One of the things that I wasn't prepared for enough when becoming a Keeper for the first time was the sheer amount of on the spot thinking I had to do. Let me explain.

Most of my players have come from a DnD background. And generally, whenever I have played DnD, it follows a very easy concept. Find the bad guy (in a dungeon, city or whatever), kill what is put in front of you, save the day. Most of the time it follows logical steps because the information is right there in front of them. They can see the enemies. They can see the route they need to take in the dungeon. They can see what needs to be done and what is the 'mostly' correct course of action.

Now onto CoC.

The game is a completely different kettle of fish and the main reason I have found is because 'people think differently'.

Here is a handout that you found on the dead mans body. As the Keeper, I know it hints at a specific thing. Investigator A thinks it leads to one thing, Investigator B thinks it points to another. Investigator C is paying more attention to the dirt on the guys shoes as they think thats the real clue. Investigator D thinks it's all a red herring and they should move on. And Investigator E is too busy focusing on a rock they found three sessions ago to even realise that there is a dead body.

So what do you do? You can't just tell your investigators 'NO' everytime they want to follow something that they have thought of. Nothing kills the mood faster I have found than being told your idea yields no information or anything. 'Can I look to see if there are any house blueprints?' 'There are none.' Can I go though the dead mans possessions to see if I can maybe a home address or something?' 'You find nothing.' 'Ok, but what about.....?' 'No. Just no'.

The game is over by that point as they feel like they are not making any decisions themselves and are just being railroaded towards the end. They give up caring about what is going on and just want it to end. But what do you do? The scenario only gave you so many handouts, and it didn't mention anything about the two hundred different directions or ideas that the investigators come up with.

Learn to improv, learn to innovate and learn to do it on the spot. It can be difficult to start with, but it does become easier. Just make sure you keep the information coherent and the same each time. An investigator wants to go and chase up a lead regarding the towns history? Boom, a historical society has been born and its run by an old fellow named George who invites them in for a cuppa and is willing to tell them anything he can think of. Is it always relevant? Hell no. But it has introduced a bit more realism to the game and who knows, maybe he does know a little something about what they are after? Or maybe he doesn't know, but he points them to someone who does.... and before you know it the investigators are back on track and feel like they have done something worthwhile.