We all know the meme: Players grab the most inconspicuous little goblin in a side character and ignore the walking plot in a fancy cloak. They will become obsessed with the smallest details of a crime scene and completely ignore the big clues nailed to the wall. They’ll waste all their time shopping and haggling in the big city instead of following the clues in the cult sewer hideout you’ve worked so hard to arrange for them.
This meme is funny because it’s true, but it can also be exhausting, especially if you’re not doing a sandbox campaign and have to guide your team back into the plot. (Especially if you’re a newer GM or a GM who doesn’t handle curveballs well.)
Thankfully, there are a few tricks we can use to mitigate the “supporting actor cinnamon bun effect,” as I like to call it. If your players are stubborn and you can’t seem to redirect their energy, there are ways you can use their attention to your campaign’s benefit.
It all comes down to how you describe things.
Eyes and Ears
As the GM, you are the eyes, ears, and other senses of the players. The choices you make when describing your game will truly frame the way they perceive your character’s world, and their perception of the world will determine their actions. If they nail the wrong thing, like the barkeeper being a goblin instead of the mysterious figure in the corner, or the corner of the bread being stale instead of the bloody murder weapon, nine times out of ten it’s a failure of description. Either you eat too much, too little, or all wrong.
Let’s break it down to see what went wrong and discuss how we can correct it when it arises.
Too Much Information
Picture this: your character arrives in a big city. It was the trading center of the coast, bustling with merchants, guilds, religious orders, tourists and travelers of all kinds. This is a huge change from the days when they were carving their way through the wilderness. From the city walls to the docks to the magical castle in the center of town, it makes sense that you want to describe everything. But what happens after you spend five minutes talking about all the wonders this city has to offer?
Instead of scurrying off like kids in Disney World into all the wonderful and dangerous streets and areas you’ve prepared, your players will immediately ask for the nearest hotel and haggle over the cost of their stay.
They may be playing a game and just want to establish a base for their time in town. Or, it could be that, in trying to impress upon them the grandeur of the place, you’re giving them too much information and they’re missing the forest for the trees (so to speak).
If you find yourself constantly relaying a lot of descriptive information to your players, but when asked what they want to do next, they just stare at you blankly and go “Hmm…” then you may need to cut back on your information conveyed.
How to Solve
Correcting too much information is a simple and fun way to do it, thanks to two psychological tricks: the primacy effect and the immediacy effect. Basically, when we see a list of information, we remember the first and last one we heard. The thing in the middle? Might as well throw it into the ocean. There are exceptions of course, but in general – first thing, last thing. These are the ones that can persist.
So when we describe a city (or other important aspect of the game world), let’s first make sure that the two most important elements we want to convey – in our case, size and sewers – come first and the last bit, let these psychological effects work to our advantage. We can then spend extra time describing those specific aspects while glossing over the stuff in between.
For example: “This port city stretches out from the ocean like a giant squid beached on the shore. The buildings dominate your field of view, stretching almost from one end of the horizon to the other. (We started by emphasizing size) “While sailors, merchants, and other citizens went about their busy days…” (and glossing over unimportant details) “you noticed something strange—a metal grate covering the entrance to the sewer system had been prized open, A muddy footprint led inside. (And omitting details about sewer cults.)
Too Little Information
When you want players to follow a plot thread you’ve laid out, and players seem to grab random NPCs and cause trouble of their own, they may suffer from a lack of information.
If I’ve learned anything in my 20+ years of running games, it’s this: No matter how subtle I think I am when I’m providing hints and clues to my PC, I’m actually 100 times more vague than anyone else. Subtlety is an excellent technique for many forms of entertainment – a good mystery novel, a tense period drama, a black box stage play – but subtlety does not enhance the expressiveness of a TTRRPG.
How to Solve
There is an old marketing adage that says a customer must see your product information 7 times before deciding to buy your product. It’s an old adage because in the 21st century, the number of times has increased dramatically, but details aside, it’s still a good rule of thumb to know how long you have to wait before the player starts picking up what you put down. Time provides hints and descriptive clues.
If you want to move your characters in a certain plot direction, repeat these hooks multiple times in a turn. If you want them to be aware of the plot to overthrow the king, show their loyalty by wearing green and gold clothing, then don’t mention the green and gold robes of a single NPC once, and then, after four turns, watch out for the assassin NPC Hair dyed green and blonde. Information is not repeated enough.
Instead, there’s talk of a group of people dressed in green and gold taking over a corner of a local cafe. Mention the spread of green and gold trim on the windows. Flags hung from horses and carriages. Scarves and hats worn by many people in the city.
Don’t be too subtle. Hit them over the head with description and then restate. reiterate. reiterate.
Completely Wrong Type
This descriptive faux pas is usually some combination of the first two, and one I personally have fallen into countless times in my role as GM is what usually happens is what you get. So wrapped up in the description of a scene, in the loving attention to details of the forest animals or the library tapestry you’re currently personally anchoring, you’ve completely forgotten to describe the important elements your players need to appreciate what’s going on in the scene.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten to describe a book, lever, or some other important item when describing an intricately designed marble fountain. So, of course, my players focus on the fountain. I spent so much time describing it, it must be important, right?
oh.
How to Solve?
Of course, it’s easy to correct this mistake, depending on what you prepare. Of course, your best option is to avoid mistakes by writing down important details so you don’t forget yourself.
If you’re the kind of GM who likes to prepare descriptions in advance, read it a few more times with a critical eye to make sure you’ve caught the important parts.
If you’re like me and like to come up with most of your descriptions on the fly, give yourself some bullet points so you don’t get too carried away.
However, if you find yourself far from where you want to be, all is not lost. The easiest way to correct a misdescription is to change your plan so that the fountain becomes the focal point of the scene.
Sometimes, a small fluctuation like this can mess up your entire preparation, so in that case, ask for a perception check (and maybe fudge the results if necessary), and voila! The smart computer has seen through your Shifting focus and discovering the real clue that was there all along…
The Gift Your Players Give You: When things are going wrong
No one can describe themselves perfectly every time. No group of players can focus 100% on the mission. But when your players decide to focus on secondary characters or minor details, you should think of it as a gift: it’s them telling you what they find exciting and engaging.
This isn’t a failure; it’s valuable information that you can take back into your preparation and utilize it the next time you run the game.
Practice What You Preach
Since there is a lot of information in this article, I thought it would be helpful to pick some key points and repeat them. Remember, when it comes to descriptions, you should:
- Keep it short and direct
- Reiterate
- Reiterate
- Reiterate
- Make sure you focus on the important parts
What about you? When was the last time your team caught on to a completely unexpected little detail that ruined your entire preparation? Let us know in the comments section below!