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DM advice: How do you NOT kill your party?
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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7398382" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>False. The DM is not a writer, and is <em>not</em> telling a story. If you want to tell a story, then write a novel. Role-playing has <em>some</em> overlap with improvisational acting, so the DM is an actor in the same way that the players are actors.</p><p></p><p>Meta-gaming governs the relationship between in-game reality and out-of-game information. If something exists entirely within the game-world, or entirely outside of the game-world, then meta-gaming is the wrong term for it. If anyone makes any decision about what happens in-game, based on information that only exists out-of-game, then they are a meta-gamer. </p><p></p><p>It's not your job to make sure that everyone is having fun. (Or rather, <em>saying</em> that is your job would be missing the point.) Your job is to describe the environment, role-play the NPCs, and adjudicate uncertainty in action resolution. If you can do those things well, then the players will have fun (assuming they actually enjoy role-playing games in the first place).</p><p></p><p>I guess you missed the memo, but your actions were in clear violation of the rules. Meta-gaming is explicitly illegal in 5E.</p><p></p><p>Their choices are irrelevant because any other option would have been just as useful. You contrived the depth of the tunnels <em>because</em> the Drow had superior darkvision, which means they would have been just as well off if they <em>didn't</em> have it. You turned the goblins into hobgoblins <em>because</em> the party was stronger, which means their strength was entirely irrelevant, since you would have contrived the difficulty <em>regardless</em> of how strong they were.</p><p></p><p>I'm going to stop there, because I don't want to sound overly critical. Let it suffice to say that you are making a great number of mistakes which are common to inexperienced DMs, though they <em>seem</em> well-intentioned. You're not as bad as the old killer DMs who go out of their way to kill PCs because they think it's a competition, at least. Just maybe consider cutting back on the meta-gaming, unless you have a <em>very</em> good reason. (Good reasons do exist.) If your players are as inexperienced as you appear to be, then you are teaching them very bad habits, which will not serve them well within the greater role-playing community.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7398382, member: 6775031"] False. The DM is not a writer, and is [I]not[/I] telling a story. If you want to tell a story, then write a novel. Role-playing has [I]some[/I] overlap with improvisational acting, so the DM is an actor in the same way that the players are actors. Meta-gaming governs the relationship between in-game reality and out-of-game information. If something exists entirely within the game-world, or entirely outside of the game-world, then meta-gaming is the wrong term for it. If anyone makes any decision about what happens in-game, based on information that only exists out-of-game, then they are a meta-gamer. It's not your job to make sure that everyone is having fun. (Or rather, [I]saying[/I] that is your job would be missing the point.) Your job is to describe the environment, role-play the NPCs, and adjudicate uncertainty in action resolution. If you can do those things well, then the players will have fun (assuming they actually enjoy role-playing games in the first place). I guess you missed the memo, but your actions were in clear violation of the rules. Meta-gaming is explicitly illegal in 5E. Their choices are irrelevant because any other option would have been just as useful. You contrived the depth of the tunnels [I]because[/I] the Drow had superior darkvision, which means they would have been just as well off if they [I]didn't[/I] have it. You turned the goblins into hobgoblins [I]because[/I] the party was stronger, which means their strength was entirely irrelevant, since you would have contrived the difficulty [I]regardless[/I] of how strong they were. I'm going to stop there, because I don't want to sound overly critical. Let it suffice to say that you are making a great number of mistakes which are common to inexperienced DMs, though they [I]seem[/I] well-intentioned. You're not as bad as the old killer DMs who go out of their way to kill PCs because they think it's a competition, at least. Just maybe consider cutting back on the meta-gaming, unless you have a [I]very[/I] good reason. (Good reasons do exist.) If your players are as inexperienced as you appear to be, then you are teaching them very bad habits, which will not serve them well within the greater role-playing community. [/QUOTE]
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