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How should a GM handle refused plots
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<blockquote data-quote="redrick" data-source="post: 7096462" data-attributes="member: 6777696"><p>I hear your concerns. As a GM needing to cook up content for every session, it really helps to be excited about the content you are creating, and sometimes it's a bummer to not have that excitement matched by the players. I think all of the advice here is really good.</p><p></p><p>Generally, the more you can do at the early stages of adventure planning to ask, "how does this idea hook the players and player characters in this group?" the better. It will help you avoid heartache from getting heavily invested in an idea that won't fly. Of course, sometimes we think we know what the players want and are wrong.</p><p></p><p>Don't railroad players into a hook that they have rejected. Keep coming up with new hooks until you find one that you all like. If the players bail on the only content you had planned at the beginning of the session, throw something simple and crowd-pleasing at them that you know you can run on the fly. Maybe just plagiarize the plot of the last book your read or tv episode you watched. Sort of like the DJ putting Michael Jackson on at a wedding. Come back next time with several loosely fleshed out ideas and see which one they take, and figure out the long-term details later.</p><p></p><p>I think it's great to let players see the consequences of adventure hooks they declined to take (that village they refused to help was overrun by monsters, that caravan they chose not to escort was attacked by cannibals and only one person survived to tell about it), but it should be narrative and not punitive. Nobody should feel like they are being punished for choosing to explore a different part of the world.</p><p></p><p>Good luck staying engaged!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="redrick, post: 7096462, member: 6777696"] I hear your concerns. As a GM needing to cook up content for every session, it really helps to be excited about the content you are creating, and sometimes it's a bummer to not have that excitement matched by the players. I think all of the advice here is really good. Generally, the more you can do at the early stages of adventure planning to ask, "how does this idea hook the players and player characters in this group?" the better. It will help you avoid heartache from getting heavily invested in an idea that won't fly. Of course, sometimes we think we know what the players want and are wrong. Don't railroad players into a hook that they have rejected. Keep coming up with new hooks until you find one that you all like. If the players bail on the only content you had planned at the beginning of the session, throw something simple and crowd-pleasing at them that you know you can run on the fly. Maybe just plagiarize the plot of the last book your read or tv episode you watched. Sort of like the DJ putting Michael Jackson on at a wedding. Come back next time with several loosely fleshed out ideas and see which one they take, and figure out the long-term details later. I think it's great to let players see the consequences of adventure hooks they declined to take (that village they refused to help was overrun by monsters, that caravan they chose not to escort was attacked by cannibals and only one person survived to tell about it), but it should be narrative and not punitive. Nobody should feel like they are being punished for choosing to explore a different part of the world. Good luck staying engaged! [/QUOTE]
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