D&D 5E Intelligent creatures: DM vs Players inevitable.

[SingleCelledPsyk]

I don't remember Einstein or von Neumann being brought down by sentiment or personal grudge. In fact they seem to have done pretty well for themselves.

Neither of them were evil, yes some of their creations were used for it, like atom bombs, but they didn't have a high throne to be kicked down from.

 

[Valus]

I generally run creatures the way their intelligence dictates, with their background and personality adjusting details. A dumb creature that has successfully used a tactic (or has survived against said tactic) knows of it and will adjust to it (either using it or defending against it). A smart creature might have a weakness based on their personality (for example, a genius misogynist might underestimate a female character).

With genius and super-genius level npcs/creatures, I've used a harsh (but effective) tactic. I am not a genius, nor is anyone in my group, so I know that a genius is likely to come up with anything we could. Therefore, I've had NPCs prepare defenses against ideas that my players discuss before engaging. I've also had them use knowledge based on out-of-character conversations during battle, unless it is impossible for the NPC to be aware of it (for example, if the PCs have a magic item the NPC doesn't know about). This was very successful in a social game I used to run (L5R), but I've found it less effective in D&D (unless you're obvious about it).

I am offended that you don't consider us geniuses.

 

[Jabborwacky]

There is never a situation of DM vs players in terms of PvP unless the DM or players explicitly attempt to go after each other. From experience, player deaths to intelligent creatures are due to miscommunication or lack of communication between players and DM, or players simply choosing their actions poorly. It's not the DM's fault if the players decide to camp in the wilderness after they've been repeatedly warned about the great dangers lurking within. I'm planning on asking my DM to roll a wisdom check for my character anytime I'm away from the table so I don't get caught up in my party's random bouts of amnesia or other shenanigans, although that's neither here nor there.

But yeah, intelligent monster encounters require more out of a DM than encounters with other creatures for the same reason a medusa in previous editions did: You simply can't put a number on how dangerous they are.