DM's Duty

dren · Jun 23, 2004

ok, here is the scenario that I face, and tell me what an impartial DM should do.

At the end of the last game, while the adventurers are travelling to their destination, they passed by a sandy desert in the equivalent of a forest. It grabbed their attention, and as they passed by, the wizard cast a detect magic, while the desert itself was non-magical, he noticed a glint, barely 50 feet in.... One of the players went to investigate wherein he was ambushed. The others also helped defeat the monster, except for a rogue, who went to check out the magic glint...sure enough, he found a small magical item.

But, that was at the very end of the adventure. Do I remind the group, that the rogue found something? Most if not all of the other players were busy attacking the monster. Sure, they could have seen him find the dagger...but, it's unlikely.

Also, at the start of every session, I always give a short synopsis of the current mission as well as the character's general predicament. It seems like a reasonable assumption that I mention the dagger...but the rogue player has said to me, he hopes the other players forget about him finding the item. So, should I say something and ruin the rogue's chance at pocketing the item?

And, as a side measure, one of the players had to leave early. He wasn't there for the encounter, thus, didn't actually participate in the battle. When I update the player, should I tell him of everything that he saw, or just of the battle itself.

I feel like I'm meta-gaming on their fun if I say something. What's a fair and unbiased solution? Thanks for any suggestions.

Crothian · Jun 23, 2004

I would remind them that they detected something magical in the sand, when they went to investigate they were ambushed but the rogue went alone toward the aura. I would not say that they saw the rogue pocket anything though.

Syntallah · Jun 23, 2004

dren said:
ok, here is the scenario that I face, and tell me what an impartial DM should do.

-snip-

And, as a side measure, one of the players had to leave early. He wasn't there for the encounter, thus, didn't actually participate in the battle. When I update the player, should I tell him of everything that he saw, or just of the battle itself.

I feel like I'm meta-gaming on their fun if I say something. What's a fair and unbiased solution? Thanks for any suggestions.

Tell the PLAYERS exactly what their CHARACTERS saw. If you can't resonably tell what they saw then assume that everyone 'took a 10' on their Sleight of Hand vs Spot checks. In other words take the Rogue's skill check and apply a Spot check from the others (you could modify the roll +2/-2 for the ones in heavy combat). If the Spot checks beat the Sleight of Hand, then tell the players that their Characters saw something. If not, tell the Players nothing of what transpired.

dren · Jun 23, 2004

Crothian said:
I would remind them that they detected something magical in the sand, when they went to investigate they were ambushed but the rogue went alone toward the aura. I would not say that they saw the rogue pocket anything though.

Thank you, Crothian. I will have the wizard make a base intelligence check, and if he succeeds, remind him about the aura he saw in the desert but is now, no longer there.

Syntallah said:
Tell the PLAYERS exactly what their CHARACTERS saw. If you can't resonably tell what they saw then assume that everyone 'took a 10' on their Sleight of Hand vs Spot checks. In other words take the Rogue's skill check and apply a Spot check from the others (you could modify the roll +2/-2 for the ones in heavy combat). If the Spot checks beat the Sleight of Hand, then tell the players that their Characters saw something. If not, tell the Players nothing of what transpired.

And thank you, Syntallah. You give me a really good idea. According to the rules, the characters can't "take a 10" if distracted or threatened; which means only the cleric who wasn't involved can get that bonus applied to their spot check.

My dillema was whether I should remind the players of what they saw. Your mechanic gives me a way to to justify reminding them about the events.

I appreciate both of your suggestions.

Jolly Giant · Jun 23, 2004

Seems you've got the advice you need, Dren. What's already been suggested is pretty much what I would have suggested, except I probably would have made the rogue roll for his sleight of hand check and let the others roll their spot checks. With a penalty on the spot check for those who were busy fighting, of course!

Fenes · Jun 23, 2004

I would simply roll spot checks for all other characters, and sleight of hand/move silently for the rogue, maybe apply a "Distracted" modifier for the fighting characters.

I would also roll a spot for the rogue, to see if anyone notices him.

ironmani · Jun 23, 2004

Is this like a Dagger +10 Ultimo Destructo type magic item? Or something mundane. If its mundane, whats the big deal with rogue being all secretive? Most likely they would let him keep it. I would remind the rogue, that others in the party might remember the magic arua and then make sure that the party remembers what they saw. It stuff like this that can harm party dynamics. If they know that thw rogue is a magic moocher, then they wont trust him and it could leave him twisting in the wind. Its better to have some hurt feelings in the short term, than to see a party, and players, torn apart because one player wanted the +1 dagger.....

Janx · Jun 23, 2004

well aside from your rogue player being a moron...

Party sees something magical in the sand.
Party investigates and is attacked by bad guys
Rogue makes it to magical item and takes it
Rest of party finishes killing th ebad guys
Party resumes looking for the magical item they saw right where the rogue was (and his tracks in the sand lead to)

Hmm. where did the magical thingy go?

Does the rogue always take the treasure while the rest of the party is killing the defenders of the treasure?

You can make a bunch of rolls or simply tell the party what they know:
they saw a magical aura
The fought some bad guys on the way to the magical aura
The rogue headed over there during the fight (cleric would have noticed that, and the tracks are obvious in sand)

Let the players figure out the rest.

Calico_Jack73 · Jun 23, 2004

As a DM I'd suggest not reminding them of anything especially if the Rogue has mentioned that he'd rather keep it secret. I guess I could be construed as a harsh DM but I don't make a habit of reminding my players if one player or the other picked up something. If they found a magical item in a previous session, forgot about it, and then could use it to more easily handle a situation I'm not one to suggest it.

MerakSpielman · Jun 23, 2004

Give them the sum-up just like usual, including the magical aura. But when they go to investigate, they find nothing! How unusual! It will make them curious and sure that whatever it was moved on or something.

It's also possible that the wizard will notice that the rogue has one too many auras... but that depends on how many items you all have (you could be 1st level and this is your first magic item, for all I know)