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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 3901769" data-attributes="member: 12037">Here's the best piece of advice I can give:Never give out plot hooks at the beginning of a session.I cannot emphasize that enough. I can't bold it enough. I can't subliminally implant it into people's minds enough. With regard to my DMing philosophy this is one of the highest priority rules, one of the most important things to remember, because it is so very basic. Handing out plot hooks at the beginning of a session is bad. It leads to no good. It backfires. It is putting all your eggs in one basket in the middle of a herd of elephants. Players just don't do what you expect them to do. It doesn't matter how well you know them, something is going to go wrong eventually.Drop plot hooks in the middle of sessions. At the end. Interspersed throughout the quest they're working toward at the time. Drip subtle hints, drop bombs on them. Hit them upside the head with plot twists or obvious liars. Pounds that adventure hook into their heads. Give clues that they might not even pick up on. Whatever. Just don't do it at the beginning of the session expecting them to pick up on it and run with it. That way only leads to madness.This way, after each session, you can ask what they're plans are for the next one. The baron has offered them a large sum to find his grand-daughter? Great, but they might not pick it up. Or maybe they will. Or maybe they'll hire some other adventurers to do it for them. They're insane, after all, they're PCs! But, now you know and you can plan what areas to work on and what plots to move forward and all that fun stuff. And the best part: you know they'll participate in it. They've already told you they're interested. That's what they're doing.Now, they might change their mind. This isn't fool-proof. Call everybody up between the sessions. Make sure they haven't changed their minds. Be sure to remind them of any things that they might be forgetting. Maybe even write each quest down in, I don't know, card form! What a good idea! Make sure they don't have more pressing things they've forgotten. Be ready for any changes, just in case they happen, but let them know that you plan based off their own ideas.It's a kind of sandbox. A smaller sandbox that the players build around themselves instead of a desert they can run through. That's okay, I think its better. It leads to an open ended game that is still detailed and full of intrigue and all that other fun stuff. Have you ever tried to run a 15th level adventure on the fly? It isn't very impressive, let me tell you. Especially when its a plane-hopping game of 15th level. Just don't try it. Trust me.So, there you go.</blockquote>

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