Frustrated DM...

[Desdichado]

What I didn't see mentioned, is that some players like to be essentially led around by the nose. Some players really want to be the decision makers, some of them want to coast through D&D as a relaxing type of activity.

You have to know your players before you decide on your strategy. All of the replies here have been geared towards very proactive characters, but a fair amount I've gamed with in the past are not like that.

When I DM, I don't plan much. I stat out some NPCs with a generator, including a few bad guys, and faceless spear carriers that the PCs can fight. I have a few maps in my folder that I can potentially use, and a few vague ideas of a monster, encounter, roleplaying scene, etc. that I want the PCs to meet up with during the session. Then I sit down to play and see what they do, plugging in these elements as it makes sense.

 

[Luddite]

Well here is my advise (which may be repeating someone else because I have not read the full thread)

I created a wolrd and introduced some characters, places and events. The first few adventures were the "You have been hired to...." types just to get the players together. After a few of these, they got a feeling for the world and an idea of what they could do.

After that, I would ask the players to decide what they wanted to do next. I would list two or three options available to them, but I would also say, that the could do anything they want. I would have them sort of decide at the end of the Adventure Episode and then I would have my two weeks or so, to plan the next Episode. They still got to choose what they wanted to do, but only at key points. Then I could plan out a course of events as a result of their decision.

The big thing is, don't start a session with "What do you want to due today?" towards the player. End the previous sessions with "Where do you want to go next?"

-The Luddite