Recently one of my players was complaining about his other game. That group is a bit poky, often taking over an hour to make a decision. While there is no set length for deliberation, an hour is probably too long. If I can make a McDonald’s run and back, well, you get the idea. While we don’t want to discourage deliberation, sometimes the GM has the responsibility to try to help the group move on.
In this column we’ll look at some possible causes of overly long deliberation, and some possible solutions. The list won’t be exhaustive, but may get you thinking about how to maintain pacing in your own GMing style.
CAUSES
Some of the causes of long deliberations may lie with the players. In a new group or a convention group, players may not know each other. They just aren’t comfortable deliberating effectively. New players in an established group may have the same problem. They may not want to speak up and upset the pecking order. This slows things down as their opinions go unheard. Conversely, sometimes an outgoing player may have very specific ideas about how the group should proceed and may not be able to compromise. (Note that I am being kind by using the qualifier “outgoing.”)
Of course as GM’s, we sometimes contribute to the problem, too. Sometimes our descriptions of situations are too vague or leave out important details. Players may not have the right information to make a choice. Sometimes we don’t build a sense of urgency. If players don’t feel there are any time constraints, they have no reason to move along at a reasonable pace. Also, sometimes we may be bad role models. Sometimes we spend a great deal of time looking up every last rule or deliberating about an NPC’s actions. This doesn’t help the overall tone of the game.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Here are some thoughts to help move deliberations along. Remember to use them sparingly and gently. And if you’re particularly sly, your players may not even notice what you are doing.
Set a session end time – Decide on an ending time and stick to it. If players know that the session only runs three hours, they’ll try to get a lot of things accomplished in that time. Reaching some milestone during the session provides a great deal of satisfaction for players. Your habits will let them know that they only have so much time to do that each session.
Set a time limit within the game – Just as you plan to end on time, be sure the villains do, too. If players are taking too long to deliberate, you may wish to remind them that the vampires plan to sacrifice the kidnapped prince, and the sun is beginning to set. (Cue Christopher Lee and Rob Pattinson.) This is a nice option because it keeps them focused on the game world while reminding them that you don’t have all night.
Restate the players stated options – If players have been talking a while, you may wish to restate the two or three most prominent options for the party. This may clarify the choices, and send a signal that it is time to move forward.
Ask quiet players for their opinions – Inviting quiet or shy players to speak is just good practice. And who knows, they may cast a deciding vote or come up with something no one else has thought of. Or they might not say much, but at least you tried.
Noises – When all else fails, have them hear approaching footsteps or increasingly loud rumbles. Have the NPC they are talking to become fidgety or impatient. Of course, you can always have a bad guy kick in the door and start combat. But try the noises and fidgeting first. It’s easier on everyone’s nerves.
I don’t want to suggest that you should cut every deliberation short or seem impatient. However, there will be times when you need to help move things along for the good of the entire group. These are some techniques, but not an exhaustive list by any means.
How about you? What techniques did I miss? What techniques am I off-base with? Let us know below.
Great article – I think managing the deliberation process is a crucial part of playing and GMing and both sides of the table need to take responsibility for it. Our group has spent a lot of time discussing this. Our conclusions are more or less as follows:
1) Deliberation occurs when the players are unsure what awaits them.
Deliberation doesn’t occur when the characters get to a dungeon crossroads (or at least it’s not very long) because the options are clear. They don’t over-deliberate at the dungeon doorway because they have a pretty clear idea about their options – listen at the door, check for traps, bash it down. These decisions are usually quick because the players know that the story only moves forward when they pick a corridor to travel down or when they get through the door. It’s when the players know that the ruthless bandits have hostages in their forest keep that the deliberations bog down because the players have too many options.
2) Players should make decisions based on getting the story going.
Basically once they do make a decision, the story gets going. It doesn’t matter if they make the “right” or “wrong” decision, *something* will happen once they make that decision. A good GM will ensure that their decision leads to further action. The PCs might try to storm the bandit keep, negotiate diplomatically or sneak in – any of these courses of action makes the story move forward and none of them have to be the definitively correct approach.
3) There aren’t that many basic plans.
Most plans break down to three courses of action – confrontation (basically charging in and attacking), infiltration (sneaking in and looking for information or important items) or deception (gaining access to a desired area through pretence). You might consider diplomacy a fourth action but I actually think diplomacy is a specific tactic within the more general strategy of confrontation or deception (maybe I’m just a cynic).
4) Propose a plan and vote on it.
One or more player should propose one of the three basic courses of action (with some additional detail if they have something specific in mind). Then the other players vote on the courses of action proposed (or just accept the proposal if there is only one) and then – and this is the key part – they do not deviate from that basic plan. Each player can add some detail to the existing course of action but they cannot change a confrontation to a deception for example.
5) Keep the plan simple.
Basically, deliberation should be about choosing a basic course of action, doing some basic preparations and working out where each character will be located and what their initial actions will be once the plan goes into action. Once the players start to discuss contingencies, the deliberation process has gone on too long. As we all know, once a plan actually goes into action, it breaks down almost instantly anyway. The focus must be on ensuring the story moves forward and the story lies on the other side of that dungeon door so get in there.
That is my unsolicited one cent (I’d offer two cents but that’s more complicated than necessary to precipitate the action).
Jerry
I like the point about there not being that many basic plans. The variety comes in the implementation. I’ve already walked away from the table and told them: “Take five-ten minutes and come up with your plan. ” That is not so much to hurry them along, but allows them to surprise me for a change.
Call for a roll.
I generally use ability/skill rolls to whittle options down for the players if they seem stuck. It helps reinforce what’s “on their sheet” without seeming like you’re taking away their freedom of choice.
Good point Walt. An intelligence roll might be a good way for me to give them info:
“You just remembered these trolls really like canoli.”
(Who doesn’t?)
Not having the right information–or too much of the wrong type of information–can be a killer. I wrote an article about analysis paralysis several years ago that touched on similar issues, and features a lot of good comments. (Including groups that revel in the decision making process!)
It’s also worth understanding the various player archetypes in decision making — Bossy, Passive, Passive-Agressive, Overanalyzer, et. al. — and how they interact with one another at the table. As a GM you need to tailor your solution to fit the personality mix. Of course, those personalities, how they combine, and how to work with them would be another entire article.
In terms of focusing simply on what you can do when the PCs are struggling to reach a good decision, I like to offer them small hints. As Walt noted above, these are best done relative to each character’s skills. E.g., suggest a listen check to determine if someone’s in the room they’re debating breaking in to. Or a divination spell that will reveal small but useful information. Or, “You do have a few skill points in Carpentry, and you can tell that that rickety wooden bridge is unlikely to hold your weight, let alone the whole party crossing.”
On first read, I thought your reference to an “outgoing” player meant someone who would soon be leaving the group, for reasons best left unspecified. It took me several re-reads to realize that you meant “extroverted” – totally my bad. But both interpretations work!