Getting Stuck

Play

The Knights have just encountered the final Omen of the Wyvern Myth, killing the beast. They’ve set up camp and rested for the night.

Ref: Okay, brand new day, no wyvern eating the locals! Feels good, right?

Tal: Yeah! Moss, what should we do now?

Moss: I guess we’re kinda free aren’t we.

Tal and Moss look over the map for a while, recapping where they’ve already been.

Tal: Yeah… I dunno. Whatever is good.

Moss: Hm.

Hesitation as both players look at each other.

Ref: If in doubt, remember your Oath.

Ref taps the Oath on each character sheet.

Moss: Yeah. I mean I guess we could just go looking for Myths.

Ref: Speaking to the locals is the best way to get information. You swore to protect the Realm after all. You haven’t been into this marsh yet though, you could just chance it.

Moss: No I say we head to the nearest Holding and get some leads. Let’s go to that one right there.

They go through the normal travel procedure, then Ref realises they don’t have anything planned for this Holding.

Ref: Okay. Actually, I just need to make some rolls for this place. Is now a good time for a little break?

Tal: Yeah I wouldn’t mind a drink.

Tal goes to get a drink, Moss stays at the table checking his phone. Ref rolls some prompts and makes brief notes for the Holding, a few characters there, and the Myths that they each know about. After a couple of minutes they’re done. Tal returns.

Ref: Right, so following the trail to this Holding you can hear drums and flutes. Sounds like there’s a celebration on.

Thoughts

Every game session has its high energy moments and those that are more subdued. The latter shouldn’t be feared, but there are certainly times when a little direction or urgency can keep things moving.

Here Ref gave the players plenty of opportunity to pick a new direction for themselves after a big success. In these situations where the players are told “you can go anywhere!” it’s not uncommon to see them overwhelmed with choice, or nobody wanting to take the lead.

Ref encouraged the players to think creatively by reminding them of their Oath, a good fallback for moments like this.

An alternative approach is to throw something at the players that immediately requires attention. A hostile encounter, screams in the distance, a looming storm. Here I think Ref made the right call in not doing that, as it may have cut short the opportunity for the players to bask in a little moment of calm after their wyvern fight.

Of course, the difficult thing with giving players this much freedom is that the Referee is likely to have to improvise what lies ahead. Holdings and Landmarks are a good example, as they’re often little more than a marker on the map until the players decide to actually visit one.

If Ref were feeling more confident they could have just rolled frantically on some prompts and described the Holding on the fly as the players listened. Sometimes this pressure helps the Referee create unexpected ideas.

Instead, they called for a short break, something that works well in moderation. Taking too many of these breaks can leave the game feeling disjointed, but here it feels like the group was ready for it, so it was a good opportunity for Ref to spend a little time preparing ahead. I just hope Ref remembers to take a break of their own at some point.