Adventure Hooks - How do you pace your game?

[LovelyNipper]

What method to people use to keep the game moving at a good clip? I have found to ways to go about it.
1. I can hook players and let them investigate and hunt down the evildoers.
2. I can plop the characters into an active situation and explain how they got there with a narritive like is often done in TV shows.

I've noticed using style #1 causes my players to be very cautious. Often times I ask, "So how long do you just wait hiding in front of the lair. One hour? Two? Until something happens." Which is really annoying for both the players and DM. Especially when they are hunting an evil that doesn't want to be disturbed. Or a band of cultists who are happy to finish the dark ritual and then go out to meet any adventurers.
Sometimes this works out okay. Not always though and I don't know how to fix it except to have the bad guys behave stupidly and start coming after the players when there isn't a good reason.

Style #2 always leads to fun. They really seem to like starting the session with a description of how the heros cannily located the stronghold and are just finishing picking the lock on the side door only to hear the footsteps of the approching ogres. But after the game is over the players say they would have liked to play out the intro narrative.

Please give advice, tell me about yet unknown style #3, and tell me how to help my players get into the action in time based stories.

Thank you,
LovelyNipper

 

[Crothian]

Let me give you 1A) present the players with multiple hooks and let them pick out the one or ones they want to deal with. I like giving the players options, so I set up the world pick a few different hooks and see if the character bite. Sometimes they don't put players do find their own hooks and I think they like that.

 

[LovelyNipper]

I usually come to the table with one adventure and one dungeon style "critical threat" sort of senerio ready. I offer one or two hooks for the adventure and use the critical threat as a backup. The problem isn't that the characters aren't interested. I usually do have them interested but then they take forever investigating and then stakeout the area in question until any time sensitive stuff is over and done with. Then they complain that there wasn't enough action in the game.

I really need tips on how to keep the game moving from one encounter to the next without the session stalling up. So far the only thing I've found is to helpfully force things along.

I talked to the players tonight and they gave some suggestions.
First more adventures where the monsters are hunting the party. Build plots where careful, grueling waiting isn't possible even if the party is trying to hide undetected for hours.
Second, make the investigations turn up super obvious clues. Like saying the ritual WILL take place tonight instead of just finding out the last item needed to complete the ritual was stolen this morning.
Third, when the party is undecidedly waiting around I should hold the DMG above my head (for authority) and announce that we are going to skip ahead to the next event unless the party is planning something proactive.

 

[yennico]

First more adventures where the monsters are hunting the party.

For that situations are the random encounter tables.

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, pacing... well, in the example of the pcs waiting outside a building I'll usually say something like, "You wait in the alley across the street, trying to stay hidden. You watch the passers-by as the sun sets. You've been there about an hour, and nothing's happened... what are you doing?" The pcs are free to wait longer- they'll usually give me an idea of how long they're waiting ('a couple more hours')- and maybe something will happen, and maybe it won't.

If pcs are roleplaying, I tend to let them go until they're done or until other folks are starting to get bored; but I think we're generally a pretty heavy roleplay group (although also with lots of battle). We like to have combat in most every game (I prolly average 1/year without any). As to how to pace it- it really depends. It's really about conflict, not combat- and while sometimes conflict is combat, but sometimes it's dramatic argument between two pcs, between pcs and npcs, or what have you. Romance, to be done well in an rpg, requires an element of conflict (imho)- overcoming social stigma, the courtship elements, etc. There should be a good amount of conflict (of some sort), of dramatic tension, in a session. How much of it is combat depends on what the pcs do, but I'm fortunate to have very proactive pcs. I usually start to plan adventures by asking them what they're doing next game at the end of a session.

Anyway, if the pace is too slow, you can have old enemies attack them, enemies the pcs don't know they have try to take them out before they get found out, thieves try to pickpocket them, a press gang try to force them into naval service, etc.