My problem is that over half of the party will agree with any "wait, before that I need to..." argument. It makes it hard to say "A week goes by as you make security arrangements" if they'll say "A week? Nevermind, we don't do it!" I can't force the time to pass without GM fiat, and they really get annoyed by that.
I've never actually had a group so terrified by the passage of time. For campaign reasons I can't give them a Hippolyte, and for whatever reason even GM reassurance doesn't sway them...it's a weird problem, to me. I just don't get it...if I say something about it I get an exchange much like this:
GM: "If you spend a week making the situation secure, it will have lots of benefits and no downside of any consequence whatsoever."
PCs: "No, our other mission is too time-critical."
GM: "No, it's not, a week here or there won't affect it at all. In fact, it's the dead of winter, if you delay now, your trip will take less time and you'll get more done in less time overall."
PCs: "We can't take any chances on a delay!"
...and off they go. It's strange. They're the kind of PCs who arrive in town after a two month slogging fightfest through the jungle and by lunchtime want to be back to maximizing their minute-by-minute effectiveness. I just don't get it, but somehow I figure my GMing style must be feeding it.
It's an interesting distinction between our groups. Yours are fighting a time-dependent interdimensional war but are willing to spend time as a commodity for results. My are fighting a non-time-dependent world war (or about to, anyway), but aren't willing to spend time unless they can utterly maximize the benefits. If I didn't enforce lack-of-sleep rules they'd never stop moving. :D
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My problem is that over half of the party will agree with any "wait, before that I need to..." argument. It makes it hard to say "A week goes by as you make security arrangements" if they'll say "A week? Nevermind, we don't do it!" I can't force the time to pass without GM fiat, and they really get annoyed by that.
I've never actually had a group so terrified by the passage of time. For campaign reasons I can't give them a Hippolyte, and for whatever reason even GM reassurance doesn't sway them...it's a weird problem, to me. I just don't get it...if I say something about it I get an exchange much like this:
GM: "If you spend a week making the situation secure, it will have lots of benefits and no downside of any consequence whatsoever."
PCs: "No, our other mission is too time-critical."
GM: "No, it's not, a week here or there won't affect it at all. In fact, it's the dead of winter, if you delay now, your trip will take less time and you'll get more done in less time overall."
PCs: "We can't take any chances on a delay!"
...and off they go. It's strange. They're the kind of PCs who arrive in town after a two month slogging fightfest through the jungle and by lunchtime want to be back to maximizing their minute-by-minute effectiveness. I just don't get it, but somehow I figure my GMing style must be feeding it.
It's an interesting distinction between our groups. Yours are fighting a time-dependent interdimensional war but are willing to spend time as a commodity for results. My are fighting a non-time-dependent world war (or about to, anyway), but aren't willing to spend time unless they can utterly maximize the benefits. If I didn't enforce lack-of-sleep rules they'd never stop moving. :D