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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nagol" data-source="post: 5039483" data-attributes="member: 23935">The secret is to train your players to look.You have to use a few subtle tools for reinforcement. If the players ever look at anything, offer a small reward that appeals to the player -- a few minutes of focus time, an inconsequential treasure, a clue at a unsolved puzzle, something that foreshadows future events, etc.Place a set of secondary items and a unknown plot in an locale that the players are bound to explore.  If the players pick on on the clues, great!  They get an action reward for poking around; you get to enjoy their perceptiveness.  If they don't pick up on the clues, have a second group go through the locale after the fact find the clues and reap the reward.  The players can discover what they missed amid the victory celebrations.  This is a great way to establish a 'friendly' rivalry while offering a lesson that the DM will not advertise all plot-critical elements and the players need to look around.That said, you need to be careful with what you wish for.  Players constantly pokng around and examing every possible item can kill huge amounts of session time and lead to unpleasant group dynamic as part of the group just wants to get going to the action and the rest is convinced they've discovered a telling secret in an truly innocent pool of water and won't move on until they find the secret they are certain is there.  Unlike a single player video game, wasting time affects others' enjoyment.</blockquote>

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