How many times has this happened to you...
The DM describes a scene. Some lore dump occurs. Then the question is popped "What do you do?" Everyone at the table has a blank stare.
This happened to me just the other night. We were playing Out of Anarchy, which starts with a massive lore dump. I think it took like 15 minutes for the GM to intro the characters, factions, locations, etc. The dude was literally out of breath when he looked up and asked the party "What do you do?" We kind of looked at each other and said "Uh, we'll go to the first place." After another 5 minutes describing the location we chose, he asked again "What do you do?" To which we responded "Uh, we'll talk to the bartender." This kept happening. Nothing interesting happened for like the first two hours of play until we finally saw some combat.
Part of the problem was the size of the scenario. It has a ton of content and is probably hard to squeeze into a four hour session.
Another part of the problem was the setup. The motivation and the objective are somewhat unclear. The players are simply bystanders much of the time. When things start to progress it's not due to the party's actions but things happening around them.
I think both of these problems could be helped if not solved by giving the players options. e.g., instead of "What do you do?", ask "Do you..."
1. Go to location a where contact x was last seen and ask them for information.
2. Go to location b where it is rumored an underground movement is happening.
3. Go to location c where strange lights and sounds have been reported.
When it comes to gathering information, there should be obstacles, which would give the players additional direction. e.g., there's a fight in the bar and someone breaks a bottle over your head, initiating combat. Or you have to do the guards a favor before they will let you in.
The DM describes a scene. Some lore dump occurs. Then the question is popped "What do you do?" Everyone at the table has a blank stare.
This happened to me just the other night. We were playing Out of Anarchy, which starts with a massive lore dump. I think it took like 15 minutes for the GM to intro the characters, factions, locations, etc. The dude was literally out of breath when he looked up and asked the party "What do you do?" We kind of looked at each other and said "Uh, we'll go to the first place." After another 5 minutes describing the location we chose, he asked again "What do you do?" To which we responded "Uh, we'll talk to the bartender." This kept happening. Nothing interesting happened for like the first two hours of play until we finally saw some combat.
Part of the problem was the size of the scenario. It has a ton of content and is probably hard to squeeze into a four hour session.
Another part of the problem was the setup. The motivation and the objective are somewhat unclear. The players are simply bystanders much of the time. When things start to progress it's not due to the party's actions but things happening around them.
I think both of these problems could be helped if not solved by giving the players options. e.g., instead of "What do you do?", ask "Do you..."
1. Go to location a where contact x was last seen and ask them for information.
2. Go to location b where it is rumored an underground movement is happening.
3. Go to location c where strange lights and sounds have been reported.
When it comes to gathering information, there should be obstacles, which would give the players additional direction. e.g., there's a fight in the bar and someone breaks a bottle over your head, initiating combat. Or you have to do the guards a favor before they will let you in.
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