Recently I started questioning my GM style and thanks to the sages here, have shifted my approach to running games. Instead of laying down railroad tracks my next adventure will be a collection of scenes with tons of player choice baked in.
Now:
1. How do you handle players who suffer "analysis paralysis" when faced with choices?
2. How do you handle when the party decides to set-up a tavern when the BBEG is preparing to burn the town?
3. Should I be giving each character multiple choices per scene OR present the choices to the party as a whole?
4. In your adventure premise do you tell the players secret events going on or do you keep it to yourself?
5. Of what value are "conflicted factions" (NPC groups at odds with each other) in your setting?
6. Say you have a Murderhobo® and a Diplomancer™ in the party. Do you allow them to dominate combat/social scenes in order to move forward or is that bad for the group?
Give me notes, folks and thanks in advance.
1: This is what group leaders and callers are for. To make point decisions when needed. Otherwise tell the player to stop overanalyzing whatever and just go with something or their character will just stand there unable to act. Which depending on the situation, could be very bad. Mostly just remind the players that are overthinking things that they do not have to and its dragging things down.
2: Context. Were they players and the PCs aware the town was going to be attacked? If yes and they dicked around like this anyhow then that says "I am fucking with you" and feel free to massacre them. And/or show them the door. If they did not know or were not fully aware of the ramifications of clues then its 50/50 if they were fucking off or not. Stunts like this are usually red flags to me that one or more of the players does not really want to play the adventure. I've had players like that before.
3: Neither? Both? Depends on your style? I just present the scene and let the players and the PCs react rather than "you can do this, or this" unless a situation actually calls for that. Like "You can grab the idol or your friend sliding towards the pit. But not both due to time and distance."
4: Keep it to myself. If the PCs do not know it the players should not know it otherwise it can skew their decisions.
5: VERY YMMV. Some like them. Some hate them and some try to ignore them. It really depends on the DM, the players, and the factions. Ive seen plenty of modules where it works. And plenty where it fails.
6: I despise the storygamer derogatory term murderhobo. It can die in hell.
If you have players more combat oriented mixed with players more socially oriented then it is preferrable to give both their chances in the limelight where possible.
BUT.
Half the time one or the other will try to interfere somehow. Another of those varied by player things. Some are fine to wait their moment. some are a bit less patient. And some are jackasses. As a player I actually had to deal with a fellow player who kept interfering with my trying to talk to the NPCs, after everyone, including them had voted me the group negotiator. They were not after combat. They just did not want to sit around while people talked. Even the DM got annoyed after a few times.
x: Get a feel for the players styles and how they mesh, or do not, with eachother and the adventure.