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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7789789" data-attributes="member: 6801845">That's just not how I run my game.&nbsp; If I'm setting up an investigation/mystery there will be multiple ways to get to the answer.&nbsp; But I also want to run my NPCs realistically.&nbsp; If I think it makes sense that Ned is proficient in deception, it's not going to be obvious that he's hiding something.I don't want to spoon feed my players info because it's more fun to realize later on that Ned had really been killed the night before and the person they talked to was really an assassin that was magically disguised.&nbsp; Or maybe the PCs will surprise me and figure out Ned is an assassin and my carefully planned scenario turns into a fight or chase scene.There will always be at least one path forward, it's up to the players to decide which one to follow.&nbsp; If they really get stuck, I'll be explicit and drop an obvious hint in their lap, hopefully in a way that makes them feel clever.On a related note if they're questioning someone who is being helpful, that NPC will tell them everything they think is relevant.&nbsp; There's no &quot;you must ask the right question&quot; in my game except for very specific scenarios such as an NPC under duress.In more general terms I don't think &quot;The PCs will talk to X and find out Y&quot;.&nbsp; It's more &quot;X knows Y and is willing to share that info, but they also know about Z which they don't want to share&quot;.&nbsp; Assuming of course that they even decide to talk to X.&nbsp; I think about people, organizations, motivations and goals, how groups relate to each other, what's going on, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7789789, member: 6801845"] That's just not how I run my game. If I'm setting up an investigation/mystery there will be multiple ways to get to the answer. But I also want to run my NPCs realistically. If I think it makes sense that Ned is proficient in deception, it's not going to be obvious that he's hiding something. I don't want to spoon feed my players info because it's more fun to realize later on that Ned had really been killed the night before and the person they talked to was really an assassin that was magically disguised. Or maybe the PCs will surprise me and figure out Ned is an assassin and my carefully planned scenario turns into a fight or chase scene. There will always be at least one path forward, it's up to the players to decide which one to follow. If they really get stuck, I'll be explicit and drop an obvious hint in their lap, hopefully in a way that makes them feel clever. On a related note if they're questioning someone who is being helpful, that NPC will tell them everything they think is relevant. There's no "you must ask the right question" in my game except for very specific scenarios such as an NPC under duress. In more general terms I don't think "The PCs will talk to X and find out Y". It's more "X knows Y and is willing to share that info, but they also know about Z which they don't want to share". Assuming of course that they even decide to talk to X. I think about people, organizations, motivations and goals, how groups relate to each other, what's going on, etc. [/QUOTE]

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