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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fanboy2000" data-source="post: 5326297" data-attributes="member: 19998">I’m not trying to sound jaded. I’m just trying to tell people that maybe a more PC centric approach to playing their PC might be a better mindset than a “what’s the next plot point I need to hit?” I suspect I’m preaching to choir right now. I’ve already told my group (using nicer language than I did here). Here’s what happened to prompt this. Last week, my players defeated a dragon. It was fun. This week, I had nothing planed. I tried to plan something, but it didn’t work. And by didn’t work, I mean I didn’t come up with anything. Ever had one of those days? So, I winged the whole session. You know, let the PCs do some exploring. I set-up a rolling ball trap, which my PCs disabled nicely. (Really nicely, I was impressed.) At the other end, I re-used a location the PCs had already visited. In their previous visit, it was established that the glowing circle on the ground was a magical portal to the elemental chaos. In the name of the consistency, I kept it that way. The minotaurs who normally occupy the area were away, but would be back shortly.Anyways, my game has six players, but only three are involved in this little tale. Two have been playing the game longer than I have. They’ve been playing since Basic D&D. (I started with 2e, but didn’t really get into it until 3e.) The third person started with 3.5 and has been playing very casually on and off since. So Adam (not his real name) makes an arcana check and figures out that the portal leads to the City of Brass. He wants to activate it right now and go there. Barney, suggests that maybe going to the City of Brass on a whim isn’t constructive to a long life. Maybe they should wait. Discussion ensues. Barney wants to take proof to the king that they killed the dragon. He wants to go to his keep and do some upkeep. (I wonder if those two words are related?) Generally speaking, I let the players hash out things like what they want to do on their own. Barney mostly gets his own way. They fly to the King’s place using the Eagle's Flight ritual, then they fly to the keep using the same ritual. We take a break from playing. I talk to Barney so we can get into what he wants to do without interfering with the others enjoyment. After that, I take my break and leave the room for few moments.When I get back Barney is using the linked portal ritual to get them back to the elemental chaos portal. At that point, the third player in this story, Charlie, asks Barney what preparations the group made for the journey to the City of Brass. Barney says he didn’t make any. If the group wants to go so badly, he’ll just cast the ritual and take the whole party there. Charlie doesn’t know what preparations to make because she’s never been exposed it before. Neither has her PC. This makes her upset because she figured that the whole point of waiting to prepare. So, Charlie leaves. I continue on without her. Combat ensues. The minotaurs were home when they came in, and didn’t want to share their portal. The PCs win. After that, they use the portal. I end the session. Barney wants me to tell them what they see. Adam suggests it’s more suspenseful not to say. That’s right, they argue about how to end the session. Ugh. Anyways, I confess that I’d be happy to tell them what they saw, but I don’t know. I’m making it up as we go along. At that point, Adam turns to me and asks “what would you have done if we’d gone there an hour and a half ago?” I tell him I would have figured something out. Adam then says that he thought that I wanted the party to go to the City of Brass and was fighting tooth and nail for the party to get there. And that’s what upsets me. All the fighting because one person wasn’t asking “what do I want to do?” and instead “what is the next step in the DM’s plan?” Sometime Adam literally asks that question, “what’s the next step?” He acts like he’s cutting through stuff and getting to the heart of the matter, but really he’s perpetuating arguments because he’s not letting people discuss things. He’s treating the game like it’s some kind of long “to do” list from me and getting upset at people for not following this imaginary list. Frankly, I’m tired of it. This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this problem. (Once, I was the problem.) The players all act like the DM’s got some grand plan and they either try to follow this non-existent plan or complain about it. What I really hate is an insinuation that I’m running a railroad and then following. Look, if your not having fun, let me know. Try doing something else. I mean, I have to provide some kind of adventure hooks, otherwise the PCs do nothing and then complain that they’re not doing anything. But here’s a hint, if you don’t want to rescue the princess, don’t. I’ll either come-up with another job for your group, or you can take the initiative and think of something yourself. Now, if you read all that, give yourself a cookie.</blockquote>

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