how to help chara (ETCR)

[Thac0 Redeye]

I am a fairly novice DM and currently running ETCR. My chara's have found the sword and know where to "awaken" it and they have an idea where the icon is and know where to take it when they find it but have no idea what to do after. Last night they got the sword to the chapel in the castle (exactly where Eva told them to go) but are just bumbling around. And they are confused on what is where, even though they took notes during the card reading. They not doing any research, knowledge checks or any investigation.
How much do I do to help lead them to the answers.
FYI our group has been playing for 15+ years and I am surprised that even our usual DM is not more on the ball.

Do I keep reminding of what the cards said to keep them on track? Do I suggest doing research? Perhaps lead them to the castle library to help in knowledge checks?
thanks

[Thac0 Redeye]

This thread has had a bunch of looks any ideas?

[Recherché]

I have no idea what "ETCR" stands for and thus understand very little of your initial post.

[BowStreetRunner]

I have no idea what "ETCR" stands for and thus understand very little of your initial post.
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (ETCR).

It's good practice any time you are going to use an acronym to use the entire phrase the first time and then add the acronym in parentheses after it. Then just use the acronym throughout the rest of your post.

[Thac0 Redeye]

Understandable - Good to know. thanks.

So my original question is actually more generic than module specific. In a nutshell; the PC's have certain tasks to do before moving on. they have to find 2 items (they know approx. where )and take them to another place to activate them. But they are getting all their places and clues mixed up. for example they found the sword and took it to the chapel and nothing happened because they haven't figured out what the ritual is, and now they think they have to take it to where the amulet is hidden.
So my question is--- how much do I help remind or guide them to where they need to go and do?

[BowStreetRunner]

Understandable - Good to know. thanks.

So my original question is actually more generic than module specific. In a nutshell; the PC's have certain tasks to do before moving on. they have to find 2 items (they know approx. where )and take them to another place to activate them. But they are getting all their places and clues mixed up. for example they found the sword and took it to the chapel and nothing happened because they haven't figured out what the ritual is, and now they think they have to take it to where the amulet is hidden.
So my question is--- how much do I help remind or guide them to where they need to go and do?

Are you familiar with the Three Clue Rule (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule)? I highly recommend employing some version of this in your games.

When I created my first ever Access Database application way back a couple of decades ago, I was so pumped because the tools we had been using before were created by a generic IT person who didn't fully understand how we used the tools. We ran into problems with those constantly, so to create our own tool 'in-house' we could avoid all of those annoying problems and build something that worked right the first time. Yeah... It took all of 15 minutes for my users to 'use' the application in 7 different ways I had never thought of in for which it was definitely not intended. See, people all think differently. So when you create a module like EtCR, you write the clues the way you think. But the DM thinks differently, and the way the DM presents the material to the players may skew your results. And the players think differently, so the way they interpret the clues may skew your results.

The Three Clue Rule ensures that there is reinforcement of the correct interpretation. One clue may be interpreted a lot of different ways. Two may still have more than one interpretation that fulfills both. Three is much harder to mess up. And having multiple clues decreases the likelihood not only of them misinterpreting the clues, but also of them missing the clues altogether.