How Do I Jumpstart Player Problem Solving?

[DarrenGMiller]

Okay, here is my situation:



(Tomb of Abysthor spoilers ahead... If you are in my game in Myrtle Beach, SC - GET OUT!!!)



I am running Necromancer Games' Tomb of Abysthor in my Greyhawk campaign (I have set it in the Lortmils) and the party is on Level 1 (not the entry level). They party Paladin is there to find the Stone of Tircople and the Chalice of Elanir (which I have given a new background) and the party Cleric is there to find the Cleric of Orcus that killed his brother (back in Crucible of Freya). I have turned the two good dieties of the adventure into Heironeous and Pelor and have a pretty extensive background on the cooperation between the two churches woven into the campaign. I modify things pretty heavily, so I am open to suggestions, but my issue is that the PC's are treating it like a traditional crawl where the monsters wait for you to come kill them and you clean out every room one at a time. They are wandering through the place without a plan (3 weeks on level 1 wandering back and forth) and are not using knowledge their characters would/should have (except the party Ranger).

I have made it clear through monster and opponent tactics (I nat. 20'd for the Ogre to sneak up from behind and they have seen the inhabitants moving around (or evidence to that fact). I have dropped clues about who might have info (emphasizing the holy symbol of Orcus the Ogre is wearing, etc.), but they need less subtlety I guess.

Experienced DM's and those who are familiar with this adventure - How do I focus them into accomplishing their goals in an intelligent way? They are motivated to kill the recurring bad guy and find the macguffins, but just don't seem to know how to get the info necessary to accomplish their goals.

I have been DM'ing for many years, but every group is different. Please give suggestions.

Thanks!

DM

 

[gizmo33]

Off the top of my head I'd say the problem falls into the same category as the posts to the effect of:

- How do I get my players to roleplay?
- How do I get my players to use tactics in battle?

I see these all as different sides of the same coin. Players can probably be put into categories (some players might fall into more than one category):
1. character stat development: primarily interested in gaining XP, choosing their next feat, playing with the next magic item they find, and hanging out with friends
2. tactical/combat: interested in battling monsters and defeating them with tactics
3. roleplayers
4. puzzle solvers: answer riddles, figure out what lever to press, etc.
5. strategic thinkers: different from puzzle solvers in that they see things on a larger scale. They want to figure out how NPCs think, who their allies are, and how things "work" in the campaign in a broader sense. Puzzle solvers usually like you to hand them things ("Keraptis the wizard leaves you a clue in the form of the following riddle...") while strategic thinkers tend to want to figure things out without such guidelines.

Your dungeon sounds like it requires people in category 5. Most players IME fall into 1 and 2. People in category 5 are probably very often DMs.

Some of the advice you'll see on the other threads ("why don't my players roleplay?", "should I threaten to kill my players if they don't start using tacits?") probably fall into the category of:
1. give characters XP for doing the right thing (in your example, give them experience for figuring out some part of the puzzle, and announce that you are doing so)
2. kill characters for doing the wrong thing (an announce that you are doing so)

In your particular situation you might want to have the PCs just fail: they are captured by the ogre priest of Orcus (assisted by the hordes of monsters in the dungeon that the PCs are not making an attempt to hide from), questioned as to their intentions in the dungeon, laughed at because of their obvious lack of knowledge about what they are doing there, and released back into the wild without their stuff (because persons of such cluelessness cannot be a threat).

I'm not an advocate of "punishing" players in the game for not doing what you want them to. But if the scenario calls for strategic thinking and they're not using it, I support you having the chips fall and carrying out the logical consequences of the PCs actions - and I recommend that you explain things, either in game or out of game, so that players are made aware of this particular style of gaming.

Some people just play DnD to kill things though, so if your next adventure winds up taking the same course, you may have to resign yourself to that with this particular group of players, the best games are going to be hack and slash. Or prepare a lot of variations on the "characters are captured" theme. Or encourage everyone to keep a back-up character handy.