My World Doesn't Stop For You
Dealing with the indecisive party
Imagine a group of 6th grade boys around a table. They are in a catacomb searching for the tomb of a leader of a priestly order. They find the room that holds the sepulchre. They destroy the lock keeping the tomb secure but in doing so trip a trap that causes a stone statue to guard the only exit.
They have rolled initiative but when I ask, “What does your character do?” They argue. And argue.
I roll the dice. “Skeletons appear.”
They dispatch the undead after one of them reformed and attacked again.
Next round. “What do you want to do?”
Argue. Indecision. Dice roll.
“Two more skeletons appear.”
Griping! Compaining! Harrumphs!
Angry stares directed at me, “My world doesn’t stop just because you do.”
And scene.
If this is your first time here, or first time hearing this, I run games for the Boys & Girls Club. These games are meant to be fun first but they are also to teach social emotional learning, teamwork and how to make the best decisions both in game and in life.
This session was all about decision making or the lack of it. This will be the topic of discussion at our next session.
How many times, as a DM, have you sat and listened to the party bicker for lack of a plan? Instead of just listening, let your world do it’s thing.
If the party is in a place where undead roam, roll dice, see if they show up and how many.
Is the party in a city, what are the city guards up to? What are the criminals in that city up to? Let the world come alive in the absence of PC actions.
Make Something Happen
I love the Something Happens table in Shadowdark. Let me encourage you to make your own “something happens’ table for your world or adventure.
Here’s a sample from the city of Riverhaven from my homebrewed setting of Kre’ash
1 Lizardmen crawl from the river and attack the party or random people
2 Drunken river rats try to pick a fight with the party
3 Two carriages block the city street and argue about right of way
4 A crowd of protesters are marching by, yelling at the party
5 The city guard questions the party about their loitering
6 Shady pick pockets attempt to rob the party
These are not cataclysmic events, they are just a city being a city (except for the Lizardmen).
Why not create a table for what happens in the morning vs the afternoon vs the evening to show your city’s daily cycle of events.
Plan clocks into your scenario: These things will happen when…
You can check out this shorts video about clocks from the book Collaborative Campaign Design.
The events in your world can range from mild inconveniences to the party to something dangerous, but either way your players will get the point; make a decision in a reasonable amount of time because this world does not stop.