Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aberzanzorax" data-source="post: 5953476" data-attributes="member: 64209">I agree with practically all of the posters so far...including many dissenters. I'm not asking for an "automatic" knowledge of a monster's apparent power level...I'm hoping for an in game, narratively done, but backed with an appropriate mechanical CHANCE to determine what the apparent risk of a given monster might be. I don't want:1. It to be automatic (maybe players need to take a round or more to assess).2. It to be foolproof (apart from mere failure, there's the chance for disguise and trickery)3. It to remove the mystery (see 1. and 2.)4. It to remove power and description from the dm.5. It to take the place of knowledge checks or survival checks. I DO want:1. A way for a character to determine the difference between an aurumvorax and a golden honey badger in terms of threat level. (But not as easy a chance between a beholder and a gas spore).2. A mechanic for simple general power level that every character has at least some base to use (i.e. not a skill you have to take...but not all characters would be the same, maybe something like 3e saving throws or bab).3. A chance for players to realize they're out of their depth before it's "too late" to retreat.4. To be able to play a game "cautiously" but not "paranoidly".5. Players to still choose to be risky (or not) but to empower them somewhat with additional information about the degree of risk they're getting into.  Most importantly, by giving players the ability to determine the level of risk, it can actually make things more scary...or at least more heroic when they decide to face off against a threat that they know they're likely to lose to. When I play, and I face an unknown monster, there's a low level of fear of the unknown...but if the unknown is ubiquitous, then that fear subsides (well, I might die or I might not, let's give it a go). When I play and KNOW that it's a heck of a challenge (e.g. a boss fight that a DM has left a lot of clues about) there is a greater amount of fear. I'm not necessarily asking to pin it down to a number (you have x% chance of winning; or he's 3 cr higher than your group level). I simply think it'd be better if players weren't going in totally blind to some situations, and I also think it makes narrative sense for them to have some basic idea how tough something is.   How many times have you guys read on these boards "They stayed to fight THAT and were dead in a round...then they were idiots. They should have run."? I've read it often enough (and reading it recently was what gave me this idea). HOW were they idiots if they have no way of determining if the "THAT" is above their level? At some point, it's the heroes' job to run in guns blazing...and it's also their job to know when not to. I think putting all of the onus on the DM for quality description in every single instance is unfair...and I also think there are plenty of times when players don't have the time, ability, or resources to research something.</blockquote>

Verification