I'm currently GMing a game for a group of friends, and I'm having a big problem getting them to make decisions. I had decided from the start that I would simply decide where the bad guys were at any given moment, and let the players decide how to defeat them, so I didn't railroad, and it would be their game. I started the game, ran the first session, and then *smack.* The players looked at me expectantly for a plot hook. They knew that there were three big bads out there with a stolen jet engine and nuclear bomb plans, but they wanted me to essentially tell them where they were. I tried dropping small hints at what they could do, but I basically had to say "go here" before they would do anything! So how do you nudge players in the right direction without railroading them?
Thank you,
Cody
A completely open ended adventure that relies heavily on the players providing their own direction can be daunting -- to the player and GM both. You may be ready for anything the players might throw your way, but if the players seize up (as it sounds like they did in your game) the entire session can come grinding to a halt. One of the first questions I would ask is how experienced of a group do you have? A group of relatively new players is generally going to need a lot more direction, so a more tightly constrained campaign would probably be appropriate for them. If that isn't the case, I suspect that they might have either not known what to do, or they just weren't properly motivated.
Start the Game Out with a Bang
One of the problems that you may be running into is that your players aren't really engaged with the story yet. Sure, there are some bad guys out there who are cooking up a plot to detonate a nuclear device somewhere ... at some point, but simply having a problem to solve isn't necessarily sufficient motivation to spur your players into motion. Even for players who drop easily into character, the first session can be especially tenuous as everyone struggles to get a feel for their characters.
A technique that I like to use is to start the first game off "mid scene," with the characters already in the action. I briefly set the stage with the actors and enough background for everyone to understand what's going on (at least well enough to get started), and I drop the players directly in to something exciting. The tension starts high with the characters already already in peril in some way -- whether bodily or otherwise, and the players instantly have a reason to care about what's going on, i.e. their need to survive.
Using your campaign as an example, perhaps the first session starts off with the characters in direct conflict with some goons in a bank robbery that has gone south. The players might be the ones tasked with bringing them down without getting any hostages killed, or perhaps they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. During the course of the first scene, you can drop clues about one (or more) of these bosses and set the players up with enough leads to investigate further once the failed bank robbery plays out.
The important part is that you've started the game out with some excitement before you ease the tension back a notch and thrust the group into investigation mode, which not every group necessarily finds all that exhilarating.
Give Fewer but More Meaningful Options
"We can never see past the choices we don't understand." -- The Oracle (The Matrix Reloaded)
It is also possible that your players are confronted with such a wide array of options that they aren't even sure where to start. From what it sounds like, you may have left it so open ended that the players would have to "explore" to even find out what their options are. A veteran player might be able to take that ball and run with it, but a more novice group is just as likely to freeze up like the proverbial deer in a headlights. So, you might try narrowing the options down to a few different avenues they can pursue. Equally as important, make sure the players have enough information to understand the differences between the choices they are given.
Bring the Story to Them
If the players have become completely lost and aren't sure what to do, you can always bring the action back around to them. Perhaps an informant has heard that the group is looking for information about this group of terrorists and seeks one of the characters out to give them some information -- in exchange for something he needs, of course. Maybe the group went looking in all the wrong places and now they've tipped off some of these bad guys who aren't too happy about someone snooping into their business. Or, perhaps the next leg of the plot happens and the bad guys test detonate some explosives, blowing up a warehouse and literally reigniting the investigation.
Those are some of my thoughts anyway. I hope some of that advice might be helpful.
With that, I turn the question over to the P&PG community at large. What do you think? What advice would you give Cody to help nudge his players in the right direction while still keeping a fairly open ended game?
Do you have a tough gaming situation or question you'd like to have answered by our panel? Send your questions by email to askagm@penandpapergames.com.
About the Author: Robert A. Howard has been a roleplayer from the tender age of twelve when he cracked open that first red boxed Dungeons & Dragons set and all the way to today. The vast majority of his gaming experience has been with D&D, but he's also been able to convince his gaming group to try something new on occasion... Oh, and he runs this obscure website you might have heard about, Pen & Paper Games. *grin*
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