general, when the action stalls, it's almost the DM's duty to railroad the players a little. Otherwise, the players have too many options, and too little idea what to do, and end up just staying in a holding pattern.

Don't overdo it, but when the party is looking confused give them little hooks/leads what you want them to do, and hope they keep a good head of steam after they've worked through that plot arc.

Emiricol · Jan 27, 2002

One of the beautiful things about Meta Plots is that it gives the players sort of a compass - no matter what, they can always go try to do something productive relevant to the overall master plot.

Rashak Mani · Jan 27, 2002

YEP you just found out that most players like to be lead by their noses around to whatever crazy adventure or quest shows up !

Seen it happen before... if the players were to take it in game most would head in different direction each taking care their own stuff... some parties would stick together...

Kugar · Jan 28, 2002

In order to be open-ended, the campaign has to have some flavor. Dumping the PCs in the city and telling them to live ordinary lives is kinda boring. Now if someone killed a PC's bathrobe and was never caught, the prices of weapons all jumped 100%, the clergy of a PCs deity are contracting a disease and the college of magic just contacted the wizard and told him they are 'concerned' with his sudden rise in power, the PCs will be quite UI.

But you came looking for advice:

1) Come up with some secrets that affect the PCs and remember all those Bad Guys and #2s that were cool and got away.

2) Set up some faint encounters dealing with these secrets. The more the better. Make the PCs choose - and what they don't look into will probably get worse.

3) Play on some of the characters personality. Someone has a +10 armorsmithing. Maybe the local blacksmith has died or gone missing and his shop is up for auction.

4) Heroes are Heroes - the want grand adventures! Actually they need them. Downtime should be used to emphasize their humanity, what they fight for and showcase the world. If you are not they are not discovering more about themselves or the world around them, then the story is stalled and can get very frustrating for the DM and the players.

5) In short - Make the players part of the world and they will get very involved, but they need to have personal hooks in order to sell this type of story.

Blood Jester · Jan 28, 2002

Is it really a cop out?

Are you sure they made a 'no decision'?

Could they be looking for a more political, intrigue based campaign for a while? Not having heard the discussion, I am shooting somewhat blind, but while I was reading you post, this is what I first thought. Before I got to the end that is.

Just a thought.

Umbran · Jan 28, 2002

The thing you don't tell us is how many plot hooks you have lying around, and of what sort. Few players will take on the job of heading in a completely new direction and forcing the DM to make up something about it. They will usually wait to see a hook to grab.

Black Omega · Jan 28, 2002

Im my experience players do tend to be more reactive than proactive. Typically in adventures I have the sessions loosely planned out with a few points where the PC's have options on which way to go. 'Do we go on with the mission or go after this bad guy.' for example. This last session I'd been strongly led to believe through email some players wanted to go after the only creature to escape a combat where a PC had died. I planned the first part of the session around that and then when we played, that 'mission' was given off to an NPC with a 'If you find him, kill him for me please, it'd really appreciate it." Quite surprised me.

During time off I like to mix in character actions with my own hooks. I ask everyone what they are doing, but also have other encounters planned, typically non-combat, more RP oriented things to flesh out the world.

Tonguez · Jan 28, 2002

Family, Obligations and Town Gossip

As Kugar has mentioned already

In order to be open-ended, the campaign has to have some flavor.

What I require before the campaign starts is for the PC to create personal histories linking themselves to family, friends, organisations, allies, patrons and rivals and stating the obligations/relationships which they have to those groups.

So a Cleric of Morrus (for instance) will list the Church of EN as an patron organisation to which she is obliged. Whenever she is in a city with a Temple of En she most go and offer prayers and 10% of any gold she holds and spend a week in the Archives.

Jock the Barbarian may have an old sick uncle who lives in the city and whom he must visit

Rat the thief (Rogue) may have a fence who he goes to to sell any contrband

MAKE THEM DO THESE THINGS

and whilst doing them let them hear the town Gossip.

"Ey-aye Jock m'Laddie" says old Uncle Angus Haggisbane to Jock the Barbarian "thaars b'n a strange wind blowin' through these past t'ree weeks. Me old bones are tellin me troobles afoot of the unseelie sort!"

"Business isn't good" said Silas the Fence to Rat "there's a new outfit trying to muscle into town and Rotten Eddies getting edgey about it - you know what that means when Rotten Eddie gets edgey. " (ooc actually Rat has no idea what it means - but now the PCs can find out)

OR ELSE

Have a fistival of some sort which they can get involved with.

Of course if they want to get real jobs or (alternatively) go and hire a whore - let them rp that too (just the soliciting bit not the Unlawful CK.

Cloudgatherer · Jan 28, 2002

I do require backgrounds from everyone. Some are better than most, but I can really only use two PC backgrounds. The basis for the game is that the party comes from alternate material planes, and they are trying to get home (2 characters in the party are "native" to the world).

As far as hooks, there is a variety of things they could do. They know the present situation, recently "lost" a city to a hostile nation, have been seeking the pieces of a medallion (and they know who is in possession of one), have heard of two kingdoms they have yet to visit (one PC expressed interest in seeing one in particular), and I also keep a page of "rumors and legends" in case the party wants to investigate one of those.

Perhaps I was a bit too open-ended. Guess I'll leave them to the whims of my diabolical imagination! (I've been wanting to try out a dragon anyways...)