Why do they do that? PCs and their intentions...

[Lwaxy]

Ever had it happen that you believe you know the PCs and their way of thinking pretty well, and then, especially when trying to spotlight someone, they go and react contrary to what you thought and kinda mess up the situation? If it is just them avoiding the scenario altogether, that's not a real problem. But if they buy into it and then get stuck it is getting complicated more often than not, at least at our table.

Unfortunately, if I ask too many questions about how their PCs would behave and what they think, I'd give too much away about the actual scenario/adventure.

For example, there is the PC who is on a quest to find a specific item. I have him find another item to trade it in later for them one he wants, but he reacts in a near panic to that item's power and gets rid of it almost immediately. This was not how anyone had assumed the PC to react. Usually, this specific PC is very rational and thinks way ahead. The reaction made sense when the player described the reasons, but really, no one could predict that. Unfortunately, the item he abandoned caused a minor but visible change in his magic party item, which causes him to not go back to his fellows until he has it fixed somehow.

I don't have it happen too often but if it happens the campaign usually gets stuck until the issue is resolved one way or the other. If anyone has an idea how to avoid such situations, please tell.

 

[Gilladian]

Unfortunately, there's NO way to resolve them. You as a DM just have to think ahead and plan alternatives. My PCs had an opportunity to set some prisoners free from an ancient prison. I had gone to a great deal of trouble (I thought) to foreshadow that these prisoners were NOT likely all evil; the person who imprisoned them was prone to making sweeping judgements that were not always true in fact.

But they took one look at freeing the prisoners and said "no way! If they were threatening enough to be imprisoned, we want nothing to do with them!" So they lost one valuable ally who could have given them some key bits of info about the next two or three dungeon levels. Oh, well...

They will just have to find some journals or other info sources to foreshadow later fun. Perhaps in your case the PC could meet someone who honors him for some action he's taken in the past, and rewards him with a gift that will help him when he comes to acquire his "wanted item".

 

[Lwaxy]

That's a good idea

I had not had this issue for years, but two players in particular keep surprising the rest of us. I used to think I was always prepared and had plenty of options, but those two... Usually they kill off half my ideas before we even get truly started.

Ah, never a dull moment.

 

[Glade Riven]

It's always tricky for a DM to play Xanatos Speed Chess with clever and unpredictable players...my suggestion is don't rely on the Batman Gambit. Sometimes you just need to adjust things on the fly and improv a bit.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=53286]Lwaxy[/MENTION]
Stuck how? What you describe as a problem to be mitigated or avoided - player unpredictability - strikes me as one of the main reasons for enjoying RPGs.

 

[Lwaxy]

@Lwaxy
Stuck how? What you describe as a problem to be mitigated or avoided - player unpredictability - strikes me as one of the main reasons for enjoying RPGs.

Indeed, but it is an issue if it is so out of the blue AND gets the group stuck. Like in this case, I had to put in a 1-1 session to resolve it, otherwise the rest of the rather large group would sit around an hour or two doing nothing (there was time magic involved so the group had to wait for the guy to come back).

 

[Lwaxy]

Sometimes you just need to adjust things on the fly and improv a bit.

Sometimes = almost always with most of the games I like that, usually, even if all the plans go out of the window. Just those two players tend to overlook the obvious and their PCs are sometimes so surprising everyone just sits there and stares. And when that happens, it is usually getting so complicated everything just grinds to a halt.

 

[mkill]

Indeed, but it is an issue if it is so out of the blue AND gets the group stuck. Like in this case, I had to put in a 1-1 session to resolve it, otherwise the rest of the rather large group would sit around an hour or two doing nothing (there was time magic involved so the group had to wait for the guy to come back).

Really, you had hundreds of ways to prepare for this in advance or solve it on the spot...

(1) Not make it a problem. So there is a 1-1 session while the group waits. It happens.

(2) Not rely on the trade-in item as the only way. Ok, so he shows up to pick up item 2 without item 1. You're not a video game, you can come up with an alternative. Maybe the owner of item 2 gives the PC a quest in exchange for item 2?

(3) No item 2 for you. The PC was expected to exchange item 1, he threw it away - tough luck. You can't always win.

(4) Never split the party! Or rather, never force the party to split.
If one PC has to time travel for a quest, tweak the spell/ritual in a way that all PCs can go. That way, your problem (rest of the party sits around idle) wouldn't have happened in the first place.

(5) Be completely unsubtle - "Hey Steve, if you PC throws away item 1 now, he can't exchange it for item 2 later". If he insists, see (3).

----

That said, in the last session I DMed a dragon showed up. The PCs were supposed to fight & kill it, then the dragon was supposed to be raised by a necromancer, so the party fights it again.

As it happens, the first thing the party does is fall to the floor, beg for mercy and ask how they can help the dragon! (damn cowards!)

Well... The dragon was looking for said necromancer, the party was supposed to accidently help the necro escape. The necro escaped anyway, and the dragon became the quest giver instead. Too bad the fight against a skeleton dragon didn't happen, but I can hopefully pull that another time.

 

[Lwaxy]

Yeah, I was close enough to just not let him have the item after doing (5) and then hinting at (2) but luckily, one of the side quests in my "anti-surprise" stack worked out. Next time I'll be more clear that if they don't take the available possibilities then they'll have to go without.

I didn't plan on splitting them but... yeah they had their own ideas. 3 of them stayed at the party they were invited to and the other two went to check out the magic mirror of their host on their own Alas, it served as a lesson that if they don't go altogether, they will just have to wait every once in a while.

Good thing not all groups have anything to do with time travel. Handling separate groups in one session usually works fine.


I recently had the dragon issue the other way round. The bunch was not supposed to kill it as it had lots of information ad job offers but oh well

 

[The Red King]

This is why I never plan anything concrete more than a session or two ahead.

Do I have maps? Yup.

Do I have NPCs, monsters and treasures? Yup.

But I never put them in too much of an order because thats when they figure out a way around the cool encounter/recurring evil NPC/giant treasure trove.