Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How to get rid of the adversarial tone in the game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Haffrung Helleyes" data-source="post: 3382629" data-attributes="member: 1068"><p><strong>adversarial tone</strong></p><p></p><p>I think there's a balance to be struck here.</p><p></p><p>I want my players to win. But I don't want their accomplishments to be easy.</p><p></p><p>So, I don't give PCs a lot of breaks once combat begins. If a monster is brilliant, I try to come up with a brilliant plan. Conversely, if it's stupid or cowardly, I run it that way.</p><p></p><p>I think it all comes down to trust. If your players trust you, there can be a bit more of an adversarial tone to the game without anyone feeling angry or cheated. </p><p></p><p>I do the following:</p><p></p><p>I roll all dice in the open. I express sympathy when PCs die.</p><p>My monsters flee when it's appropriate for them to do so.</p><p>I try not to take the parties plans and capabilities into account when my monsters wouldnt know about them</p><p>I don't mind when the PCs make secret battle plans. If 'conspiring to beat the DM' is fun for them, that's alright with me.</p><p>I make extensive use of spot, listen, hide, and move silently skills, letting PCs who have invested in spot and listen surprise monsters and avoid being surprised.</p><p></p><p>It also helps that I have a pretty solid knowledge of the rules, and that I am open to being corrected when I'm wrong about something. I know that a lot of GMs don't like being corrected on a rules issue in-game, but I think it preserves the sense of things being 'fair', and I run combat quickly enough that it doesn't slow the game down too much.</p><p></p><p>By the way, Age of Worms really is hard. But the PCs in my game (including the halfling sorcerer who _never_ died) seemed to really enjoy it. </p><p></p><p>Ken</p><p></p><p>Ken</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Haffrung Helleyes, post: 3382629, member: 1068"] [b]adversarial tone[/b] I think there's a balance to be struck here. I want my players to win. But I don't want their accomplishments to be easy. So, I don't give PCs a lot of breaks once combat begins. If a monster is brilliant, I try to come up with a brilliant plan. Conversely, if it's stupid or cowardly, I run it that way. I think it all comes down to trust. If your players trust you, there can be a bit more of an adversarial tone to the game without anyone feeling angry or cheated. I do the following: I roll all dice in the open. I express sympathy when PCs die. My monsters flee when it's appropriate for them to do so. I try not to take the parties plans and capabilities into account when my monsters wouldnt know about them I don't mind when the PCs make secret battle plans. If 'conspiring to beat the DM' is fun for them, that's alright with me. I make extensive use of spot, listen, hide, and move silently skills, letting PCs who have invested in spot and listen surprise monsters and avoid being surprised. It also helps that I have a pretty solid knowledge of the rules, and that I am open to being corrected when I'm wrong about something. I know that a lot of GMs don't like being corrected on a rules issue in-game, but I think it preserves the sense of things being 'fair', and I run combat quickly enough that it doesn't slow the game down too much. By the way, Age of Worms really is hard. But the PCs in my game (including the halfling sorcerer who _never_ died) seemed to really enjoy it. Ken Ken [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How to get rid of the adversarial tone in the game
Top