iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I have to disagree with the idea that a player getting bored and stabbing the innkeeper is a sign of poor pacing. You're putting the blame for the player's action onto the DM! I would say that when this happens, it is often because a player is bored of not being the centre of attention; stereotypically, it happens when the Barbarian player - or Crab Bushi, or whatever - is wanting everyone to pay attention to them again, not to the Bard. For another example: rangers deserve the opportunity to roleplay being a protector of the wild with a low-stakes scene between them and some woodsmen in the forest, even if it isn't very exciting for the Wizard in the party. In short, one player does not get to say, "I don't want this scene any more" and take action that will negatively impact other people's enjoyment; the wizard who decides to just firebolt the woodsmen is at fault, not the DM for presenting that scene.
A previous post of mine upthread covers such scenes. The key in my view is to keep them tight - once you've rung any flavor or development out of the scene, move on, especially it's focused on just one character. A player having his or her character stab the innkeeper or bait the woodsman into a fight is looking for dramatic conflict that the session lacks and is a sign the DM needs to wrap the low tension scene and do something with some real stakes. This comes up a lot too in intraparty conflict. With no external conflict, players in my experience start looking inward for it, leading to all sorts of drama we've seen reported on the forums over the years.
In addition, I'd push back against the suggestion that every scene must have real stakes. This is not a book, or a film, where we can craft everything to be self-reverential and important for revealing character; all we can do as DMs is present the scenes that suit the story and the characters and the location, and hope to let the players have fun in them. I'll happy have a scene of a player just speaking to a Dwarven smith and booking their platemail, even if there is no 'loss condition' available; that player can take the opportunity to roleplay regardless. Indeed, I'll occasionally try to have a 'low drama' session, where the party just exist in the world. They meet people, they make plans, they get into discussions about whether armour should be ornate or plain, they, in short, roleplay. I'll make sure to add a combat encounter - or at least the option for one - into such a session, but I think that this kind of session can be really good for letting the players enjoy their characters and the world, without the pressure of saving the universe or rolling initiative. Often these scenes can lead to interesting things later on, for example when the party takes a shine to a given NPC, or when your description of the injustice in Baldur's Gate gets their blood pumping.
You will note that I never made this claim - only that challenges must have real stakes. I added that if a scene does not have stakes, that the DM is well-advised to keep it tight or else risk boring the players and getting results he or she may not want.
As always, it probably comes down to a group mismatch. If the DM is wanting to have low tension scenes where the party exists in the world, and Bob the Barbarian keeps hitting the NPCs so he can get back to combat, then sooner or later the game is going to have to change - either to not have those scenes, or to not have Bob in it.
Many words are spent on talking about "group mismatches." I think it's way overblown. It's a very rare person that is going to object to having some low tension scenes. Your typical questgiver scene tends to be low-tension, but it at least sets up the opportunity for challenges with stakes later on, so the Bob the Barbarians of the world will generally be fine with them in my experience. It's when that low tension scene drags on for longer than it needs to or there are multiple low tension scenes in between challenges that problems can arise. And that's a simple fix for the DM. I much prefer to fix something on my side of the screen than simply say Bob's not a fit for the group.