expect the unexpected

Players never do what you expect. One session they are “murder hobos,” but the next session they are so cautious that nothing moves forward. I have players that I could rely on, at least I thought I could. Every time they were faced with a situation, they would do the same thing. Now…not so sure.

One of my players asks so many questions I feel like I’m coming up with lore on the spot. Improve my way through it, take notes, and have it come into play at a latter time. This is where I tend to shine (I can spin a story). I could always count on that player to find the information, or at least fabricate something from the stuff spewing forth. And just when I thought we were on a roll, they decided not to do the expected.

Now, I’m left with how to get information to my players without just showing them a neon sign (though sometimes that is necessary). I like to sit on it for a while, let these juicy clues just marinate for a bit. Allow my world to run without the players’ intervention and see what might happen, then let it hit the fan.

If the players must have the clues right away, it might be easier to just send in an NPC to say, “As soon as I heard this, I had to find you.” This can cultivate a sense of urgency should the players want to hang out in town, dragging their feet toward their goals. But this could give them exactly what they needed to put all the pieces together to give them a bigger picture of what is going on in the world.

Either way you choose, have fun with it! Give yourself time to work it out. In the end, your players will be excited to learn the information whenever you decide to give it to them (or they finally do what was expected).