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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1134116" data-attributes="member: 13098">Free Will to make Choices is very important to me.  I try to lay out several hooks for story arcs and let my players choose the path(s) they want to pursue.  Well, assuming it isn't a campaign that doesn't include the group being in complete service to a lord, church, guild, whatever.  Anyway, back to Free Will....As I said, I try to have plot hooks that the PC's can pursue.  I have found that the further down one story arc they go, the more involved they become in it and the stronger the desire to "finish it" becomes. In the meantime, the other story arcs will probably have events going on in them and I try to give the players indications of what is transpiring.  Some of the story arcs may have a time-sensitive context to them where certain events are going to happen, unless somebody changes that timetable. So, if the PC's do not pursue that story arc, or if they abandon it, there are consequences.  I want them to feel like they are making an impact in the world and you can't do that if there are not consequences.  So far, my players have responded positively.  Many of them like the way that the world seems "alive" to them.  I think this is very much a result of Free Will with consequences.  As a DM, this is not the easiest thing to always run.  I tend to prepare things just ahead of when they are needed in the story.  I have created villages, keeps, dungeons and adversaries on the fly.  Occasionally, I will use the quantum room mechanic where there is a choice of doors, but regardless of which door they choose, they end up with the same room.  Basically, when I am creating stuff on the fly, I tend to do things to give me a little more time.  The quantum room will usually have something that will hold the PC's attention while I rough out more ideas, including the "other door". <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  This probably sounds a bit cheesy, but it works.  As Crothian mentioned, if your players trust you, and you trust them, it is much more fun.  So, if I stumble for a moment because I am trying to create something on the fly, they are very forgiving.  My players trust me to keep the storyline consistent and they don't automatically assume I am out to screw them.  They know that they can choose a different path and if there are consequences, it isn't because I am trying to punish them, it is because the world consistency demands that something happen.</blockquote>

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