Improving Pacing of Player Planning

A Cunning Plan

Huddled around a crackling fire, the adventuring party I am running through the Wild Beyond the Witchlight debate their next move. As the game master, I listen - excited by the brilliant, dangerous and sometimes deeply questionable plans.

In short bursts planning can be an exciting and worthwhile part of any Dungeons & Dragons or tabletop RPG. But like any other kind of encounter, planning can overstay its welcome. When it does, it drags the game to a halt, leaves players disengaging and extend play length of a campaign.

So should planning be tossed out entirely? In a word - no. In two words - certainly not.

Like any combat, social scene or puzzle, planning together has its place in a great session of D&D. The key for a Game Master is recognizing when the session’s energy is dipping, the pacing is slowing and when to direct the game onwards to something fresh. Having a few tools ready, whether the part is in a dangerous dungeon or safe in a quaint inn can make all the difference in keeping the game moving.

Roleplaying Planning

Planning scenes can be just as rich for fun or dramatic character moments as a tense social or combat encounter. How much roleplay shows up during planning will vary from group to group.

In-character discussion can take longer than summarised or over-the-table planning, but that doesn’t make it a problem. The tools and discussion in this article are relevant whether your planning is fully roleplayed, lightly framed, or mostly abstracted.a

When It Works

When I talk about planning as a problem, these instances are often rare. Planning is not a problem if the players are all engaged, making meaningful progress towards crafting a plan and importantly everyone is having fun. This is no different to combat or social encounters. Any scene can drag if progress grinds to a halt and the table's energy fades.

The Warning Signs

The first step to fixing a problem is knowing there is one. Prolonged planning sessions will not be an issue for every group, or even most sessions. But there are some common signs you can look out for which can let you know it might be time to nudge a scene forward.

1. One hour later

Time is one of the easiest indicators to track. When planning begins, I often make a mental note of the clock. While different scenes justify different amounts of time, lingering on the same discussion for too long is a good prompt to check in: are players still engaged, or is the session stalling?

2. Disengaged Players

When players fall quiet for long periods of time or lose track of the conversation it may be time to look at moving the game forward. The indicators depend heavily on your table’s usual vibe. In person this may be more visually recognisable then if you are playing online. For online noting if a player has fallen silent for prolonged periods of time or grown indifferent in their responses to the situation can be good tell tale signs.

3. Lack of Information

Great encounters offer clear goals, information to act on and meaningful choices the players to make. Planning can stall when players are trying to make decisions without sufficient information—leading to circular discussions and hypothetical debates.

4. Wait, haven't we heard this one before?

If the party cycles through multiple plans and new suggestions begin to sound like reruns of earlier ideas, it’s often a sign that the group needs some added information to help break the loop.

5. No plan is air tight

One of the joys of planning is discussing how a plan might fail and how and what to do when it does. A problem arises when this spirals into endless contingency building and drawing out the time between planning and the exciting, heroic and frantic action of actually doing the plan. Plans are rarely airtight, and limited information means players cant't account for everything.

Abandoning fun and often great plans can be a real shame. This is where GM tools like Idea Rolls or flashback dice can give players more confidence to move forward.

Tools to Get Planning Back on Track

Not every tool works for every table or situation. Think of these as a grab bag of tools you can reach for when pacing needs a boost.

1. But then... A giant spider attacks

If planning happens in a dangerous location—such as a dungeon, a cursed forest, or the lair of the BBEG, introducing another factor or encounter can quickly boost pacing. It reinforces the idea that these places are living breathing ecosystems, not static waiting rooms. Be careful not to do this too often or in areas where it wouldn’t make sense.

2. Flashback Dice

A fun mechanical tool you can try at your table to give the players the feeling of enacting cunning plans is flashback dice - which was inspired from Blades in the Dark. The intention of this rule is to to represent clever preparation without needing to plan every detail in advance, with mechanisms to simulate difficulty or likelihood depending on the players ask.

I really like this rule and often employ it when the players are going into a known danger and we have seen many a fun situation spawn from this mechanic.

3. Idea Roll

Borrowed from Call of Cthulhu, the Ideas Roll simulates a character’s intelligence or insight. I employ an "ideas" roll into my D&D game by asking for an intelligence check. Its good to employ if players are not making lots of progress or lack information that the characters would potentially know.

4. Talk to the Table

Sometimes the simplest fix is the best one. Ask your players if planning feels like it’s dragging. Since everyone’s goal is to have fun, an open discussion can quickly resolve the issue, or reveal that there isn’t one at all.

5. Time Limit

Game time is limited. While long planning sessions may work for some groups, they don’t always lead to the most memorable sessions. I sometimes use an explicit timer usually 8 to 10 minutes, which I show to the players in the VTT we play in. This can create a bit more of a meta goal: "create a plan in 8 minutes" and give a bit of time pressure. When the timer ends, I may offer an Ideas Roll, give a flashback die or prompt the group toward making a decision.

This works best when discussed with the table beforehand.

6. Fade to Black or Summary

If a scene doesn’t need to be fully roleplayed, consider fading to black or allowing your players to narrate a summary of what they are planning or wanting to do rather than roleplay out every element. Think of heist movies where often they may montage over the preparation and planning to get into what the movie is actually wanting to feature, the actual doing of the hesit. I use this often for downtime, travel, or waiting for the time the characters have elected to employ their plans.

My Current Approach

Not all fixes work at every table. So experimenting with different methods and iterating on those ideas with the help of your players will give you the best results.

For my current approach, when planning begins, I let it flow without much input. If it starts to stall, I may introduce an 8 minute timer which I show to the players. I also may offer some reminders of information their characters may know as they discuss, being careful not to lead the conversation or hint at a "correct" option. At the end of the timer I ask call for an Idea Roll, sometimes directly asking the players what they would most like to make that roll on. Idea rolls should help create clearer possible paths, not choose a path for the players.

The players can then agree within a short period of time out of character (if they haven't already in character) what plan the group would agree on as we fade the scene to black. If the planning was meaningful, I usually award a Flashback Die.

Putting it All Together

Planning isn’t the enemy, stagnation is. By treating planning like any other encounter, and by giving yourself tools to manage its pacing, you can preserve player creativity and give the feeling of cunning adventurers while keeping the game flowing. Experiment with some of the suggested techniques or come up with your own, your sessions will be stronger for it. Try one technique, see how your table responds, and adjust from there.