What do you do when your gaming session bogs down?
MrBonk
I posted this message earlier today, but it doesn't appear to
have hit usenet for some reason, so here goes again.
As a DM/GM, what do you do if your gaming session gets bogged because your
players get totally stuck in a particular puzzle/scenario/task, or become
bored with the aforementioned puzzle/scenario/task? Do you give them hints
to keep the session moving, or do you let them go until they come to some
resolution (good/bad/indifferent) by themselves, even if it takes up a good
portion of your gaming session? I ask because I'm about to start running a
Call of Cthulhu game, but I've had very little experience as a GM, so I'd
like to get others' ideas on how to handle this. Does offering hints
'spoil' the players and make them expect it all the time?
--
MrBonk
www.mrbonk.com
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Techpriest
good I give them a poker chip. The chips can be used in game for hints,
bonuses to rolls, etc. At the end of the game if they have any chips left
they can turn them in for EXP. When they get stuck someplace I offer to
trade them some help for a chip. If they want to do it alone they can, but
if not they hand a chip back in and I give their characters some
"inspiration". Tell them they notice something or remember hearing about
this somewhere. If anyone cares to hear more about the system I will run
through it quick.
If someone does something funny or clever they get a white chip.
The half-orc was asked if he was a mercenary and he replied, "I know nothing
of mercy. I am a warrior for hire!" Everyone laughed and the player got a
white chip.
A wizard using a spell in a creative fashion would also get a white chip.
Anyone who does some good roleplay can get a white chip.
I give several white chips in the course of a game.
At different parts through the adventure I might give all players a white
chip if they have been roleplaying well.
If someone does something extremely funny or very creative they get a red
chip.
If someone says something and the game has to be stopped because of laughter
a red chip would be appropriate.
If someone comes up with a plan that is brilliant and defeats the enemy in a
way the DM never thought about they can get a red chip.
I rarely give any red chips.
If someone does something above an beyond the call of gaming, they can get a
blue chip.
If a player stays in character even though it will probably kill his
character, he can get a blue chip if he survives. If he does not survive I
would be willing to give the chip to his new character.
I have never given a blue chip.
The white chips can be turned in for a +1 or -1 to any roll. They can be
used to buy hints. they can be used to bribe the DM to get him to change
his mind or to pick someone else to drop the rock on. They can be turned in
for 50 EXP per level of the character.
The red chips can be turned in and the player can roll 2 dice, and keep the
best one. They can be used to buy solutions to puzzles or dilema's. They
can be used to bribe the DM to get him to change even bigger parts of the
game. They can be turned in for 100 EXP per level of the character. After
the red chip is used the DM gets a white chip he can use for the monsters.
The blue chips act as red chips but the DM does not get a white one for the
monsters. They are worth 200 EXP times level.
--
DO NOT reply to this address directly. I use the addresses of known spammers
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Since I give chips I do not reward EXP for roleplaying, making plans, etc at
the end of the game.
Tom Foster
MrBonk wrote in message ...
I had a complicated wizard's maze that the party had to try to figure out.
There were some illusions and teleportations taking place that just confused
the heck out of them. After some time, they were really getting frustrated.
It was tempting to give them hints or have the bog, powerful mage step in,
but I didn't. So the party kept at it and eventually figured it out. The
relief they felt at the point was almost equivalent to what their characters
would have felt--maximum role-playing was achieved. In the end, they were
happy that they solved it without my help, but I wouldn't want to have too
many nights like that.
Jackhammer John
========================================
Jackhammer John
"Sometimes the question is more important than the answer."
Marc Q
offer problem solving prods (have you searched everything? Examined
everything you found recently?)
If necessary and the circumstances allow, I will throw in another encounter.
Or, and this is my favorite, if they argue long enough about how to deal
with a foe, I just have the foe take the initiative. Ex: party sit outside a
door arguing about how to go through it. Door opens and the foe comes at
them instead.
If there is an NPC in my control in the party, I might feed more specific
hints or information through it but I don't tend to do that much these days
(have an NPC in the party; 3E keeps me busy enough without running an NPC.)
--
Marc
http://www.four-hands.com/Marc_n_Renee/index.htm
"MrBonk" <mrbonk...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:Bl6g7.2254$U04.1...@ozemail.com.au...
Killans - First And Last And Always
>>players get totally stuck in a particular puzzle/scenario/task, or become
>>bored with the aforementioned puzzle/scenario/task? Do you give them hints
>>to keep the session moving, or do you let them go until they come to some
>>resolution (good/bad/indifferent) by themselves, even if it takes up a good
>>portion of your gaming session?
>
>There were some illusions and teleportations taking place that just confused
>the heck out of them. After some time, they were really getting frustrated.
>It was tempting to give them hints or have the bog, powerful mage step in,
>but I didn't. So the party kept at it and eventually figured it out. The
>relief they felt at the point was almost equivalent to what their characters
>would have felt--maximum role-playing was achieved. In the end, they were
>happy that they solved it without my help, but I wouldn't want to have too
>many nights like that.
That's been my experience in a very similar situation, but from the player's
side. Again, a maze, and the key to navigating the maze was solving a
puzzle (which I won't describe, because I want to use it sometime and I
don't want any of the players to read this :-) ). We spent ages wandering,
falling foul of traps, and trying to figure out the puzzle. Eventually, we
managed it, and it was much more satisfying than simply being given hints
by the DM.
Of course, it helped that I was the one who solved it. I doubt I'd have felt
quite the same level of satisfaction if it had been one of the other players
instead of me :-)
Having said all that, though, I've also seen the totally opposite effect,
too. Not with specific puzzles, but with more open-ended investigative
situations. It can be really frustrating when no clues present themselves,
and you have no idea where to go, who to talk to or what to ask them. That
can really slow things down. What you do about it will depend on the players,
though - some players will relish the chance to simply keep bumbling
around, role-playing appropriate sitations and getting caught up in it
despite the lack of "progress". Others, however, will simply get bored,
wanting "something to happen".
In Cthulu, though, I've never found this much of a problem. Although there's
normally an investigative element (e.g. researching local history to get clues
about whatever strange events the characters are investigating) but
usually there's a good "crunchy" bit as well - cultists to face off
against, creepy abandoned houses to explore, that kind of thing. Use that
as the focal point, so that even if the characters don't figure out all
the details, they've still got something they can clearly *do*.
Mike
--
"It's better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
ES
amount varied based on his knowledge in the area in question,
motivations, intelligence, etc...I do not speak hints from the sky
and thus I, as DM, dislike having no voice in the party to help
through, but your preferences might not match mine. Be sure to
offer advice from the NPC which is not the 'right' answer on a
regular basis though so it doesn't turn into a "the NPC said to
do it so it must be right" type of situation...
Egoslayer1
darren
the GM has failed to analyze his logic in a truly objective fashion. Often
you will provide puzzles for the PCs to string together over teh course of
several sessions, some elements are forgotten or overlooked as red herrings
or the group just interpets them totally different than you expected.
The best solution I find is to provide multiple sources of the most
important pieces of information, each relaying in a slightly different
fashion. If a group hears something twice, they will take it seriously,
further they are more likely to hear it in teh first place.
In teh case of teleportation maze, he might have allowed the characters to
find there way to a room where they could disable the teleporters somehow.
At the very least the teleporters need to operate consistently and be
distinguishable from one another. If teh teleporters operated randomly and
all the halls looked very similar and the party could leave no marks,
essentially you are setting up a huge dungeon with little in it.
Personally I would never bother with mazes, unless they are going to
accomplish a specific goal. They are really quite boring.
Darren
"Tom Foster" <tfos...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:bAfg7.53638$gj1.4...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Jay Hafner, D.C.
> Personally I would never bother with mazes, unless they are going to
> accomplish a specific goal. They are really quite boring.
>
Especailly for the mapper (which is usually the DM).
--
Jay A. Hafner, D.C.
RPGA Living Greyhawk County of Urnst Triad Oligarch #3 (CO, WY, NM, MT)
www.cyface.com/countyofurnst
www.yahoogroups.com/group/countyofurnst
Teach a kid to play RPG's or the hobby will die with us.
.
Drew Id
"Jay Hafner, D.C." <JAYH...@USWEST.NET> wrote in message
news:3B8802BE...@USWEST.NET...
>
> > Personally I would never bother with mazes, unless they are going to
> > accomplish a specific goal. They are really quite boring.
> >
>
> Especailly for the mapper (which is usually the DM).
I had a maze in one adventure that I ran a while back, where the maze was
simply a hedge maze. Since there were no traps or monsters or other
encounters within the maze, the only real challenge was completing it in a
minimal amount of time. So, rather than draw out the map and bother with all
of that, I just had the character make some intelligence and wisdom checks,
with possible bonuses for ranks in Intuit Direction. The result of those
rolls as compared to a set DC (based on the skill of the mazemaker and the
size of the maze) determined how long it took the character to complete the
maze.
If you want to have a maze that does have encounters within the maze, these
are easy enough to do as well, without needing a map for the maze. Just
assign either a chance of each enounter, or an order in which they must be
faced. The time it takes the character to work the maze would dictate how
many encounters they may have while inside. I definitely use a map for
"dungeons", but if the main focus of a dungeon is that it is a maze, then
the mapmaking can be removed without affecting the feel of the maze.