Creating Player Choice (?)

[buddy]

I'm not even sure I phrased that right.

Anyway, I'm having problems with the creation (?) & delivery of player choice. Maybe I'm over-thinking the issue, but when I frame a scene, it's like brain-freeze.

The scene could be an investigation outside a .... bank. There's NPCs the PCs can get information & clues from. Maybe surveillance cameras. Eye-witness testimony. Blood trails. Whatever.  So, what's the best delivery for choices?

1. Having an NPC say "Hey, you guys can go do A, B, C, or D"?

2. Letting the Players make up their own minds?

3. Giving a piece of evidence immediacy - like, a recording or note that reveals where the _____ is going to be in the next few minutes?

It doesn't have to be investigative. There's always that opportunity for Choice & it's so crucial in terms of Player enjoyment. Player Agency. As a player, it's never a problem for me, but as a GM, I've seen players struggle with it.

So, what works for Forum GMs? How do you pull it off without Players feeling Rail-Roaded or abandoned?

The help I received with my Precog topic was so great, I returned to complete my Jedi training.

I'll browse the old podcasts to see if Ross & Co. addressed the topic.

Thanks in advance!

[buddy]

Found most of what I was looking for on the Jankcast's "Player Agency" podcast. They had some great ideas.

[Flawless P]

Player choice is generally an illusion for my games.

The plot goes where the players go.

It's harder to do that in an investigation game, since they have to decide what clues to follow up on.

Caleb has a good method of that using flow charts that connect the evidence to certain bits of info and how that info works into the rest of the story. He describes his flow chart style in one of the episodes although I'm currently having trouble remembering which one it is.

I would give that a listen for some ideas.

[buddy]

trumped Caleb's Flow Charts w/ issue #14 of Kobold Magazine.

Jeff Tiball (Ars Magica & Horus Hersey solved my problem.

For the 1st time in years , I feel at home with Player Choice.

But, I'll look over Caleb's charts. The more, the better.