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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7579504" data-attributes="member: 82106">I agree. While I don't know what the original intent or practice was in Wisconsin in the mid 70's WRT player knowledge I suspect that things like the nature and characteristics of magic items, monsters, and well-known traps and such was not really considered something you'd normally hold against a player for mining in a game with a PC who didn't obviously know the information. First of all there's no way to know what they don't know, and in OD&D there wasn't any mechanics to even TRY to solve that (albeit it still leaves your issues with how you resolve the difference in knowledge in terms of action declarations even if you DO have such a mechanic).DEFINITELY I am sure there was a lot of 'practice' which was considered purely player skill and which it was expected you would play. I can remember we learned to listen at doors, and then we learned to SMELL at the doors, and to listen using a cup (to avoid the ear seekers), and then to slide things under the bottom edge of the door to find traps and such, etc. We even codified this into a standard door practice which we named "sniff and listen." Every character used this same approach, no DM would ever think to argue 'meta-game' on that, they'd have been laughed at! Likewise you'd be considered a dolt if you didn't immediately apply a torch to the green slime when it got on your PC, that is JUST WHAT YOU DID! I would say that hitting skeletons with blunt weapons, trolls with fire, using smoke against insects, etc. all common basic 'dungeoneering' practice. That is what the game was pretty much about. If the DM wanted a unique puzzle or surprise, the sky was the limit, they didn't expect every character to start out in kindergarten. They would have all died at level 1, lol.If you found a girdle, everyone knew it could be a girdle of masculinity to femininity. Heck, there was always that player who would try it on and just laugh if he got that curse because it was silly.</blockquote>

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