Problem - As a DM, What Would You Do?

I agree that you should talk to him. No matter how good just killing his character would make you feel, it will make the party dynamic harder for everyone else. Players don't really want to sit at a game where the DM and one of the players are hashing out their personal issues in and out of game. It makes them mad at the player, and reduces their trust in the DM.

If your player is honest with you, and admits to knowing something about the module, you can do a few things:

1) Run the module as is, with the player's assurance that he won't let information bleed over.

2) Make minor modifications, so the player's knowledge isn't penalized, but so he isn't getting what he expects. Nothing dangerous, just to keep him on his toes.

If the player tells you he doesn't know anything, and then makes it clear in game that he does, you are then justified in changing major chunks of the adventure, and even in asking him to leave the group.

Put me in the d) and c) crowd. Print out the first page of the thread and ask your player about it. If he says that he read the module, explain that you were going to use but now can not. If he was just asking for general input, then explain that type of behavior in not appropriate, and change the mod so any spoilers won't ruin it. I would also re-stat the BBG so that if he did read the mod., the end is not anti-climatic.

PLUS I would also pull out ALL the stops when dealing with the repercussions of the mod. It is not like having a hint book and going through a CRPG. Orcs seek justice for slain brethren, people consider the PC a murderer for killing another, etc. If you know what is happening then the PC should be help to a higher standard.

Kugar

Herremann the Wise said:

c) Don't say anything but alter some of the things in the module.

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Substitute the word "some" with the word "many" and any magic item he picks up personally becomes a cursed item in his hands for the remainder of the adventure.

Herremann the Wise said:

d) Have a talk to him

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After the adventure is all finished and you have had some time to meet with some replacement people (for him and whoever you discover has also been cheating), let him know that there are other groups where that is acceptable behavior but your group is not it. Wish him well and send him on his way with whoever else you replace. Life's too short to have to deal with someone like that.

So what do you do with a player that is also a DM and may have that module???

dsfriii said:

So what do you do with a player that is also a DM and may have that module???

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I'd play another module. If you absolutely have to play that one, they would have to sit out during that adventure.

In college where there were a lot of Player/DMs we would never run a mod or if we did it was changed so dramatically as not to be recognizable. Afterwards, it was just "I want to run this, anyone read it?" and as long as everyone is honest you know who can keep OOC knowledge out of the game. Personally I have played mod I read, and while it gives your character an added sense of security it is not fun. I normally cheat myself out of the good stuff because of it.

Kugar

No matter what I think you should talk to him.

You have a few options:

In the conversation mention that you are now going to have to change the adventure. then don't change a thing.

Don't tell him that you are changing anything but make it obvious in the first encounter that things are different.

Make minor changes and see if he's cheating. Him: "I search him again?" you: "you find nothing" Him: "what? I rolled a 20 and I get +5 to my search that's a 25, I know he's got a wand of fireballs in there somewhere." sure it will probablly not be that obvious but if he is cheating then change the second session even more. make traps where doors should be, add guards or monsters. change layouts.

trust him not to confuse in charachter info with out of charachter info. test him if you suspect that he's cheating.

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As a player I would hate to know what is going to happen in a module that takes all the fun out of it.

As a DM I trust my players. They would not use OOC knowlege IC. I am currentlly running a home brew adventure in the OA world I know one player has knowlege of OA he is the main DM and I borrowed the book from him before buying it. eventually I bought a few additional OA books that he didn't have. He's done a great job of not doing stuff just casue he remembers stuff form the book. I have made some changes to make it my world but many of the ideas are there. I would trust my players in running a module that they owned or had run before but with a module it is more difficult.

I have to say theres two types of posts I've seen on modules by players. One is the almost no spolier can our group survive/what should I play. The other is asking for more detail information about the challanges. I think you should read the thread and to do the least work, just change anything that got spoiled. If he seems to know more then is in the thread then its time to talk to him.

Running a game a few years back I had a player who seemed to have read the mdule, so I changed significant portions of the book, down to switching whch NPC was the big bad guy (I made it the character he had decided to treat like a mentor figure, instead of his mentor's adversary). The PC played it out even after he realized the switch had occured (what could he do? tell everyone "The GM cheated! My guy's supposed to be the good one!") Players know that I heavily modify any source book I use and that owning it guarantees nothing...