moritheil
First Post
I'm totally with PC and KM here. I always try to resolve something every game session. It doesn't have to be the big story arc, but it needs to be something substantial, like catching a villain (even if he's only #12 in the command chain), or discovering a map with a secret entrance to the palace, or finding a letter from the king to his mistress that no one knows about, or something.
Resolving something every session goes a long way toward making the PCs feel like heroes. There's also something to be said for a single session experience vs. an extended one (Poe talked about this when he wrote about short stories and poems vs. novels; there's something perfect about finishing in one session).
The thing is, I'm doing just that - it was a couple fights and then they'd find the kidnappers. Only, one of my players lost patience after two fights and wanted out. It can't get any shorter and still be a nuanced story!
I don't have a session-by-session break. It's PBP, as I stated. It has taken a couple of weeks, but there were delays due to the site going down and a few instances where players were slow to post, and I don't think that has anything to do with my DM style. If I've missed something I could have done, please tell me.
Also, like PC says, character actions need to have consequences. Don't feel like you've plotted everything out - or need to plot everything out - before the session.
I don't plot everything out. That's not what the problem is. I have been DMming for over a decade and do not have any trouble adjusting on the fly - in fact my last major campaign of this type was a simulated world with no overarching plot at all. What I can't do, however, is read the minds of my players. I don't know what to do when a player says that the features of the game as I have listed them are all okay with him, and then he wants out because it isn't what he thought it would be.
This is abrupt, too; one week he was posting with giddy anticipation and the next week he suddenly said, "This style isn't working for me, sorry, I'm out."
Another rule that comes to mind after reading your post. You say you don't want to throw players into the overarching story right off the bat. I say, do it. The rule is: use the good stuff first. Always lead with your best stuff.
But this directly contradicts your statement that I should give them something that can be resolved in one session. If they can't wait for four straightforward 2-round fights - which I would think would be the equivalent of one session - how on earth can they be expected to put up with all the geopolitical nuances of the actual story?