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Message: <blockquote data-quote="prabe" data-source="post: 8167286" data-attributes="member: 7016699">So, I don't claim to run sandboxy stuff, but I'll answer from the POV of running my campaigns.I presume this includes session prep. With you so far.Starting to drift away a little: I might have AN answer in my head for some things in play, but I don't believe I have THE answer for them. If the players get stuck and/or don't come up with their own solution/s, I'll start pointing them more directly at mine, but that's not best-case.I don't think of the situations/scenarios in my game as "puzzles," exactly, but yes: The players/characters attempt to solve the situation. No further drift in agreement.The GM's model being different from another's model isn't necessarily a problem. Serious thought and sincere best effort will suffice (given the capability). I think the likelihood of nternal inconsistency can be ... reduced (not eliminated) by taking good notes--I think notes on what happened will suffice; I don't know that notes on mechanics are necessary--and/or by running scenarios that resolve over a relatively few sessions. I think some minor internal inconsistency can be forgiven, but I'm not arguing that it can be a problem.This possibility seems plausible to me. I know that I think differently from most of the players at my tables, so if I'm doing something that involves dropping clues I need to be careful to take that into account: Something that seems blipping obvious to me might be completely opaque to the other people at the table. Making sure there are multiple opportunities to acquire the clues and making sure the adventure can continue in some form if the players don't acquire them seem like ways to prevent the worst case, here.See my note about shorter scenarios above, though I agree that GMs and players might individually or collectively have bad days.I think the one of these most likely to be apparent to the players during play is what you call "cipher error." I'm not saying the others don't happen and/or don't cause problems, but I think they're maybe too subtle (at least most of the time) to observe from inside the game as it's being played.I think you're asking two closely-related but different questions, here.The first reads to me like a scenario-design question/problem. It's not the sandbox answer (as I understand the playstyle; I do not claim to be running sandbox campaigns), but I think the answer here is to create scenarios/situations that will generate friction when the characters meet them.The second reads to me like a session-running/operation question/problem. If there's not enough friction between the PCs and the situation, then ... I guess the GM is left to adjust the situation, whether by adding elements to try to generate the needed friction or just by having things happen in the absence of interference (or something other than either of those).</blockquote>

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