The most important rule you can remember is this: when you're caught off guard -- stay mentally alert and flexible!

"You want to go where?!"

The one predictable thing about players is they'll be unpredictable. If they insist on going in a direction you're completely unprepared for, don't try to force them to do what you want -- remember, they're volunteers. If you're really caught flat-footed by player decisions, there are a number of options you can try.

• Ask your players OOCly if they really want to go that way, since you've not yet developed that section of the map. If they say yes, feel free to tell them politely that in that case you'll have to stop the game here for this week, then, because you need the next week to fill that part of the adventure out.

• If you don't need that much time, but you're still startled and would like a moment to consider, call a ten minute drink break. Then go do something calming and relaxing -- get a snack from the kitchen or something -- and figure out what you think the best reaction in-game would be.

Most good players are happy to give an honest GM time to make the game better. It's when the GM tries to hide unpreparedness, and force them into another direction, that players get stubborn and intractable.

"You want to do what?!"

Sometimes players expect to be able to do things in character that are either plot-destroying, culture-shattering, or just not where you want your game to go. There are as many ways for this to occur as there are inventive players. In cases like this, it is your mental alertness and flexibility that will determine if the game becomes a battle between you and the players... or if you all can resolve the contentious issues and move on past them.

We first give an example of what the players wish to do: the players are in a fantasy game and wish to use huge mirrors at the tops of a country's watchtowers to send signals, in order to defeat an enemy army.

The easiest way to handle this is to weave it convincingly and compellingly into the game. However, this is not always feasible. For whatever reason, we're postulating that the GM feels this would ruin his world's set-up, and wishes to discourage the players from doing this.

Following are several ways of resolving the issue amicably. Please note, these are not the only ways to resolve this issue, nor is this one example supposed to be exhaustive.

• Who're you playing?
  The simplest response is for the GM to OOCly ask the players if they really feel this is an appropriate thing for their fantasy world characters to have come up with. Do any of the characters have 'inventor' or 'engineer' on their skill lists? Is there any IC reason that one of the PCs should suddenly become the game equivalent of Michelangelo? Who are the players actually playing -- their characters or themselves?

• Who's paying?
  This offers a very straightforward and relatively modern reaction that's still IC -- the PCs may have had a (potentially anachronistic) brilliant idea, but how will they implement it? Big mirrors in a fantasy world are expensive... and fragile. Will the PCs be paying for this out of their own pockets, or trying to talk a conservative noble (in war time, no less!) into funding their wild and unproven idea?

• Who's praying?
  Let us now postulate a more magical response. Say the players are starting to set up the mirrors. An emmisary of the local religion's Pope politely warns them the Sun deity is unhappy with this. The players are in a 20th Century mindset at this point, so they scoff, and continue working. However, once the mirrors are set up, the Sun deity is indeed quite wroth at being taken so for granted. She shatters both the mirrors and the watchtowers with bolts of fire, and curses the land. The PCs become very unpopular in that land.

• Whose livelihood is dying?
  How about a more pragmatic, but still non-anachronistic approach? The characters find a rich patron to pay for their idea. Then a representative of the well-respected Messenger's Guild asks them to stop -- to not put hundreds of people out of work. When the players indignantly refuse, things keep going wrong. Mirrors are delivered to the wrong locales, lost, or broken. Eventually an angry note from their patron arrives, firing them for not replying to her repeated, polite requests for information -- requests the PCs never received.

• Who're you defying?
  This is a slightly more complex response, in that it involves both cultural hierarchies and politics. Let us say the players decide on the mirrors for their course of action. Who will they tell? They're usually relative nobodies in a town... well-armed thugs. Will they try to speak to the local ruler? How? The local ruler is in a war, and doesn't have time for loonies. Perhaps the PCs can make an appointment... for a month or so from now. Will they wait, or try to break in to speak to someone in authority -- a group of armed, attacking adventurers in war-time? Will they settle for talking to the second-in-command? Is the second really a traitor? Do they get shanghai'd into the army?

You will potentially be faced with myriad types of problems, and your means of resolution will doubtless be wildly different from the suggestions we gave above -- and that's fine. What's important here is getting into the habit of thinking resourcefully, and realizing you always have more than one way to handle your game and your players.

"You want to kill who?!"

There will be times when your players react in certain ways to NPCs, and you will have no idea why they feel that way! In cases like that, it's sometimes hard to know how to react in order to keep things rolling smoothly. Still, once again, you have a variety of responses you can fall back on. The important thing is: don't panic -- don't try to force the reaction you want.

• Don't tell this to the players, of course... but remember you don't have to nail down who knows what until the players are actually talking to one of your Schrödinger's NPCs.

  It's a common GM technique to decide which NPCs have what information that some particular PC can find. This is usually not a good idea, for the simple reason that PCs never do precisely what you expect them to do. The best solution to this we've ever heard was referred to by the canny GM as the "Schrödinger's NPC" effect.

  An example: the players are traveling down a road. The GM knows they will probably stop at the inn for the night, and the next day they'll pass a knight on the road. The GM decides that if the PCs stop at the inn, the innkeeper will have some information they need, and the knight will be interesting local color. However, if the players decide to press on, they'll meet the knight. In that case, since they missed the innkeeper, the GM decides it will be the knight who has the much-needed information -- not the innkeeper.

  Be sure your information sources are accessible to at least two of your players' PCs, for the following reason. Let us say your PC party mostly consists of peasantry. However, you're not worried about the NPC knight being the information source because there's one PC knight with the group. What will you do if the PC knight's player is sick that game and cannot attend?

• Remember, when everything's a trade-off, the players can be ruthless in their pursuit of the villain -- but that means the villain will be ruthless in return.

  Players (usually a suspicious lot) often react with extreme and terminal hostility to villains -- not without reason. If you administer your villains thoughtfully, your players may end up hating them, and doing their best to move heaven and earth to get at them and/or kill them.

  Passionate players are both a blessing and a curse, however. Yes, you've really motivated them! -but at some point they will need meaningful revenge on that villain, or they will become frustrated and unhappy. If necessary, try to have more than one villain: i.e. the PCs may have defeated Darth Vader, but there's still his enigmatic, dangerous master lurking somewhere in the shadows.

  Don't show villains off too early or too carelessly, because if there's even the tiniest chink in your villain's armor, your players will find it and exploit it to the fullest! Keep in mind that simply saying a villain is powerful, charismatic, and wealthy isn't enough -- you must show this as well. If you've a wicked mental bent, you can use common player behavioral traits to do so.

  For example, if the villain is required to gloat in front of the PCs, make it happen at some social function, where the PCs can't simply pull out all their firepower and waste him. Most players feel an almost compelling need to be rude to villains, so let them start to do so -- but then have the host of the social function have all the PCs ignominiously arrested and thrown out of the party.

  Let the last thing they see be the host profusely apologizing to the elegantly disdainful villain. Offended guests should stare scornfully at the roughed-up PCs being hustled out like so much rabble, and the PCs should have trouble getting anyone to listen to them -- if they manage to cough up the (now surprisingly hefty) bribes or bails to get out of jail.

• Let the players do what they want, but make sure they understand: actions have consequences.

  Sometimes players just can't seem to restrain themselves. Let's say you set up a scene like the above -- the elegant, powerful villain gloats at the PCs at a social function... and the PCs whip out their assorted swords, psionic knives, electrified chains, sawed-off shotguns, phosphorus grenades, laser blasters, etc. etc. ad nauseum. You end up with a gently smoking grease spot where your villain was just a moment ago. All those carefully laid plans for naught... what now?!

  Don't panic. Just imagine the scene in your mind as clearly as possible, but put it into a familiar frame of reference. When threatened with immediate death, people usually react fairly similarly. If you were at your high school prom and someone blew up the principal, what would happen? That's easy -- there'd be panic, screaming, gunfire, glass breaking, people running around frantically -- a few folks would try to stop the murderers -- the police, the fire department, and ambulances would come screaming in -- it'd be very messy.

  However, the aftermath would be even messier. Blurry photos of the murder would appear in local newspapers, while local TV commentators would sternly thunder about the dangers of increasing crime. The criminals would be shot at by the police, folks on the street would occasionally recognize them and either flee screaming or call the local authorities, shopkeepers might pull weapons on them... you get the idea.

  I guess you could even play it out to the grisly end, if your players are enjoying themselves?

• Everyone wants to shine, but remember -- you're not the Hero.

  In your game world your NPCs can be villains, sidekicks, neutrals, companions, whatever... except the hero. Remember, you get to play the entire background! Your players each only have one character -- so give the PCs an interesting environment in which to shine.

  The hardest thing for a GM to learn is when to keep her mouth shut. If you identify too strongly with your NPCs and always want them to be the best, or if you play a player character in the game, what is left for your players' characters to do?

  The PCs may save or defeat or trust or fear your NPCs -- but your NPCs shouldn't always win, and should occasionally need help from the PCs. Most emphatically, the PCs should be the ones making a difference, in your story.

• Push your players to be passionate, yes... but remember that if you push hard enough, someday they won't care any more and they'll just want to kill the NPC!

  This one's here to remind you to consider your players' peace of mind. In this example, the GM gave all his NPC mouthpieces extremely patronizing, rude personalities, while being sure they had critical information the PCs needed. He made one of them an AI helmet on the PCs' space ship. Unfortunately for this GM, he forgot the cardinal rule -- actions have consequences.

  While wearily listening to the AI helmet gloating about how desperately the PCs needed it and how they were nothing but feet for it, something snapped in one of the players. Her PC firmly warned the helmet that it did not need to be an offensive pig in order to help the group, and if it didn't learn some manners it would get tossed out the airlock door. The GM, sure the player wouldn't dare, had the AI helmet laugh and mock her.

  The player then calmly told the GM that she was picking up the AI helmet and throwing it out the airlock. The GM had the helmet yell to the other PCs about how much they needed it -- and then came to the embarrassing realization that he'd gone too far with his NPCs -- because the other players simply sat and silently watched as the GM's favorite NPC was thrown out of the ship, the group, and the game.

The Carrot and the Stick

One important thing to keep in mind is that even if you're saying no in one way within your game, you want to offer opportunities in other ways. If you always hit your players with a metaphorical stick and never offer any carrots, why should they play? Don't always tell your players just flat no -- offer them other options.

Perhaps they can't use mirrors to signal over miles... but polished shields from one tower to another works every once in a while? Maybe they can't find someone to fund this idea... but they attract the interest of a curious mage? Maybe the Messenger's Guild tries to co-opt them, or you allow one of them to buy 'inventor' later. Maybe they're cursed by the Sun deity, but you can still let them find a way to redeem themselves and save the day.

The occasional stick isn't so bad, as long as you offer an alternative carrot to your players. It's all right for them to lose a battle... but unless they do something really stupid, it's nice when they can win the war.