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<blockquote data-quote="Thornir Alekeg" data-source="post: 3521772" data-attributes="member: 15651">I just wanted to add that the scenario with the macguffin being stolen that I described in my earlier post is exactly the situation I put my group into on my first session as DM.&nbsp; I was using a prewritten adventure, and it said right in it that the macguffin would be stolen from the party on the night of the festival.&nbsp; It came right out and said in the text that the item had to be stolen, so I followed the adventure and made sure it did.&nbsp; The players were very annoyed (rightly so) that the precautions they had taken to protect it were ignored, and that nothing they did could prevent the henchmen of the BBEG from getting away.&nbsp; Again, the adventure described this long chase scene to be played out, but said right in the text that one of the henchmen had to get away with the item.&nbsp; The party came up with some great tactics to catch the henchmen, but I followed the adventure and made sure none of them would work to recover the macguffin at that point.The players were all really upset with me by then and were all seriously calling it quits on the spot.&nbsp; I learned a huge lesson that day.I am not against giving players nudges, throwing repeated hooks in the party's path trying to get them to take it, or as on one session when I wasn't really prepared for alternatives, ask them to bear with me and take a particular hook.&nbsp; What I will never again allow myself to do is to make the story so set that the players are unable to affect it once they begin interacting with it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thornir Alekeg, post: 3521772, member: 15651"] I just wanted to add that the scenario with the macguffin being stolen that I described in my earlier post is exactly the situation I put my group into on my first session as DM. I was using a prewritten adventure, and it said right in it that the macguffin would be stolen from the party on the night of the festival. It came right out and said in the text that the item [i]had[/i] to be stolen, so I followed the adventure and made sure it did. The players were very annoyed (rightly so) that the precautions they had taken to protect it were ignored, and that nothing they did could prevent the henchmen of the BBEG from getting away. Again, the adventure described this long chase scene to be played out, but said right in the text that one of the henchmen had to get away with the item. The party came up with some great tactics to catch the henchmen, but I followed the adventure and made sure none of them would work to recover the macguffin at that point. The players were all really upset with me by then and were all seriously calling it quits on the spot. I learned a huge lesson that day. I am not against giving players nudges, throwing repeated hooks in the party's path trying to get them to take it, or as on one session when I wasn't really prepared for alternatives, ask them to bear with me and take a particular hook. What I will never again allow myself to do is to make the story so set that the players are unable to affect it once they begin interacting with it. [/QUOTE]

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