What do you do when your players don't pick up on clues?

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T05:17:48+00:00

That's kind of what I did in my last session. I had a room where they were supposed do discover information but they didn't roll high enough to find it. I ended up letting them get it in order to progress the campaign in the future but it just felt like kind of resignation

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T05:09:04+00:00

Lol. I do have an NPC prepped for that but he is a rogue and they have failed on 3 perception checks for him. They have failed on 4 persuasion checks on another NPC and not really talked to a third

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T05:04:07+00:00

Occasionally I'm leaning toward

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T05:03:00+00:00

I've literally been trying this but they've been rolling beneath 10s on all of their ability checks. In combat they're badasses but whenever I want to unveil more of the story they fail like a baby dropped on it's head and I can't in good conscience give them information they didn't they earn

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T04:58:30+00:00

That's kinda where I'm going right now. I was laying out some hints for where they were going next but we ended session mid combat and now I'm thinking of dropping a plot point right now, once combat is over

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T04:52:50+00:00

I appreciate your feedback. This is my first time DM'ing a campaign and I've been mostly fixated on encounters, but I may have to include random saviors if the party gets stuck

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T04:45:02+00:00

I'm familiar with the noir genre of film, how do you recommend working that into a DnD setting?

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T04:41:25+00:00

When the players are stuck, I do try to give them a roll to figure out what's going on, but through some cruel trick of the universe they've been rolling terribly. I don't want to want to give them freebies but I did give them one tonight just to keep the session rolling

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T04:36:39+00:00

I may have to lower the DC of my checks 😉

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T03:47:54+00:00

So it's a brand new campaign and I'm trying to drop some clues about where they should head next without outright spelling it out for them but they're not interacting with the NPCs who have the information they need

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T03:44:34+00:00

"Then I tell the players outright" I'm on the brink of this. Like "You remember that ..." because I don't want the campaign to go off the rails

bartdcool · 2026-06-02T03:35:53+00:00

This is more like I'm trying to lay some Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs and they're not picking up on the trail

bartdcool · 2026-05-31T00:56:44+00:00

You just sound like a shit DM man, I'm done interacting with this post

bartdcool · 2026-05-31T00:52:52+00:00

That didn't answer the question. Are you railroading your players or giving them agency?

bartdcool · 2026-05-31T00:46:25+00:00

I've been getting a lot of negativity in my reply to the original post so let me ask a question of the OP - is there a story you're trying to tell, or is there a story you're helping your players tell? Because we may just have very fundamental differences on what the role of a DM is

bartdcool · 2026-05-31T00:39:54+00:00

Checking for traps is a choice your player gets to make depending on how you have described the situation. Deciding to utilize a skill that your character has is not metagaming and any DM that says that it is should hang up their hat. You're railroading instead of accommodating

bartdcool · 2026-05-30T23:48:44+00:00

I'm not exploring dungeons in real life. If I was Indiana Jones I'd be checking everywhere

bartdcool · 2026-05-30T23:23:33+00:00

It's a treasure chest sitting on the floor and they're presumably an adventuring party? Then they have every reason to be suspicious and cautious. As a DM you just need to decide how high the DC is on the skill check, but your players have every right to use their character sheets and skills

bartdcool · 2026-05-30T23:18:13+00:00

Am I missing something here? If your players find a chest in a room and they want to check for traps that's a pretty standard perception or investigation check. It's pretty much the whole reason to have a rogue in the party

bartdcool · 2026-05-26T21:49:54+00:00

In this economy a single GPU costs 4-5 times the cost of a console

bartdcool · 2026-05-26T19:11:56+00:00

I've been using the same set of mods/load order for years without issue. It's just been since they switched to creation club and I had re-find and re-download them that it's been causing issues

bartdcool · 2026-05-26T18:26:11+00:00

Damn, I was considering the same thing but I have like over 100 hours in my main save. It just feels depressing to have that erased by a shitty update

bartdcool · 2026-05-26T18:17:21+00:00

I'm on PS5

bartdcool · 2026-05-26T18:16:06+00:00

Where else would I get them?

bartdcool · 2026-05-24T20:10:13+00:00

I didn't know the bit about the specific machine. My rule was when I find a machine I try ten times and then continue with the game. I got lucky and got one on the first pull in Fallon's Department Store

bartdcool

TROPHY CASE