u/No-Consequence-9296

So I’m dming a campaign, and one of my players seemed upset at the result of a Nat 20

For context, they entered a dungeon, which then after they exited it became a regular wine cellar. That’s what it was at the moment. Player rolled investigation and got Nat 20. Told him he found a gamblers coin he can exchange for a large sum of money (1bill+ gold, and was even thinking I could lead it into some kind of subplot or sexual escapade.)

Now said player seemed bummed out. Saying “I’ve seen a campaign where someone rolled a Nat 20 to breed w a dragon!” (I think they’re referring to critical role or some kinda dnd show) and was basically implying how the Nat 20 was underwhelming.

I don’t know what I could’ve realistically put or improvised in that Win cellar (which I kinda meta gamed and told them straight up it’s a regular wine cellar now that the dungeon is completed) than woulda made him understand there wasn’t anything else in there. He kept going on about “seducting the wine bottle” and “rolling for sex” and how his natural 20 should have allowed him to shove all 500 bottles of vintage up his own ass and walk out with them to sell them to his busty dragonborn tavern wench, but I kept telling him that was weird and ridiculous.

I do wanna mention that this player has had similar reactions in the past to passing checks not going as expected, for example he tried to intimidate guards but I told him that intimidating them isn’t automatically gonna make them run away, rather just hold a defensive stance. When he rolled a nat 20 and the scared guards just called more guards, he got really upset and started talking about the breeding dragon again (??). Idk I think he might have some sort of fetish.

idk what to do cuz I did talk to him briefly and told him that whatever his expectations of passed checks or Nat 20s might be kinda high and unrealistic but like he kinda starts comparing to the aforementioned campaign shows and what Nat 20s can do

Help🙏

Hey yall! I’m having a campaign return from a month and a half hiatus after a pretty pivotal moment. We’ll be down a player for personal reasons (she’ll be back) and I’ve come up with a few side adventures to focus on the other PCs’ stories while she’s away. I just wanted to ask for all of your favorite methods of returning after a break. What are your strategies for getting back into the campaign? How do you manage recaps? Do you prefer a high combat, exciting first session back or something slower with more rp?

“is she dead?” i asked
knowing the answer.
“is who?” the reply,
gentle but not quite her

“the woman, mother”
“which one?”
“you know her well”
“i’d rather not.”
“you know her well.”

she didn’t seem pleased.
I told her it was all right,
that i knew her secret.
That she had nothing to fight.

“i miss her daily”
“i’d rather not”
“i wonder why”
“id rather not.”

with force, this time-
gusto. We were getting somewhere.
I asked if she knew
if only she knew - was it fair?

“she once was you-“
“is that so, dear?”
“not anymore”
“how can you tell?”

mother once laughed like an autumn breeze
her voice rang a fairy’s bell
i caught her once humming to herself.
I never knew goddesses fell.

“I should have held on better”
“i’d rather not.”
“i should have called it out”
“i wish you wouldn’t”

of course, it was her right
to die.
if only she hadn’t done it while
she was still alive

Hey yall! I’m a 5e DM on hiatus for a bit from my main campaigns with my lovely party of 5 (+1 occasionally). Most of us are experienced TTRPGists, I’ve played CoC with one of my players as Keeper and finished a few scenarios, and have started a 3(ish)-shot scenario for my group as a way to try out the game.

Against most better judgement and advice, I have homebrewed a scenario if that informs any advice you might have for me.

Anyway, my problem is that even my experienced players will just sit around and not do much of anything, even when I try to very clearly list clues in a certain situation. I.E. most recently, they were in a hotel in which they encountered a woman who had been transformed by the cult they are investigating. She attacked them, they put her down, and found a hallway upstairs. I narrated clearly that 1 door was locked with a banging sound inside, another was open and seemingly set for their arrival, there was a door they found by an extreme spot hidden success, etc… and yet, even though I tried to follow the rule of 3 and give them plenty of clues, they just stood around and seemed confused. I’m more used to the D&D method of getting players to do things (throw monsters at them), but I’m trying to get the hang of the more investigative motivation of CoC. How do you more experienced keepers get your players to try things and investigate?