Interesting Situations: PC choices and plans

[Clownmite]

I think the most fun situations in an RPG come when the PCs have a situation that has multiple and varied ways of being resolved. As a player, my favorite parts of playing are the times when I can be creative, and the party can form a plan to deal with a situation that allows each character to play to their strengths.

I started this thread because I'm having trouble designing dungeons, situations, quests, and encounters which allow the players freedom, or have multiple ways to approach.

I think the stereotypical example would be a hostile castle or keep that the PCs need to enter. They could try to bash the gate down, distract some of the guards to come out and leave the door open, disguise themselves as the guards, fly over the walls, etc. I think this situation is much better than a dungeon set in a cave - in that case, there's no choice, just "I enter the cave..."

What are some other situations where PCs have a variety of choices on how to approach their goal? What is your most memorable PC plan? As a DM, how do you design fun situations that allow players to be creative?

 

[FireLance]

As a DM, how do you design fun situations that allow players to be creative?

To be honest, I think that allowing your players to be creative is better done at the table, while playing the game, rather than at the planning and designing stage. You might want to ensure that you yourself can think of at least two or three ways to deal with every situation you put the PCs into, so that you don't inadvertently fall into the trap of setting up a situation for which there is only one plausible means of resolution, but beyond that, I think that the real key is, when running your game, to focus on the reasons why the players' plans would work (or how they could be made to work) rather than reasons why they won't.

If you want to encourage creativity in your players, avoid dead ends and sudden death scenarios. When they come up with plans that cannot plausibly work due to factors or circumstances that they aren't aware of, try to communicate them to your players so that they can modify their plans. And assuming your players aren't coming up with idiotic or suicidal plans, don't heap dire consequences on them without warning.

In a way, it's like playing a game of Mastermind with the players. You need to set things up so that the players can find out what is and isn't going to work (preferably indirectly, through events that occur in the game world) without worrying that a single mis-step will end the game for their characters. Without feedback, or if they are constantly worried about the possibility of sudden, game-ending consequences, they are likely to ditch creativity and simply fall back on tried and tested methods.

 

[Whisper72]

Fostering 'creative play' is a combination of two things:

- providing 'hooks' for the players: describing their surroundings such that you imply (you do not need to list every item) there is stuff lying about that may be useful when used in a creative manner
- saying 'yes, you can' as a DM when players want to try something 'off the wall'

No real planning / scenario is needed. As long as the DM is open to new solutions, things can get on a roll.

You might even say, the more you plan as DM, the less room for creativity there is. If you already 'plotted out' what the 'only possible solutions' to the problem are, then, even if there are multiple solutions possible, there is no real call on the creative juices of the players.

Simply providing a challenge, even you as DM may not yet have decided upon how it is soluble, that is where creativity sets in...

 

[IronWolf]

Fostering 'creative play' is a combination of two things:

- providing 'hooks' for the players: describing their surroundings such that you imply (you do not need to list every item) there is stuff lying about that may be useful when used in a creative manner
- saying 'yes, you can' as a DM when players want to try something 'off the wall'

No real planning / scenario is needed. As long as the DM is open to new solutions, things can get on a roll.

I think point two is the big one. If you want to foster creativity from your players for resolving things default to saying "yes, you can" when they suggest something not entirely expected.

I doubt I would ever come up with every scenario a player could come up with for tackling certain situations. So when they come up with something I had never thought of instead of saying no or coming up with some on the fly reason why they can't allow them to try and simply let them know possible risks if relevant.

As the players learn that the GM is willing to listen to even the off the wall or thoughtful strategies they will be encouraged to approach more problems that way. That will hopefully snowball as time goes on.

 

[ThatGuyThere]

I think this situation is much better than a dungeon set in a cave - in that case, there's no choice, just "I enter the cave..."

Best "free-form" dungeon I ever ran was a cave! Cave entrance was in an old quarry; the entrance was on the far side of a pool of filthy water, with a makeshift (long) bridge over it.

Can't just run across the boards in, because the entrance is only 10' across; there's no room to fight (plus, boards are trapped, even if the Rogue can't find them). Can't swim over, water's filthy, probably Otyughs (there were). Might climb down from above, but if the Orcs do hear you coming, you're in a pretty bad spot for a fight...

I've re-used this same cave entrance about eight-to-ten times - sometimes with the same group! - and never had people try to get in the same way. I've seen sneaking in, luring the orcs out, bald-faced charges, ranged fighters providing cover as melee characters got in, and "burn down the bridge and leave them in there" (yeah, that was unexpected).

Interestingly, nobody's ever looked for the back door.

 

[nedjer]

I think the most fun situations in an RPG come when the PCs have a situation that has multiple and varied ways of being resolved. As a player, my favorite parts of playing are the times when I can be creative, and the party can form a plan to deal with a situation that allows each character to play to their strengths.

I started this thread because I'm having trouble designing dungeons, situations, quests, and encounters which allow the players freedom, or have multiple ways to approach.

I think the stereotypical example would be a hostile castle or keep that the PCs need to enter. They could try to bash the gate down, distract some of the guards to come out and leave the door open, disguise themselves as the guards, fly over the walls, etc. I think this situation is much better than a dungeon set in a cave - in that case, there's no choice, just "I enter the cave..."

What are some other situations where PCs have a variety of choices on how to approach their goal? What is your most memorable PC plan? As a DM, how do you design fun situations that allow players to be creative?

Challenges:

Tabletop RPGs: Challenges
Tabletop RPGs More Challenges

 

[Thasmodious]

As others have said, the key to creative play is not in prep, it's play at the table. No matter how many scenarios you plan for, the PCs will inevitably come up with something you never thought of. Sometimes, it will be frustratingly simple and bypass hours of your prep.

For me, I don't worry about the how, that is the PCs territory. I set up the location or situation, make a few notes, and then see what they come up with, which is usually inventive, a little nuts, and not even close to anything that popped in my head while thinking about the scenario ahead of time. Using your castle example, I'd rough sketch the castle, include any notes needed based on the scenario (NPCs in the castle, why they need in, e.g. the chalice they are after is in the sept at the bottom of the Lord's tower), a few notes on NPCs, maybe guard patrols and shifts, some flavor details, and then set them loose.

As for memorable PC plans, this one is from the opening session of my Firefly game a couple years ago. The PC pilot is roughly based on Murdoch from the A-Team, he's certifiable from trauma sustained during the war, and if he pops up on the grid somewhere, he ends up in a mental institution. In this case, he started the game in such an institution. The opening of the game was the captain building his crew, and this PC was his close friend and the only pilot he truly trusts. So the Captain brings on a mechanic and a Companion and then informs them that their first task is to break out his pilot from the local mental hospital while he does other things (unbeknownst to them, this included trying to acquire a ship to Captain). I had some notes on the facility but no real plans. I did figure it would take a while for the PCs to gather some intel on the place, probe for weaknesses, formulate and execute a plan to get him out. I anticipated it would take much of the session as I switched back to the captain doing some more recruiting and securing that ship. Instead, the mechanic used his McGyver edge to fashion a taser patch that he could wear like a joy buzzer. He posed as the Companions manservant and they waltzed in through the front door. The Companion charmed the staff all over the place, told them he was here by chance and had no time to set up a proper visitation but that he would *dearly* love to see his favorite cousin. So the staff allowed a visit and the pilot was accompanied by a guard to a private visiting area(this wasn't a supermax or anything, just your standard mental hospital). The mechanic struck up a conversation about sports while the "cousins" visited, then casually introduced himself - "I'm Zeke, by the way" and offered his hand for a shake. They tucked the guard under a bench and strolled back out the front door, bluffing that they had been given permission for a walk around the grounds.

It took me longer to type than it did to play out and it was a great plan that really utilized the strengths of the two characters.

 

[invokethehojo]

I think the stereotypical example would be a hostile castle or keep that the PCs need to enter. They could try to bash the gate down, distract some of the guards to come out and leave the door open, disguise themselves as the guards, fly over the walls, etc. I think this situation is much better than a dungeon set in a cave - in that case, there's no choice, just "I enter the cave..."

I love doing this kind of thing, and I could write you a really long post about it, but I don't have time, so here is the gist. Create a semi complex situation without the PC's, where several sides are doing their own thing independant of the PC's. Then throw in the PC's.

Your castle example: the PC's sneak into a castle, which then becomes under seige. So the PC's can try to disguise themselves as either side, can use the confusion, can pit one side against each other, can use one side as a distraction, can use sabatoge and misdirection.

The key thing is that you have a feel for this situation and how it would likely play out if the PC's weren't there, as opposed to a rigid structure, so when the PC's start changing things you just adapt to their changes.

Maybe you have an idea that the attacking side will break through a gate after a few hours, then begin to set buildings on fire on their way to the King's hall. Depending on where the PC's are when you decide that actually occurs it could save them from a fight they are losing, or give them an opportunity to help victims caught in the fire, or allow them to blend in with the attackers to gain access to the Kings hall, or let them negotiate with the king to help repel the attackers if they are given the item they came for.

 

[The Shaman]

I disagree that the answer is "less prep." I think preparation is very important, but it's in what you prep.

I've described my style as 'prep to improvise,' which means my prep is focused on being able to make things up at the table in response to what the adventurers do and creating encounters and events rather than 'adventures.'

I won't belabor this thread by repeating what I've covered elsewhere - if you're interested the linked posts will explain my approach in more detail.

 

[Clownmite]

I think point two is the big one. If you want to foster creativity from your players for resolving things default to saying "yes, you can" when they suggest something not entirely expected.

Excellent point. I ran one dungeon with a Cadaver Collector (has a bunch of spikes on its back that it impales things on). The PCs needed a key that was on one of the corpses. I figured they would just try to fight it, or lure it into a pool of flammable oil and light it on fire if they were smart.

Instead, the CN rogue wants to play cards with it. Since the golemn had no quarrel with the PCs, I had the golemn be curious. The PCs bluffed their way through a game they made up on the spot, and used the distraction to allow the ranger to sneak up behind it and grab the key.

Best "free-form" dungeon I ever ran was a cave! Cave entrance was in an old quarry; the entrance was on the far side of a pool of filthy water, with a makeshift (long) bridge over it...

Awesome idea. What I meant was a "stereotypical" cave - only 1 entrance with no special obstacles, where the PCs only choice is to march inside (and the dungeon inside ends up being linear). Your cave is an awesome entrance to a dungeon, I'm totally stealing it for my campaign!

Tabletop RPGs: Challenges
Tabletop RPGs More Challenges

Thanks!

I disagree that the answer is "less prep." I think preparation is very important, but it's in what you prep.

I've described my style as 'prep to improvise,' which means my prep is focused on being able to make things up at the table in response to what the adventurers do and creating encounters and events rather than 'adventures.'

I won't belabor this thread by repeating what I've covered elsewhere - if you're interested the linked posts will explain my approach in more detail.

Prepping to improvise is exactly what I'm trying to do, thanks for the link!

On the note of prep time and improvisation - one night, my friend didn't have anything prepared for the campaign he was running, so I decided to take over with a general idea of what I wanted to do. The PCs had a simple mission - sneak into a noble's house and assassinate him. The sneaky types broke in and bypassed most of the guards while everyone else created a diversion outside. One of my players said it was her favorite session we've run. My prep time was a grand total of 5 minutes (spent drawing up the map of the house).