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I find it unusual to ask about it in what looks to me like an investigation into the possibility someone is "metagaming," yes. No issue with this either. Similar to this scenario, I've had many, many players replay adventures of mine, sometimes several times over. That's actually better than...

Yeah, I think that if the DM did want justification for why people were not interested in the fruit (again, I find it unusual to care about that, but nevermind), then a player could cite the "wave of exhaustion" being perceptible on Brick's face and posture or something. Then it would be up to...

So we agree that they are both instances of "metagaming." Are you asserting that in your view they are both "bad" in the context of D&D?

Do you not use Inspiration at all in your D&D 5e games? Do you see any differences between those two instances of "metagaming" though? Acting to avoid danger due to seeing a saving throw versus acting to get into danger to earn Inspiration? Are they both "bad" from your point of view? Is one...

Great. Would it bother you that a player's decision to eat that fruit was based on wanting to earn Inspiration for portraying a flaw? That's certainly a "metagame" consideration. If that doesn't bother you, what do you think the difference is between not eating the fruit due to seeing someone...

To be fair, I could see that being interpreted a couple of ways. One way is the DM is saying it to just my character, who said nothing about it to anyone else, and kept on eating. Or the DM said it to everyone as noticeable, intending to telegraph that something is off about this fruit (or at...

It sounds like absent the call for the saving throw then, you likely have no suspicions and probably don't ask for reasons for not eating the fruit. Do I have that right?

Could you explain what purpose asking or knowing serves? Is it simply to allay suspicions? And if so, why do you suppose those suspicions exist in the first place? For my part, as DM, I don't think I need to know. I'm only tasked with adjudicating an action that is taken, not in getting an...

Why would you want an explanation? What purpose would it serve? What sorts of explanations would work for you in this situation? What happens if the player offers no explanation or one that doesn't sit well with you?

Interesting. Do your players normally give a reason for why they don't do something? I imagine there's a lot of things that characters don't do, so it seems like that would take up a lot of time.

I think that's a fine assumption. But if there's an "in-universe explanation" that also works, does it matter?

I need that Inspiration to bail my butt out of some other stupid decisions I will undoubtedly make later.

To see how others would view and handle this occurrence at their tables.

Players aren't required to state their reasons for having their characters not do something. So we'll never know. That there are a practically limitless number of reasons that the characters could have acted that way should be sufficient in my view to satisfy any concerns that it "wasn't what...

Everything is metagaming, and nothing is metagaming.

Sometimes they will be. Sometimes they won't. That's how it goes when controlling someone other than yourself.

It's not rhetorical because I don't know you or your preferences. My character ate the fruit. The other characters did not. What reason their characters have for doing that may well be different than the players' motivations. Would "I don't feel like eating fruit right now" work for you? How...

Depends on how the DM presents the challenge. "Gotchas" can certainly arise in those circumstances, which is why it's advisable to telgraph liberally in my view.

The DM could just say a 20 isn't anything special, too. They could also say, for example, that characters can't die unless the player agrees they do and that failing 3 death saves or dying from massive damage by the rules just means they are out of the rest of the scene. Then there's no worries...

Does "buying into the story" necessarily mean they must eat the fruit? Or could a story potentially involve people not eating the fruit for perfectly logical reasons in context?