"Plan A is a dog....What's your Plan B?"

[Desdichado]

I actually try to discourage planning to some extent. I like the furious pace, rush from one crazy situation to another feel of a campaign, even if the crazy situations aren't necessarily combat encounters.

That's not to say that I penalize my players for planning, but at the same time, I hardly go out of my way to make campaigns in which detailed planning is crucial to success.

 

[SteelDraco]

We always go with plan A, because my Plan B is always waiting in the wings. Plan B is bag of holding into a portable hole. It's been a running gag for well over a decade with me, I always try to aquire these items so I can have Plan B ready just in case.

I've done that in recent memory, actually. It ended up being quite amusing. I had managed to grab the Evil Artifact, and the rogue-type BBEG was coming after me to get it. I stopped, looked around, and looked at my equipment list. I realized I couldn't possibly win against him, so I dropped the artifact into my Bag of Holding and sliced it with my knife. Everything inside dropped straight into the Astral Plane, and thus far away from the clutches of the BBEG. One of the few times that I've seen my DM truly surprised. A proud moment, indeed.

As to planning... most of my games don't really have a lot of plans. My Rokugan game had a Lion tactician in the group (Courtier/Marshal), so he always planned things - usually to the extent of having a Plan B in case things went south. My rogue/paladin usually has a plan and a backup plan, even if the rest of the PCs don't listen to it. We've had several near-TPKs just because they don't listen to my plans, or don't follow them.

 

[Wolfspirit]

We typically have had a combination of poor planning due to lack of intel and a "if it moves, killit" philosophy. This has not worked well in the past but it's hard to do otherwise for some reason.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Plan B is running away.

 

[Jdvn1]

Plan B is running away.

For us, Plan B is usually fighting. Plan A is some more convoluted thing.

Plan C, for our Sor, is grabbing the Cleric (me) and Teleporting. He doesn't care about the fighters.

 

[Ryltar]

Player 5 loves complicated multi-step plans. "By placing this basket here and having you shoot it with an arrow, we can set off a chain of events that might, if everything goes perfectly, spill milk near this thirsty camel, which will then stand up, utimately causing the downfall of society."

I will tell my players that their plan is utter nonsense if and when that would be obvious to their characters (e.g. most, if not all TPK-worthy moments). But still, there are situations when I'm sitting behind my screen and getting a headache .. by just listening.

Also, I've got a player that combines your #1 and #5, Universe.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

As a DM, I expect my players to plan. Carefully. And the power of negative reinforcement ensures that they learn to do so.

As a player, I always play characters who would want to plan the same way. Warrior? Tactician. Spellcaster? Scholar of military history or tactical genius. Rogue? Canny bugger with an eye for detail.

Unfortunately, I often find other players less inclined to plan. Eventually, the near-TPKs that my PCs survive convince some of them to try my suggestions...

 

[nopantsyet]

Yeah, when I see the players operating under false assumptions that their characters would know better, I'll nudge them towards the correct assumptions. But in the end, I leave it in their hands to figure out how to handle any given situation. Surprises are the spice of D&D, and leaving events in the players' hands is most conducive to that.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

For us, Plan B is usually fighting. Plan A is some more convoluted thing.

Clearly we are not a typical group. In a Planescape campaign I am in we usually start with Plan B. That way we can fall back on Plan A.

Plan B is talking to people and seeing if we can convince anyone to willingly cooperate with us or give useful information for furthering our goals.

Plan A is charge in with swords drawn, slaughter everyone in sight, and take their stuff.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

For players: Does your merry band make contigent plans when planning the big fight? Do you make very general plans or plan 'right to the nines' (plan every single detail), as the saying goes?

In my current game, I'm generally the tactician, partly because I have the most complete rules knowledge, and partly because I'm the only one who bothers to plan. I'll usually come up with a Plan A. There is no contingency plan, because there's really way to tell what it is that will screw up Plan A ahead of time. So if Plan A is foiled, we try to improvise on the fly. I do try to have a Plan E, or escape plan, though, in case things go so far south that we need to flee.

For DMs: The players are making a plan that is wholly inadequate or unsound. In your estimate, the party is going to get their heads handed to them. Do you say anything? Or do you let them go through with it and let it play out to its ugly conclusion?

I sometimes say something if the party doesn't seem to feel the need to plan. i.e. if they are under the mistaken impression that they can defeat a certain foe by just rushing in. But if they're planning, I do not critique their plan. We play it out and see how it works out on the fly. Sometimes the plans I thought were foolish wind up working perfectly.