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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 2750713" data-attributes="member: 812">See, I disagree with this. If every choice is important, then the PCs are never tense or worried that they're wasting time.It's like in a horror film when our heroes think they've cornered the creature -- they can hear it scrabbling and scuffling, they get ready, they throw open the door and...it's the cat.Everyone screams, everyone's a little bit relieved, but in the end the tension just rachets up even further. And the next time they're closing in on the beastie, the question stands -- are they really going to find it this time or is it just another cat?If your PCs never find themselves going down any dead ends, there's no tension.That said, obviously there's a balance that's required here, and part of being a good DM is delivering fun to your players, not mindlessly forcing them to follow whatever plan you have in mind. But it's part of your job to delay their success, to frustrate them and confuse them so that when they succeed, they feel like they really overcame some obstacles.I've had my PCs try to rebel on me, telling me that they felt helpless and frustrated and unable to proceed. They asked me to give them a clue. They asked me to adjust my style so that things were easier for them.I said, "No. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."Six years later, we wrapped the campaign with the exact same set of people we'd started with. We all had a great time.</blockquote>