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*Dungeons & Dragons
When Players Are Indecisive
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<blockquote data-quote="Ondath" data-source="post: 9080494" data-attributes="member: 7031770"><p>The only correct answer is "you should intervene if the players dislike being non-committal" (while not forgetting that the GM is also a player). The party might like moving at a pace that's slower than what you normally like, but if that leaves them satisfied and doesn't annoy you the GM too much, I honestly think no intervention is needed. I was chatting with another GM friend, and she thought there was a problem with her group because the party moved the plot very slowly and one player even likened the game to a slice of life anime. So she thought she needed to add stuff to the game that pushes them, but at that point the players went "Wait, we meant the slice of life comment in a good way! Just let us immerse ourselves in your world." And as a result her games have very little happening most of the time, but the players still leave each session quite happy.</p><p></p><p>That said, maybe not every player likes this situation. Maybe <strong>you</strong> don't like it! I know I would be anxious to get the plot moving after a while. If that's the case, you should probably check in with the group to see if they're happy with the situation, if some are happy while others are unhappy, and if they would be okay meeting in the middle with people who want a faster pace.</p><p></p><p>If people do want the pace to be faster, then there are a few things you can do. The easiest one is "When the party is doing nothing, have a man with a gun walk in." When the party spends too much time to make a choice, throw a new plot development at them that they have to immediately deal with in a clear way.</p><p></p><p>Another thing to consider is whether you're giving the party enough clues to help them make a decision, and if the choices they have in a scene are dramatically loaded. That could also be one reason the parry is indecisive. You said they know the criminal has a manor and that they visited some of his businesses (but that the business wouldn't lead to anywhere). Why doesn't the business lead anywhere? That seems like a sensible line of exploration, and perhaps that encounter should've given them more ways to tackle the mystery (new leads on where to go, new tools to make the manor less of a scary option and more available to exploration etc.). Did the party have enough clues that they should have gone to the manor, and did they know that a party of their strength need not be afraid of the manor's dangers? If not, it's pretty reasonable for them not to prefer going there, especially if the place seems deadly (the PCs would reasonably value their lives!). Did you think of any alternative approaches that the party might take? Would you allow them to approach the situation differently? After all, TTRPGs are about making choices, and if there's only one correct answer, that usually doesn't lead to a fun game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ondath, post: 9080494, member: 7031770"] The only correct answer is "you should intervene if the players dislike being non-committal" (while not forgetting that the GM is also a player). The party might like moving at a pace that's slower than what you normally like, but if that leaves them satisfied and doesn't annoy you the GM too much, I honestly think no intervention is needed. I was chatting with another GM friend, and she thought there was a problem with her group because the party moved the plot very slowly and one player even likened the game to a slice of life anime. So she thought she needed to add stuff to the game that pushes them, but at that point the players went "Wait, we meant the slice of life comment in a good way! Just let us immerse ourselves in your world." And as a result her games have very little happening most of the time, but the players still leave each session quite happy. That said, maybe not every player likes this situation. Maybe [B]you[/B] don't like it! I know I would be anxious to get the plot moving after a while. If that's the case, you should probably check in with the group to see if they're happy with the situation, if some are happy while others are unhappy, and if they would be okay meeting in the middle with people who want a faster pace. If people do want the pace to be faster, then there are a few things you can do. The easiest one is "When the party is doing nothing, have a man with a gun walk in." When the party spends too much time to make a choice, throw a new plot development at them that they have to immediately deal with in a clear way. Another thing to consider is whether you're giving the party enough clues to help them make a decision, and if the choices they have in a scene are dramatically loaded. That could also be one reason the parry is indecisive. You said they know the criminal has a manor and that they visited some of his businesses (but that the business wouldn't lead to anywhere). Why doesn't the business lead anywhere? That seems like a sensible line of exploration, and perhaps that encounter should've given them more ways to tackle the mystery (new leads on where to go, new tools to make the manor less of a scary option and more available to exploration etc.). Did the party have enough clues that they should have gone to the manor, and did they know that a party of their strength need not be afraid of the manor's dangers? If not, it's pretty reasonable for them not to prefer going there, especially if the place seems deadly (the PCs would reasonably value their lives!). Did you think of any alternative approaches that the party might take? Would you allow them to approach the situation differently? After all, TTRPGs are about making choices, and if there's only one correct answer, that usually doesn't lead to a fun game. [/QUOTE]
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