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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 8214900" data-attributes="member: 97077">Structuring exploration in the way you suggest works well in my experience. One doesn't want it to be as structured as combat, but not so unstructured that the spotlight is shared unevenly. So you'll have to figure out the sweet spot for your approach in the context of your group. (I generally use 10-minute turns myself with wandering monster checks every 10 minutes.) Ask what they want to do one by one, then resolve it in the order that makes the most sense. Then repeat as necessary until the move on. In general, it's often a good idea to say "What do you do, [Specific Character]?" rather than leave it open-ended because the extroverted players will jump on an open-ended question. That's good for social interaction challenges, too.As for asking to make "skill checks," if we're talking about D&D 5e here, the game is set up such that players shouldn't really want to roll. Ideally they just succeed without a roll because a d20 is very swingy and thus unreliable. But in order to succeed, a player must position his or her character (in a fictional sense) such that the uncertainty as to the outcome of the task and/or the meaningful consequence for failure are negated. This requires explaining to the DM what you want to do and how you set about doing it in a way that resolves the task on its own. Sometimes, despite a player's best efforts, the DM still think there's an uncertain outcome and a meaningful consequence for failure and a roll is called for. But that should not be where the player starts.So, one way you might encourage your players is to tell them that the most optimal way to proceed in a game like this is to describe what they are doing and hope to accomplish in a reasonably clear and succinct fashion. They are more likely to succeed on the whole if they do this, provided what they are doing relative to what they hope to accomplish is reasonable in context. If succeeding more often than they fail is their goal, there's no denying that this is the best way to do it. As a backup, they should also be engaging in tasks for which they have a good chance to succeed if they do have to roll. That means doing stuff in line with proficiencies or at least having some backup resources like Inspiration on hand to shore up areas where the character is weak when it comes to the dice.</blockquote>

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