Dungeons and Dragons Memes

To be fair, I usually setup an open ended situation (You need to accomplish A & B before C happens) then let them plan. I usually have a few contingencies for common things. This npc won't accept a bribe, this guard is super attentive to detail, that door cannot be unlocked from this side, if they make noise here it is going to trigger these adds, etc. Then I sit back and make it interesting when they execute. I think they like that approach. I also try to add time constraints (you need to rescue Important NPC before the spiders kill them, downtime means no more Important NPC.) or other constraints so they cannot plan forever.