D&D General Two sessions in a row without combat...

[Ruin Explorer]

Even in blades the intention isn't that you don't plan at all, but rather that you plan but don't dwell on specifics and you skip the long run-up where everyone gets into position and whatnot.

Yeah, but that's like half the actual fun bits of the heist! People who don't like those bits are like people who cut the crusts off bread, don't eat the skin on chicken, and so on!

We played it a couple of years ago, and I was a player not a DM, but it was pretty aggressive about telling us not to plan, I remember that. Like, the plan seemed to be limited to "You know there is a thing in the place and now you will take the thing from the place!" then "You are in the place! GO!"

The example of the flashback given is a player comes across a safe but doesn't have the means to open it, so he pays the inspiration and flashes back and uses persuade to talk the combo out of the safe maker, essentially opening the safe with persuade.

That seems er, extreme but I guess if he explained it well enough I could buy it. What if he fails the persuade check, though? Or does it not work like that?

The one we used in the Logan Bonner adventure and a few others was more like you could say "Oh, I had this small barrel of explosives with me, as I planned, not left in the portable hole back at camp or anything like that!" or "Yeah the guard sees me, but I paid him off already, so he nods and moves on!".

 

[LordEntrails]

Where is the time pressure? World events move on with or without the PCs. If the world is static until the PCs chose to interact with it, it's not a very interesting world.

As others have said, why are the various NPCs at the beck and call of the PCs? Why are they always available? Why is the plot of the BBEG not evolving and moving towards completion? Why do not things happen if the PCs don't act? Perhaps someone else solves the issue, perhaps the situation gets worse, perhaps anything else happens.

And, again as has been said, why not a 'random' or unrelated encounter? My PCs live in a dangerous world. Stuff happens all the time, sometimes it involves them for no reason than other than wrong time & place.

You're the DM, if you want the session to be dynamic, then you need to present dynamic events.

 

[R_J_K75]

And, again as has been said, why not a 'random' or unrelated encounter? My PCs live in a dangerous world. Stuff happens all the time, sometimes it involves them for no reason than other than wrong time & place.

Exactly. I like the random encounter idea. May not be ideal for the OP but to me makes the world feel like its ever evolving. Best laid plans and all that right? Think about times you were going about your average day and something unexpected, or bizarre just happened to you out of nowhere, totally random. As a DM I've thrown in random encounters during a pre-planned adventure that derailed the current adventure and even campaign and that random encounter became the course of the adventure and even the campaign as a result. These became even better than what was originally planned more than once. I think that's what makes a good campaign that flows and adapts as needed.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Think about times you were going about your average day and something unexpected, or bizarre just happened to you out of nowhere, totally random.

No kidding. The other day I was at the market, and around the corner came these four scary guys wearing masks. As they got close to me they spread out, and I thought they were forming a circle around me. My instincts kicked in and I assumed Serpent Pose, and began chanting the Chakra of Lightning.

Then they kept going, and I realized they were just wearing N95 masks and giving me 6' of space.

 

[R_J_K75]

No kidding. The other day I was at the market, and around the corner came these four scary guys wearing masks. As they got close to me they spread out, and I thought they were forming a circle around me. My instincts kicked in and I assumed Serpent Pose, and began chanting the Chakra of Lightning.

Then they kept going, and I realized they were just wearing N95 masks and giving me 6' of space.

The world has become an increasingly dangerous place the last few months. That's why I carry a d20 everywhere I go in case I need to make a saving throw. Im not talking about a Dex, Con, or Wis save, Im talking Death Magic or Breath Weapon.