This is an old article by Rob Donoghue talking about what to do when people freeze at the table.

This is an old article by Rob Donoghue talking about what to do when people freeze at the table.

This is an old article by Rob Donoghue talking about what to do when people freeze at the table. 

The usual advice given here, when people can’t seem to answer a question usually was: Give them 2 possibilities to choose from with a “or something else?”. Reading this article, it occurred to me that this might be a bad thing. It deprives the player of a choice basically if they take one of your options. That is not their idea. It is not their vision. 

What do you guys think? 

(Found this by listening to old episode of the Narrative Control Podcast by Sean Nittner)

http://walkingmind.evilhat.com/2010/07/19/freeze

6 thoughts on “This is an old article by Rob Donoghue talking about what to do when people freeze at the table.”

  1. It depends on how well you know your players as much as how much they trust you, doesn’t? And by saying “or something else” you still leave the option for the player to suggest something of their own.

    Best case, giving the player options helps them define what they don’t want and focuses on what the do want.

  3. Stephen Chast Whenever someone was getting stuck with their writing, an old teacher of mine would say “let me give you my idea so you can come up with something better.”

    If it’s a good suggestion that the player is down with, it keeps the game moving (and usually gets the player moving so they make their own suggestions, in my experience). If it’s a bad suggestion that the player is not down with, it get them to think of an idea of their own.

    Does it infringe on player agency? Eh. Arguably. But it’s worth jiggling the spotlight a little to keep the game from grinding to a halt, imo. If you let that happen, nobody has fun (at least, not game-related fun).

  4. James Etheridge Your professor succinctly states what I’m trying to accomplish when I give a stuck player a few options. how much it infringes depends upon the players perception of the situation. I try to communicate well and not pressure them when I step in like that.

  5. “The important thing to remember is that these are social games, and as in any social setting, people don’t like to look stupid. When someone freezes up on a choice, they are looking around the table at people who, to their mind, could easily make the right call if they were faced with this the same decision. The last thing they want to do is make a wrong call and look like a fool in front of their friends.

    There’s an instinct that kicks in here for a lot of folks to try to solve the problem by offering advice. Sometimes its as blatant as declaring the right answer, but usually it’s couched a little bit more ‘subtly’ with reminders about rules or options. This is usually well intentioned, but it just makes the problem worse. Not only does it cheapen whatever decision gets made (because even if successful, the freezing player will attribute the success to the help) but it also reinforces the player’s sense that they’re the dunce at the table full of people who ‘get it’.[1]

    And that leads to the first rule of dealing with a freeze: Shut your pie hole.”

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