Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 5731798" data-attributes="member: 11300">I think this is linked to an aspect of adventure design that is well covered and that is the single gateway issue. If the party "has" to get through this door to "get the McGuffin" and is purely focused on this door, then the adventure is reaching a full stop, the players are butting their heads and they're getting frustrated. If the DM has painted themselves into such a corner then it is going to be difficult to get things moving again.For me though, the trick is to have a wealth of alternative options to keep things moving so that the group does not become so fixated on a possibly unsolvable situation. You want players to go "well we can't do anything about that now but let's go this way instead and keep a lookout on A, B or C happening so we can maybe crack it later. If the players "know" there is a solution, that is when they are going to keep butting their heads against the wall for hours until they crack it. If they are used to playing without this expectation of being able to solve everything when presented, in my experience they will be more inclined to "let it go", think about things more (which as a DM is what I want) and generally derive more enjoyment from genuine achievement when they do solve it rather than being gifted with unmerited success.But that's the thing, I shouldn't have to tell the players this and it is best for them in turn if they don't expect such metagame information direct from the DM. It is far better that the players take such action themselves and if they know it could be unsolvable, they will be more inclined to do this. If they are expecting there to always be a solution, that is when you really run into hours of head-bashing.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

Verification