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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6960793" data-attributes="member: 12731">Exactly. On the immediate surface, that sounds innocent enough, but if they ruin as much as a single storyline, they're no fun.D&amp;D was notorious about overwriting the DM's ability to tell a story (the countless NPCs wearing hats of non-detection just because the game offered a stupidly powerful Detect Evil spell is perhaps the most egregious example) and 5th was supposed to finally wash away that kind of silliness. Which means that these throwaway lines are doubly disappointing. D&amp;D really knows better by now.ZappPS. The real let down is when you realize these things could have been so very easily tweaked to deliver essentially the same benefit, only without shortcircuiting the DM. I don't know, &quot;you're only surprised when you roll 1 on your Perception&quot; say. This allows the DM to proceed with his scripted surprise (perhaps the character's daughter is throwing a surprise party, for crissake) even in the face of a rules-lawyery player that simply won't accept that his character can be surprised &quot;it says right here I can't be surprised&quot;, simply by telling the player &quot;I rolled for you in secred and I rolled a 1&quot;. Whether that's a bald-faced lie or not, doesn't matter.And in the case of Keen Mind, formulate it in a much more roleplaying-friendly manner. Since the idea is that Keen Mind turns the character into a walking encyclopedia &quot;given enough time, you can remember enough of any event to piece together any crucial clues.&quot;This way, the player gets what the adventure can actually deliver, instead of asking the DM to impossibly ad-lib things that every human around the table surely have forgotten.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 6960793, member: 12731"] Exactly. On the immediate surface, that sounds innocent enough, but if they ruin as much as a single storyline, they're no fun. D&D was notorious about overwriting the DM's ability to tell a story (the countless NPCs wearing hats of non-detection just because the game offered a stupidly powerful Detect Evil spell is perhaps the most egregious example) and 5th was supposed to finally wash away that kind of silliness. Which means that these throwaway lines are doubly disappointing. D&D really knows better by now. Zapp PS. The real let down is when you realize these things could have been so very easily tweaked to deliver essentially the same benefit, only without shortcircuiting the DM. I don't know, "you're only surprised when you roll 1 on your Perception" say. This allows the DM to proceed with his scripted surprise (perhaps the character's daughter is throwing a surprise party, for crissake) even in the face of a rules-lawyery player that simply won't accept that his character can be surprised "it says right here I can't be surprised", simply by telling the player "I rolled for you in secred and I rolled a 1". Whether that's a bald-faced lie or not, doesn't matter. And in the case of Keen Mind, formulate it in a much more roleplaying-friendly manner. Since the idea is that Keen Mind turns the character into a walking encyclopedia "given enough time, you can remember enough of any event to piece together any crucial clues." This way, the player gets what the adventure can actually deliver, instead of asking the DM to impossibly ad-lib things that every human around the table surely have forgotten. [/QUOTE]

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