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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NewJeffCT" data-source="post: 5550934" data-attributes="member: 10784">I usually deliver clues via post owl...just kidding, of course, but while my players are all pretty smart individuals, I subscribe to the KISS method of delivering clues - Keep It Simple, Stupid.If you try to get too fancy or complex, you risk the players losing interest in solving the puzzles to just get to the clues, or having them spend too much time at the gaming table debating what exactly each clue means and what to do after that.  If they spend so much time on that, they can lose focus on the story and the campaign.Which brings me to a corollary to that - don't have too many clues.  The rule of three above is a good idea, but more than three clues at a time is just too much.  If they can't figure it out within three clues, it's too complex and needs to be revised.  Tracking down a bunch of clues, interpreting each of them and then deciding where to go next works great in a mystery novel, but does not always play out well at the gaming table.And, if they don't figure it out after three clues, I'll usually introduce some sort of NPC informant or some other way for them to get the information more directly.  I would rather not have them spend an entire session arguing about which clues mean what.</blockquote>