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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 7584983" data-attributes="member: 16814">To be respectfully critical, I don't think changing skills is going to fix your issue.&nbsp; In the short term, it may even exacerbate it by adding more confusion about how things work. Don't get me wrong, here, I actually love your solution and how you codified it.&nbsp; I've long used backgrounds as a stealth skill system behind the listed ones, but i very much like your expression of it!But, I do not think that this is your problem.&nbsp; Quite blunty, your issue appears to be one of communication and framing. And, it's common, but not altogether easy to fix.&nbsp; The issue is that you are not providing enough information so that the players can tell what's at stake and what's possible.&nbsp; There's a huge information disparity in D&amp;D and it's sometimes hard to see from the GM side.&nbsp; You know all the important details, but the players don't.&nbsp; What's obvious to you isn't to them, and it's hard to &quot;forget&quot; things and put yourself in their shoes to see it.&nbsp; I heartily recommend erring on the side of oversharing information.&nbsp; Simplify situations to clear truths that can be related to the players easily and gives them good working knowledge of the various situations.&nbsp; Make things that are uncertain obviously so, so that the players can engage in resolving that uncertainty.&nbsp; Make stakes clear.&nbsp; This will feel like you're giving away the game, but you're not -- I've learned players will reliably and entertainingly screw up by the numbers even if you hand them your notes.&nbsp; By making things clear and identifying the crux points, you give the players the information the need to address the plot effectively.&nbsp; Remember, they can only know the gameworld through you, so keep that channel wide open.Secondly, framing can be an issue.&nbsp; By framing, I mean the scene you set.&nbsp; If you set the scene as &quot;you're in the big city, what do you do,&quot; this can be too open and you'll get indecision if the players don't already have a clear agenda.&nbsp; If they don't, aimless wandering and 20 questions show up as the players look for the game.&nbsp; In these cases, it's useful to elide stuff and go straight to a scene framing where the characters have to make a choice -- maybe they witmess a kidnapping that will pull them into a court intrigue and how they handle it will determine which faction they start aligned with.&nbsp; Don't be afraid to use &quot;ninjas attack!&quot;* if the game is bogging down and have a &quot;ninja&quot; drop some piece of plot to kick things into moving.*&quot;Ninjas attack!&quot; doesn't have to be ninjas or attacking, but is a plot tool to put a relevant piece of plot in front of players in an unmistakable way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 7584983, member: 16814"] To be respectfully critical, I don't think changing skills is going to fix your issue. In the short term, it may even exacerbate it by adding more confusion about how things work. Don't get me wrong, here, I actually love your solution and how you codified it. I've long used backgrounds as a stealth skill system behind the listed ones, but i very much like your expression of it! But, I do not think that this is your problem. Quite blunty, your issue appears to be one of communication and framing. And, it's common, but not altogether easy to fix. The issue is that you are not providing enough information so that the players can tell what's at stake and what's possible. There's a huge information disparity in D&D and it's sometimes hard to see from the GM side. You know all the important details, but the players don't. What's obvious to you isn't to them, and it's hard to "forget" things and put yourself in their shoes to see it. I heartily recommend erring on the side of oversharing information. Simplify situations to clear truths that can be related to the players easily and gives them good working knowledge of the various situations. Make things that are uncertain obviously so, so that the players can engage in resolving that uncertainty. Make stakes clear. This will feel like you're giving away the game, but you're not -- I've learned players will reliably and entertainingly screw up by the numbers even if you hand them your notes. By making things clear and identifying the crux points, you give the players the information the need to address the plot effectively. Remember, they can only know the gameworld through you, so keep that channel wide open. Secondly, framing can be an issue. By framing, I mean the scene you set. If you set the scene as "you're in the big city, what do you do," this can be too open and you'll get indecision if the players don't already have a clear agenda. If they don't, aimless wandering and 20 questions show up as the players look for the game. In these cases, it's useful to elide stuff and go straight to a scene framing where the characters have to make a choice -- maybe they witmess a kidnapping that will pull them into a court intrigue and how they handle it will determine which faction they start aligned with. Don't be afraid to use "ninjas attack!"* if the game is bogging down and have a "ninja" drop some piece of plot to kick things into moving. *"Ninjas attack!" doesn't have to be ninjas or attacking, but is a plot tool to put a relevant piece of plot in front of players in an unmistakable way. [/QUOTE]

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