Annoying the DM

[kigmatzomat]

I've had the "precognitive" DMs who have NPCs that magically have a defense to our completely left-field plan. Only way we ever trumped that guy was by a)not telling him what our plan was until we were hip deep in it and b)that our plan was "wing it." We had no sure-fire way in, no specific plan out but enough gear and notions that just about anything could go.

Next game session a helicopter fired rockets into one guy's apartment without provocation.

So yeah, there are reasons not to tell DMs stuff. As a DM 95% of the time, I'm fine with it. My players surprise me all the time. Like the time the fighter got eaten by a behir and then activated a Rod of Security. I was stunned, even.

My players generally don't have a problem explaining their plans to me; since they've got cohorts and NPC allies they often have to even if they didn't want to. More than one time they've come up with something cool, I've scratched my head as I realize the bad guys have no defense, and they mop up. It's fairplay for all the times the baddies have eaten their lunch.

The only fear my players have expressed in talking plans with me is that I might take an idea or fear and use it sometime in the future, once they have a chance to forget about it. ::evil::

 

[SweeneyTodd]

My experience is that the people who do this kind of thing don't actually ever end up doing that much. For some reason, the "tee-hee, I've got a secret" attitude satisfies them.

Yes, I think it's silly, and I think it basically boxes them out of meaningfully contributing to the game, so I try to break people of that habit whenever possible. But interestingly, the one thing it's never led to is those secret plans actually going anywhere.

 

[devilish]

I've only dislike little secret plans when they are great time-sucks.
When I was playing in a high-level game, there was a player
who want to strategize before a big battle ... not that there's
anything wrong with strategy .. until you get to the level
of Leeroy Jenkin's party of number-crunching.

After 45 minutes of "Ok...with your bless, the heroes' feast, mage armor,
now if I cast stone-skin, that gives us a 45% chance of lasting through
4 rounds of maximized combat when spell Z wears off...wait, no that's wrong,
let's start over!!"

 

[Oryan77]

I prefer my players tell me what they have planned because sometimes when I don't realize what their intentions are I can't help them accomplished a goal.

For example, one PC involved herself in an evil game that consists of hurting an innocent bystander...but she failed in her attempt to be successful in the game. The rest of the party (myself included) thought she was going on another one of her questionably evil rampages (she's chaotic good & does things that cause people to accuse her of being evil sometimes). I thought I was going to have to finally shift her alignment but after the game she told me what her plan was with the innocent man in the game. It was a really creative way to help save the man from dying in the game. But since I didn't know what she was doing, I didn't think of roleplaying the NPC's in the situation differently and I may have cut her some slack on DC checks just so she could feel good about saving a mans life. Instead the man died by the hands of the evil participants in the game and her fellow adventurers left thinking she'll one day turn to the dark side.

 

[DevlinStormweaver]

I am not sure about annoying the DM, but as a player if one member of teh party is plotting by himself and then springs a surprise it can also be frustrating for a player bacause they then might end in a situation which puts them at risk with no idea of how to get out of it.

 

[Prince Atom]

... not that there's anything wrong with strategy .. until you get to the level
of Leeroy Jenkin's party of number-crunching.

A'ight, time's up! Let's do this!

LEEEEEEEROYYYYY JENKINS!!!



TWK

 

[Prince Atom]

Seriously though,

This same guy dithers and frets about new things, and comes up with really bizarre worst-case scenarios. I think it's partly because he isn't familiar with a lot of the game's tropes.

Frex, he spent about 15-20 minutes arguing why it would be a bad idea to open that old portal they found under the last dungeon they cleaned out. It ranged from "What if we all get sucked through?" to "What if a great big demon's hand comes through and squishes us all?"

In these cases, I can tell it annoys at least one other player, but I'm generally not paying attention to him because it's background to something else I'm doing with a third player.

Anyway, cheers to getting to play tomorrow!

TWK

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

The problems with keeping plans a secret from the GM, aside from the adviserial position it creates are the following:

1) Sometimes the GM may have a plotline going where there is mind control, mind reading, etc. I think it works out well when the GM knows what is in the character's head.

2) When the player/character has some nutty plan that is interesting, rather than springing it on the GM, like some kind of a trick, the player might get more mileage or discussion out of it if they simply discuss it with the GM up front rather than allow for some fight or argument during game play.

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

I understand your frustration, TWK, having played with a similar type of player.

The worst part of it is that most of his little "secret" plans are predictable (because he likes to play the same character concept over and over) and they usually strain the rules mightily. Needless to say our DM has occassionally given up and let the player do what he had planned. And that is where we all lose.

So take this as encouragement that similar situations exist, but also as a warning that giving in to that player, particularly when the idea is questionable rule-wise or balance-wise, usually ruins the collective experience.

 

[billd91]

I prefer that my players not plot secretly with me. There are a few reasons for this:

1) The situation may include quite a few variables on my side of the screen, several NPCs, and more. I'd like to be able to start planning how the NPCs would react to it whether cleverly, dumbly, or anything in between. It makes the actual play of the game a little more seamless. It also give me more time to determine courses of action that seem realistic from the NPCs' points of view.

2) I might have glossed over something in my setup or description that might have a significant, perhaps even obvious, effect on their plan. I'd rather be able to make clarifications rather than have them waste time plotting only to have a simple question derail the whole thing and take even more time.

3) I like to see my players succeed at things. Being in on the plan, I might be able to tailor my NPC reactions to "fall for it" and help everyone have a good time.