D&D 5E Would you change a monster's hit points mid-fight?

[Jacob Marley]

Do you let them look at the stats of the monsters they are currently in combat with?

I'll quote myself from earlier in this thread.

A little late to the party, but...

No, I don't adjust monster hit points during combat (unless it is from damage taken or healed ). I also don't use a screen, I roll my dice in the open, and my stat blocks are in plain view of my players. I don't worry about my players metagaming. I embrace the variance of the die, and appreciate the times it deviates wildly from the average. In my experience, these times are when the most interesting narratives emerge. YMMV

In my opinion, why the characters are fighting this monster is the interesting question, not what the monster is.

Edit: Also, I prefer to let my players judge for themselves whether they believe their characters would have this knowledge.

 

[The Human Target]

I see a distinct difference between "I am not telling you everything, in order to preserve a sense of mystery, suspense, or surprise" and "I am going to actively modify the facts of the world and the consequences of actions (and--for many posters in this thread--then deny doing so when asked)."

I didn't impy there was.

My meaning was that unless you show your players all "DM only stuff "at all times, they can't be sure you're not fudging.

 

[The Human Target]

I do, because:
A: my monsters are usually customized significantly. Knowing that you're fighting a werewolf may or may not help you against my werewolf.
B: I have a low tolerance for metagaming, if you attempt to bring outside knowledge into the game I will inform you that in lieu of your turn you spent the time racking your brain to remember all you know about whatever you're fighting.
C: They're going to do it anyway, if they don't do it right now they'll do it at home. I generally ask players to put anything but the PHB away while we're actively playing, but even the PHB is not free of monster stats.
D: Strangely, keeping their noses in a book can often keep otherwise talkative players quiet and focused, which aids smooth gameplay.
E: There's no guarantee they're actually looking up the monsters we're fighting and I'm not going to punish a player for that so long as they don't get distracted from the game, especially when half my players are DMs themselves.

I meant the exact monster they are fighting, not looking at a Monster Manual in general.

Do you let them look at your customer monsters as they are fighting them, so they can see its powers, defenses, HPs, etc?

 

[The Human Target]

I'll quote myself from earlier in this thread.



In my opinion, why the characters are fighting this monster is the interesting question, not what the monster is.

Edit: Also, I prefer to let my players judge for themselves whether they believe their characters would have this knowledge.

I find that very interesting, and to me not D&D at all.

I wonder if its more common in games whose players/DMs are running the same version of D&D tney hace pkayed for decades. The assumption being by now everyone knows the stats of a kobold.

 

[ExploderWizard]

My meaning was that unless you show your players all "DM only stuff "at all times, they can't be sure you're not fudging.

This is why earning the trust of your players and being honest with them is so important. Any DM I play with I generally trust to be honest unless there is reason to believe otherwise. If a DM feels a need to submit his notes & materials for player audit then he/she is playing with a very paranoid group of players. A group not worth playing with IMHO. Players need to trust their DM and the DM needs to be worthy of that trust. That is when you get the best game experience.

 

[The Human Target]

This is why earning the trust of your players and being honest with them is so important. Any DM I play with I generally trust to be honest unless there is reason to believe otherwise. If a DM feels a need to submit his notes & materials for player audit then he/she is playing with a very paranoid group of players. A group not worth playing with IMHO. Players need to trust their DM and the DM needs to be worthy of that trust. That is when you get the best game experience.

Absolutely.

The question is just what kind of trust.

 

[MrZeddaPiras]

Do you let them look at the stats of the monsters they are currently in combat with?

Nope, but I tell them what those stats are as they come into play. When the monster attacks I announce the attack bonus as I roll the die where everybody can see. Same goes for damage. I don't tell the players how many hp a monster got left, but I'll try to convey that by describing its wounds.

 

[Sunseeker]

I meant the exact monster they are fighting, not looking at a Monster Manual in general.

Yes, since as I said I have two checks on this:
1: If it isn't distracting them, I don't really care.
2: I know how to spot metagaming.

Do you let them look at your customer monsters as they are fighting them, so they can see its powers, defenses, HPs, etc?

It's never actually come up. I'd be surprised if they could read my scratch. The answer would probably be no simply because I need my book of notes to run the monster, the MM on the other hand may have 3 or 4 copies at the table.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Do you let them look at your customer monsters as they are fighting them, so they can see its powers, defenses, HPs, etc?

Well... more important with customer monsters would be seeing their credit rating, past order history, and overall spending trends so as to be better able to market to them.

 

[Warbringer]

Well... more important with customer monsters would be seeing their credit rating, past order history, and overall spending trends so as to be better able to market to them.

Is that a standard or bonus action?