Passing the.....

Every GM I know has this one moment that the Players aren’t doing what they need to do while they are working their way through the campaign (I am not talking about rail roading), whether it be pass on information to other PCs or just talk to the NPCs about what they might know.

An example-
The PCs are traveling with a caravan of merchants, working as guards, while they get from A to B. To the Players it looks like just an excuse to get from here to there, the GM doesn’t have any random encounters cause the caravan is in a semi civilized area. However, the GM hesitates here- “is there anything you want to do or say?” he asks, and asks a few more times over the course of an hour that this takes.

The Players each line out a few things they want to do, most of which have little to do with the campaign- buy supplies, talk to the ladies that are traveling with the caravan, shoot the “dung” with people in the caravan, keep a vigilant eye out, scout ahead for water supplies, and possible problems on the road.

Again, the GM asks if there is anything else. The Players are uncertain, but know that the GM is hinting at something and so they ask- “is there something we are suppose to be doing or saying?”

The GM is thinking that they characters are only doing what their Players say they are doing, no one mentioned that their characters are sitting about the camp fire at night singing songs, and telling tails of adventure, or listening to them. There was no mention that the characters would introduce themselves to all of the people they are traveling with for more then a month. Yet the GM seems insistent that the PCs should be doing something here.

Many a time I have found myself in a situation where the GM expects me to do something and I am at a lose for what to do. It almost seems that the future of the campaign sometimes hinges on me doing exactly what I do not know, yet should be doing.

To explain a mite more- my wife and I have driven from California to Idaho a few times in the past, oh fourteen years. We talk, about everything and anything just to pass the time. Now if we were character in a campaign my wife would have missed a few vital facts about me, things that she did not know (we have known each other for more then twenty years), and I have learned a few things myself.

Should a GM assume that while ‘shooting the dung with my fellow travelers,’ might dreg up some clues that one of the merchants happens to know some hints about the dungeon these adventurers seek? Or, should the Players need to mention it? (Like looking up when your Searching a room.)

As GM I tend to be generous about this sort of thing. If the players mention they are going to talk to a few of the NPCs, I will shift around which ones might have the "important" info. Or call for Gather Information checks or something similar. If the PCs need a piece of information to keep the campaign going, there's no point in the GM being stingy with it.

It is crazy to think that the players need to detail every little thing they are saying or doing. I found that if I just ask open ended questions like "what are you guys doing," and I'm looking for them to do something specific, they usually don't know what I'm looking for (players with ESP are in short supply). If I assume they are talking about all kinds of "dung" without asking them, there have been times where the players get mad at me for making that assumption, especially if it affects them negatively (one of the people in the caravan talks to a henchman of the BBEG at a bar and spills the goods about the PCs).

I usually will ask the players if their characters are talking about the current quest, or if they avoiding talking about certain things to people they don't know well.

As a general rule: it depends.

As always, the PC you can depend on to pick up hints will have a bad cold the one time you really need him to pick up a hint and miss it. Conversely, a group will envision a hint where you never saw one. Being a DM is riding the roller coaster of irony.

What I do: I'm pretty generous about what qualifies as a conversation starter. Ever notice in TV and the movies complete strangers are willing to give the hero their life story? That's how I roll.....

PC: Hi, I'd like to buy a fish taco.

Merchant: Funny you should mention fish, stranger! A karaken is plaguing these fair shores and has just recently sunk a ship carrying a collection of magic scimitars autographed by Drizzit Do'Urden. The king will pay quite a handsome sum for those swords even though he is under a curse placed on him by the Night-Hag of the Northern Woods, who wants nothing less than to take his place on the throne and fulfill the 7th prophecy of the ancient Witch-Queens!

PC: Uh ... so can I get hot sauce with that?

Just plan on having stuff happen if the player characters don't act. Make something happen in the near term the first few times, so they can get the message that they need to be proactive. (Don't have the first time they drop the ball be the thing that gives the BBEG the Weapon of Ultimate Destruction at level 20, for instance.) If they don't get proactive, that creates all sorts of adventure possibilities, too.

Chalk it up to differences in DM styles.

In a similar situation (travelling with a caravan), I have caravan NPCs tallk with the characters as a way of getting some interest (and information) going. A NPC make a comment or reveals something that get the conversation going and gives the players the impression that stuff is going on around them.

The characters can either act on the information, chat up the NPCs further or do nothing. It is their choice.

It is easy enough that if the characters are not motivated enough to find trouble, trouble can always find them.

As a GM, I try to avoid situations where players feel at loss. I hate it as a player because it makes me feel stupid. That's why I usually say: "Is there anything you want to say or do? If not, we'll just skip ahead to your arrival..." That provides enough hints for the players to know that now is the time to shop, announce the scroll scribing and what not, and then we'll fast forward.

There's no point in building up tension when the only real question is whether this is a boring trip, yes or no. It is, so skip it.

These times are a great opportunity to allow players a little creative license later. Flashback scenes can be very helpful - for instance, suppose that three sessions later the PCs are adventuring in Townsville and need a local contact. "Hey," one of the players says, "Didn't Fred the Blacksmith from the caravan live in Townsville? Let's see if he's ever heard of this guy we're supposed to look for." or "Remember Joe Wizard from that tavern where we just stayed up all night chatting with people? He might be able to help us out here, let's see if we can find his mageware shop..."

But I'm the sort of GM who really likes givng my players some ownership of the setting that way.

I force my players to search a town top to bottom before finding the vital clue.

It's like whack a mole.

There's no consequence for failure on a Gather Information check, so I would say you could take 20 for spending 10 days (8 hours per) with someone on a journey. If the journey is shorter then have them roll three times a day.

If you want to encourage more roleplaying during this rolling, rather than give them the information verbatim from what you wrote down or are using, say something like "While chatting with the other passengers, one of them says something that's interesting..." Give them the first line, and then let them roleplay for a few minutes with the NPC.