D&D General Advancing the Plot when the PCs don't take the bait. . .

[Krachek]

Players not sharing vital information with the group is one of my biggest frustrations as a DM. Especially when you are running an adventure in a system that relies heavily on clues, such as Call of Cthulhu, having a player hide that all important clue can seriously derail the adventure, or worse: get the whole party killed.

There are only so many clues you can drop as a DM, and if one of the players is just carrying around the clue of where to go next, without looking at it or showing it to the rest of the party... argh, it makes me want to pull my hair out.

And I can drop in reminders of course: "Remember, you still have that black book in your inventory that you haven't looked at", but when even those reminders are ignored... then what do you do?

I don't like railroading my players, but I also don't feel it is fair for the whole party to fail the adventure because one player was holding back an important clue.

I have been in the same situation as DM long time ago. A player that were always asking for info and intel suddenly became a sink hole with key information. I think That I wait too long and I should have manage alternative way for giving again the information to another player or at the whole party.

 

[corwyn77]

That is an amazing outcome. I think it is fantastic when the choices of the players have such a big effect on the setting, and form the springboard for future adventures. Well done to both you as a DM, and your players.

My only regret was that it was in Mexico and the rest of the game was in the States so there weren't much ramifications (for them) once they escaped the blast. No non-undead witnesses and all that. But it was a lot of fun.

 

[MGibster]

I don't like railroading my players, but I also don't feel it is fair for the whole party to fail the adventure because one player was holding back an important clue.

I don't like making character choices for the player either. Sometimes there's a fine balance between letting the player play their character and making sure the game runs smoothly and sometimes you don't know if you've made the right decision until after the fact.

 

[el-remmen]

When I've run into the above situation, I have sometimes chosen for another PC to find out some of the info in a different (perhaps inadvertent way). This still leaves the choice in player hands, but gets around stubborn refusal to share info for no good reason (and heck, sometimes the reason is just "I forgot!")

 

[Imaculata]

(and heck, sometimes the reason is just "I forgot!")

Quite often even, in my experience.

 

[billd91]

When I've run into the above situation, I have sometimes chosen for another PC to find out some of the info in a different (perhaps inadvertent way). This still leaves the choice in player hands, but gets around stubborn refusal to share info for no good reason (and heck, sometimes the reason is just "I forgot!")

Yeah, the “I forgot” can be a legitimate issue here. Information bottlenecks can be a real problem for games. When I need to, I try to include multiple clues capable of steering PCs in the right direction. The Alexandrian Three Clue Rule is a pretty good guideline.

 

[MGibster]

Yeah, the “I forgot” can be a legitimate issue here. Information bottlenecks can be a real problem for games. When I need to, I try to include multiple clues capable of steering PCs in the right direction. The Alexandrian Three Clue Rule is a pretty good guideline.

I really like that we can have wholesome reasons why there might be a bottleneck, admissions of a DM being at partial fault, and solutions to the problems. You guys are great.