[D&D Basic] Should I impose limited choices as a DM ?

[Falheim]

Greetings all, I am new on this forum, so nice to meet you!,
It's getting harder and harder to find answers about old D&D games, since all forums are dead now, or erased from the surface of the Internet. Indeed, some days ago I decided to finally learn how to play D&D basic (with the red box) in 2019! So with my brother, we were reading the player manual together, did the solo adventure included, then the solo adventure MSOLO1 Blizzard Pass which was recommended and unfortunatly was aweful and very disapoiting to us (absolutly no respect of the rules compared to the solo adventure of the player manual, you just pick up one of the 2-3 limited choices and read, almost no die rolls, even the end sucks with no XP, nothing, really bad writing...) and now I am reading the Dungeon Master Booklet to understand and prepare the Group Adventure included (with the 3-level dungeon). BUT, it's written nowhere if I have, as a DM, to give limited choices (like in the solo adventures), or if I just have to let PC decide what they want to do, for example, going to the east, searching in the room, listening, etc. Do you have an idea ? I want to play with the real rules so don't tell me "Decide what you prefer", I just want to know if actually, in D&D classic games, there MUST BE limited choices to pick for the players, or if it only concerns Solo adventures, not Group adventures.

Best regards!

[GunbunnyFuFu]

I do a hybrid approach to adventures usually...I've got an adventure usually lined out on paper, but I also don't force player/characters to "bite" on the adventure, and roll with whatever they want to do. This approach requires some understanding of the rules and some creativity, but it also makes the players feel like they're in "control" of their characters. Have a few encounters that don't have anything to do with the current adventure lined out on paper, ready to go in case the players take a detour. And players will take detours! With solo adventures, I'd suggest having an NPC hireling or two with them to help them out.

Hope that helps!

GBFF

[SirGraystone]

Sometime the most simple question are the harder to answer. Not you don't have to limit the choices in anyway of your players. You should up to a point, the hard part is to decide where you draw the line. Some adventure are easier, you have a dungeon with one entrance and a goal, so they probably will explore until they reach their goal or dies trying. Outside it can be more complex, let say you travel from the village of Homlett to the city of Verbodonc and get a random encounter in which they are attack by a werewolf, they fight kill the beast and should go back on the road, expect someone look for werewolf tracks to find its den. As a DM you have a choice, you can tell him he find no tracks so they go back on the road leaving them no real choice, you can have him find tracks (or rolls for it) and make up a mini adventure in the forest and inside the den, where you can find more werewolves, some loots, a dead body with some family heirlom (hook for some new quest), a live prisoner (that they can rescue). But the whole thing depend of how good you are at improvising if they get out of the limit of the written module.

Limits in a story are really there to make the DM job easier. As DM get more experience they usually remove more and more limits to the story.

The exception to this are Adventure League game, those come with a story that as to be follow.

[esmdev]

Here is the golden rule... you as the Dungeon Master can choose everything about your adventure that you want. It can be as narrow or as freeform as you want it to be.

One thing to keep in mind is that players don't always do what you expect them too and sometimes miss or avoid things that you might think are important. So it is good to have some level of structure to your game. Trial and error should help you to find a balance.

Also you might also want to talk with your players in advance. Figure out what they plan to play so you have an idea what sort of group to build the adventure for or what NPC or hirelings you might need to provide.

[Falheim]

Thank you for your answers, but I don't think you really answered my main question which is : With the Basic Red Box (and only this one, because I didn't read the Expert, Companion, Master nor Immortal yet), and according to what they say only in the first red box, it's not stated if I have to put limited choices in my group adventure, or if I must let the party deciding. According to solo adventures, they generally give 3 or 4 options (Listening, going back, attack or sneaky infiltration for example) and we go to the #Entry corresponding. But for group adventures, it's not written if there still must be choices or not. I know that later, when I'll be an experienced DM and that I'll have read the ECMI boxes, maybe the rules will change and i'll be able to let more freedom to my players. But actually we really want to play as the Red Box (first rule book) was intended to be played. So what do you think ? Limited Choices or not ? (at least for the moment, for our first dungeon as we are beginners).

Update : I saw that on the DM guide, the included group adventure (A 3-level dungeon) gives the story to read to the players, but there are not choices given it seem. It's only stated "If a PC decide to listening, then..." So i guess that it's up to the player to decide what they want to do, and not chosing an option like in Solo Adventures, but I am not sure.

[Trenloe]

Thank you for your answers, but I don't think you really answered my main question which is : With the Basic Red Box (and only this one, I didn't read the Expert, Companion, Master nor Immortal yet), and according to what they say only in the first red box, it's not stated if I have to put limited choices in my group adventure, or if I must let the party deciding. According to solo adventures, I have to give 3 or 4 options (Listening, going back, attack or sneaky infiltration for example) and go to the #Entry corresponding. But for group adventures, it's not written if there still must be choices or not. I know that later, when I'll be an experienced DM and that I'll have read the ECMI boxes, maybe the rules will change and i'll be able to let a freedom to my players. But actually we really want to play as the Red Box (first rule book) was intended to be played. So what do you think ? Limited Choices or not ?
The great thing about role-playing games is that they are only limited by the imagination of the GM and players - you're not stuck to a set of choices that a solo-pick-a-path adventure has or a computer game has programmed in - you're limited by what *you* want to do.

So, no - there is not any limit based off the "basic" rules. As has been stated, the main limits will be how dynamic and off-the-cuff you want to be as a DM - do you want to be completely spontaneous and roll with anything that the players throw at you, or do you want to limit the main directional decisions that players can make for example - do they go from the inn to the dungeon and follow the adventure plan? Or can they go off and try to do something else (rob the local rich merchant perhaps)? And this is generic to all RPGs, not just the basic rules - which is what people have been saying above.

The key thing is this, as the GM you don't say "here are your options: a)... b)... c)..." you describe the situation and then say "what do you want to do?" The solo book based games you've played are just there to give you a very rough idea of how the game works, but they have to be rigid as they don't have any "intelligence" to be able to adapt to your choices - they're words on a page. But with a GM (hopefully with at least a little bit of intelligence) those limits should be a lot less and choices are dynamic and (in theory) potentially limitless...

[Falheim]

Sure, I understand what you all said, but If my players decide to take actions that I cannot handle yet (because we are beginners, even myself as a DM) I will be lost, I don't know all the rules yet, only the ones in the first rulebook. We're just doing Dungeon/Door/Monsters/Treasure for now. So maybe it's better that I put some limits to what they can do no ? So they won't get confused about what they should do, and it will be easier for me to handle. I just thought that it should have been written in the Dungeon Master Guide, somewhere, that we can choose between giving options or not, but it's written nowhere, so it was difficult for me to understand how I should proceed. Anyway thanks for you answers all :)

[damned]

You should generally let the players dictate what they want to do.
You should make it enticing to go where you want them to, or maybe difficult to go elsewhere.
The less experience and confidence you have the more you will want them to go roughly where you want them to go...
Be honest with your players if they are stepping outside what you are ready for.

[Trenloe]

Sure, I understand what you all said, but If my players decide to take actions that I cannot handle yet (because we are beginners, even myself as a DM) I will be lost, I don't know all the rules yet, only the ones in the first rulebook. So maybe it's better that I put some limits to what they can do no ? So they won't get confused about what they should do, and it will be easier for me to handle.
Yes, that's exactly what we've been saying. But, this is not "in the rules" - which is what you kept asking, this is just normal gaming - do what you're comfortable with/what you have prepared. As mentioned, have a chat with your players before the game and don't be afraid to be open with them during the game. Most players will be fine playing within the bounds of what you have prepared and you're comfortable with.

And, related to this, for your first few games (and beyond) don't be afraid of getting the basic rules "wrong" - again, be open with your players (you're all learning) and learn together.

[celestian]

I want to play with the real rules so don't tell me "Decide what you prefer"

The answer is what you asked everyone not to tell you. The DM makes that choice. As complicated or as simple as he feels comfortable. THAT is the "real rule". It's up to you and your ability. As you run games you'll become more comfortable with more and more player choices. You'll also learn tricks to give them the appearance of choice... like say you have a Ogre that is integral to some part of your adventurer but they go the wrong way... just move the Ogre.

[Ckorik]

For a beginner - a good rule of thumb is the 'Rule of three' - if you want the players to know about something - have three ways they can/will learn it.

Want them to go do the dwarven mine? A quest to find a lost village boy (#1) was last seen at the mine. The local blacksmith could use some ore only found the mine - no one goes there anymore due to spiders (#2). The orcs the party 'encounters' after leaving the village have a half burned map that leads to the dwarven mine (#3).

The trick is that they might find all 3 pieces - they will most likely only run into one of them (or figure out what the significance is). If the info is critical to the story then increase this # and have sources that are actively trying to give the info to the players - otherwise it's highly likely they will take that right at Albuquerque instead of left.

[SirGraystone]

I believe we do understand, in the solo adventure you would have something like at door, if the player try to listen to the door go to #3, if they open the door go to #8, if they look for trap go to #12. Those are his only 3 choice and that's a safety net for a new DM. But that's not how a group will work, what if one decide to knock at the door, what is one use spikes to keep the door closed and just skip it, what if they decide that they don't want to dies and go fishing instead.

And as a DM you will have to adapt and it may seem scary, but we all started where you are at some point (for some of us that was a very long time ago), the most important thing is "DON'T PANIC", you'll make mistake, you'll learn from them and you'll get experience.

Finally the most important thing to remember is to have fun :-D

[mac40k]

The rules themselves do not place limits on what characters can do. Now as should be obvious, the solo modules are designed more as a choose your own adventure book that was also popular back then and is still the primary method used in video games. They limit the choices because they have to be able to provide a way forward with every choice the player makes. In a "normal" adventure, the DMs job is to facilitate a story that is collectively being told by the group with the PCs as the stars.

The boxed sets were designed to help both the players and DM to learn the game slowly, introducing new rules/concepts as they go, rather than throw everything at you in one book and expect the DM to decide what parts they were comfortable with running/teaching players. The rules themselves generally don't limit what PCs can do beyond what abilities they can bring to bear. Obviously, a wizard can't cast a higher level spell than his current level allows, but players in Basic can't even be tempted to try since those spells don't even appear until a later box. Basic also tends to limit the choices just by always being set in a dungeon. The layout limits their choices of direction of travel and everything is already mapped out. You don't have to deal with the party going in a direction you had not prepared for as you might in an Expert adventure where wilderness travel becomes a thing. Many modules may offer guidance on what to do if the players do X or Y, but obviously can't account for every possible option. If the module has a trapped door, the trap is explained, what rolls need to be made to spot and disarm the trap, and what happens if the trap is triggered. OTOH, there is no provision (in the module) for the players to do something clever like bust through the wall rather than use the door. This is a case where most DMs, especially new ones, would probably just say, "you can't do that," whereas a more experienced DM might be more willing to roll with it. Most modules written for basic also assume the monsters remain static, waiting for the PCs to discover them rather than reacting to sounds and coming to investigate. This keeps things more manageable for new DMs who only have to worry about the current room based encounter they are running rather than managing an entire level's worth of monsters simultaneously. More experienced DMs might look to make things "more realistic" by having the monsters react because they are more comfortable with the rules and therefore able to take things "off script" easier.

TL,DR. There is nothing in the Basic rules that would require you to create an adventure with pre-defined character choices and doing so would actually be counterproductive to teaching players how to play an RPG.