Dr paradox
2012-10-01, 08:18 AM
just today, I believe I've discovered one of my weaknesses as a DM - keeping things running smoothly and engagingly when in exploration mode. I'm not referring to tromping around the countryside, no no, that I can do. I'm more talking about the parts of a dungeon crawl where the party isn't fighting anything. Actually, on reflection, it's whenever there isn't an immediate goal for everyone to be working towards, aside from "investigate." I can do dialogue scenes, mystery scenes, combat scenes, trap scenes, etc, but my pacing feels like it falls down when exploring.
Let me explain.
let's take the dungeon crawling example. after a fight is over, I'll describe a room again, list the exits, maybe some points of interest for examination. usually a player will take the lead to explore down some corridor, so I follow them to describe what they're doing. this, in itself, can get kinda boring, since I don't think I'm actually very good at describing distances in a dungeon that don't sound way too short or bland and samey (After some feet, you come to... Eventually, the corridor reaches...). Attempts to describe the corridors themselves often don't seem to matter to the players, but I do it anyway, because otherwise I feel like they're exploring this place.
http://www.wingdamage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/minecraft-tunnel.jpg
Anyway, after a few minutes, I'll realize, wait, the other players aren't doing anything, and they're getting distracted. Damn. I'd better ask them what they're doing. invariably, they say that they're following the first player, which leads to a clusterfumble whenever they come to anything to do, like a locked door or a chest to open, or something that might be a trap, because they're all tripping over each other to be the one to deal with it. I take this as a sign that I need a better grasp on exploration, to make it more engaging for everyone, rather than basically have one person exploring while everyone else creeps along invisibly in his shadow.
this is setting aside even when the party gets split (less concerned, their own damn fault.) or when they stall out, explorationwise. this is especially a problem in towns, where they're often unsure of what to look for or what might be there, even when they have a goal. hm. maybe I should encourage more personal goals for characters. the rogue tries setting up a bounty hunter's guild, the fighter goes looking for a courier to take a letter back home for him, etc. Wizard goes looking for another wizard to study with.
In any case, Does anyone have any advice about that kind of thing? I'm not finding a lot in the ways of specifics in my books, so I thought the voice of experience would be useful. write back soon!
Let me explain.
let's take the dungeon crawling example. after a fight is over, I'll describe a room again, list the exits, maybe some points of interest for examination. usually a player will take the lead to explore down some corridor, so I follow them to describe what they're doing. this, in itself, can get kinda boring, since I don't think I'm actually very good at describing distances in a dungeon that don't sound way too short or bland and samey (After some feet, you come to... Eventually, the corridor reaches...). Attempts to describe the corridors themselves often don't seem to matter to the players, but I do it anyway, because otherwise I feel like they're exploring this place.
http://www.wingdamage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/minecraft-tunnel.jpg
Anyway, after a few minutes, I'll realize, wait, the other players aren't doing anything, and they're getting distracted. Damn. I'd better ask them what they're doing. invariably, they say that they're following the first player, which leads to a clusterfumble whenever they come to anything to do, like a locked door or a chest to open, or something that might be a trap, because they're all tripping over each other to be the one to deal with it. I take this as a sign that I need a better grasp on exploration, to make it more engaging for everyone, rather than basically have one person exploring while everyone else creeps along invisibly in his shadow.
this is setting aside even when the party gets split (less concerned, their own damn fault.) or when they stall out, explorationwise. this is especially a problem in towns, where they're often unsure of what to look for or what might be there, even when they have a goal. hm. maybe I should encourage more personal goals for characters. the rogue tries setting up a bounty hunter's guild, the fighter goes looking for a courier to take a letter back home for him, etc. Wizard goes looking for another wizard to study with.
In any case, Does anyone have any advice about that kind of thing? I'm not finding a lot in the ways of specifics in my books, so I thought the voice of experience would be useful. write back soon!