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<blockquote data-quote="Herzog" data-source="post: 5263502" data-attributes="member: 25696">When you run anything that is more complicated than a kick-in-the-door adventure, you will run into this:&nbsp;Players are stupid.&nbsp;Or, rather, they may appear stupid. Clues you lay out before them are ignored, misinterpreted, or even turned completely upside down.This is because YOU know the background and context, and they have to work with what you give them.&nbsp;Three things are important:1. Be patient. If they really don't have a clue, give them a little extra info, but give them time to figure it out for themselves.2. Be restrictive in your information. At some point, you might as well tell them directly what the conclusion from the clues should be. Try to avoid that, unless:3. Don't let the adventures be hindered by lack of knowledge. If the players stop because they have no idea what to do about the problems you present, they need that info. You could suggest that the characters use divination to obtain the info (giving you an in-game reason to provide it)&nbsp;When you run a pre-made adventure, make sure you know which parts of the adventure are important for the story and which are 'fluff'. If something is 'fluff', you can easily replace it with something else and keep the adventure intact. You can also skip it if you feel it slowing the adventure down, or 'wing' it if you feel looking up rules is going to slow the game down.If something is an integral part of the pre-made adventure, this is more difficult, since changes you make may affect other parts of the adventure. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but you should be aware of it so you don't run into surprises later on.Example: If the party needs to defeat a griffon for it's egg because the egg must later be used to create a special potion to defeat the evil wizard, replacing the griffon encounter means you need to change the recipe for the potion.&nbsp;And, of course, good luck!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Herzog, post: 5263502, member: 25696"] When you run anything that is more complicated than a kick-in-the-door adventure, you will run into this: Players are stupid. Or, rather, they may appear stupid. Clues you lay out before them are ignored, misinterpreted, or even turned completely upside down. This is because YOU know the background and context, and they have to work with what you give them. Three things are important: 1. Be patient. If they really don't have a clue, give them a little extra info, but give them time to figure it out for themselves. 2. Be restrictive in your information. At some point, you might as well tell them directly what the conclusion from the clues should be. Try to avoid that, unless: 3. Don't let the adventures be hindered by lack of knowledge. If the players stop because they have no idea what to do about the problems you present, they need that info. You could suggest that the characters use divination to obtain the info (giving you an in-game reason to provide it) When you run a pre-made adventure, make sure you know which parts of the adventure are important for the story and which are 'fluff'. If something is 'fluff', you can easily replace it with something else and keep the adventure intact. You can also skip it if you feel it slowing the adventure down, or 'wing' it if you feel looking up rules is going to slow the game down. If something is an integral part of the pre-made adventure, this is more difficult, since changes you make may affect other parts of the adventure. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but you should be aware of it so you don't run into surprises later on. Example: If the party needs to defeat a griffon for it's egg because the egg must later be used to create a special potion to defeat the evil wizard, replacing the griffon encounter means you need to change the recipe for the potion. And, of course, good luck! [/QUOTE]

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