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<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 5519762" data-attributes="member: 205">And I tend to find that (ignoring a plot completely and moving in a different direction) pretty annoying unless I get some heads-up that such a move will be coming into play.Now, I'm not saying I sketch the entire game in advance and make giant mountains appear in the west when I want you to go east.&nbsp; I throw out lots of story hooks in the beginning, ideally with some tailored to the character's backstory.&nbsp; I see which ones the characters take a liking to and run with those.&nbsp; I also have a major arc running in the background that will smack the characters eventually, even if they turn a blind eye towards it.&nbsp; How they choose to grapple with the major story is up to them.&nbsp; But if we're in the middle of a story, and then decide &quot;Hey, I can turn invisible and fly!&nbsp; Let's drop this and go rob people in Major City X!,&quot; then I get perturbed.&nbsp; I'm fully aware that &quot;Don't play with those kind of players&quot; is the best advice, but even good players can have a bad night and flake off.I guess my thought process is different on this.&nbsp; What is the mine?&nbsp; Why did I (as a DM) introduce it?&nbsp; Is there something important there?&nbsp; Was it just intended as flavor?&nbsp; If I introduce something as flavor, and the players decide to interact it with anyway, I try to think ahead a bit.&nbsp; Maybe I had been planning on them deciding to kill the vampire lord that had been stalking them for revenge.&nbsp; An abandoned mine shaft might be a good time for an ambush by some spectres or some dominated townfolk.&nbsp; Maybe the vampire decides to flood the mine while the party explores it.&nbsp; Maybe the mine is already flooded because the vampire flooded it, because deep within its bowels it holds the entrance to an abandoned lair of a lich who is an old rival of the vampire, and the vampire fears the lich may be freed by the miners (or the party!)Now the key is, depending on what I decide in those few seconds between the party's decision and my reply, I can control their access.&nbsp; They can't just swim to the back of the mine before I'm ready.&nbsp; The powers that control progression are in my hands.&nbsp; I never cut my players off from exploring what they want to explore.&nbsp; But everything they do is going to tie back into the major arc.I think that they already do.&nbsp; The number of encounters I'm setting up is no limitation on what you can choose to do in game.&nbsp; The mechanical restrictions are merely telling you not everything will be easy, or solvable by magic.Your &quot;warrior in a well&quot; example is telling.&nbsp; Why does that situation require water breathing or levitate?&nbsp; Why aren't you tying a rope to the halfling and throwing him in after him?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 5519762, member: 205"] And I tend to find that (ignoring a plot completely and moving in a different direction) pretty annoying unless I get some heads-up that such a move will be coming into play. Now, I'm not saying I sketch the entire game in advance and make giant mountains appear in the west when I want you to go east. I throw out lots of story hooks in the beginning, ideally with some tailored to the character's backstory. I see which ones the characters take a liking to and run with those. I also have a major arc running in the background that will smack the characters eventually, even if they turn a blind eye towards it. How they choose to grapple with the major story is up to them. But if we're in the middle of a story, and then decide "Hey, I can turn invisible and fly! Let's drop this and go rob people in Major City X!," then I get perturbed. I'm fully aware that "Don't play with those kind of players" is the best advice, but even good players can have a bad night and flake off. I guess my thought process is different on this. What is the mine? Why did I (as a DM) introduce it? Is there something important there? Was it just intended as flavor? If I introduce something as flavor, and the players decide to interact it with anyway, I try to think ahead a bit. Maybe I had been planning on them deciding to kill the vampire lord that had been stalking them for revenge. An abandoned mine shaft might be a good time for an ambush by some spectres or some dominated townfolk. Maybe the vampire decides to flood the mine while the party explores it. Maybe the mine is already flooded because the vampire flooded it, because deep within its bowels it holds the entrance to an abandoned lair of a lich who is an old rival of the vampire, and the vampire fears the lich may be freed by the miners (or the party!) Now the key is, depending on what I decide in those few seconds between the party's decision and my reply, I can control their access. They can't just swim to the back of the mine before I'm ready. The powers that control progression are in my hands. I never cut my players off from exploring what they want to explore. But everything they do is going to tie back into the major arc. I think that they already do. The number of encounters I'm setting up is no limitation on what you can choose to do in game. The mechanical restrictions are merely telling you not everything will be easy, or solvable by magic. Your "warrior in a well" example is telling. Why does that situation require [I]water breathing[/I] or [I]levitate[/I]? Why aren't you tying a rope to the halfling and throwing him in after him? [/QUOTE]

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