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<blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 6284977" data-attributes="member: 5143">The problem is, the book says &quot;You know the powers of the creature&quot;.&nbsp; It doesn't say how much detail you know the powers in.&nbsp; The names of the powers are technically knowing the powers of the creature.&nbsp; It doesn't say &quot;You know the bonus to hit and exact effect of all powers of the creature&quot;.I tried to limit it to a basic idea of how the powers functioned in avoid metagaming.&nbsp; Metagaming being the act of using game mechanics that your character would have no awareness of to make decisions and thinking of the game AS a game.&nbsp; The DMG warns you against it and most of this information just has no parallel in the game world.You might know that a lizardfolk carries around a net and uses it to trap people and they are good at throwing it.&nbsp; That seems perfectly acceptable for in game knowledge.&nbsp; He has a +16 to hit and it targets your reflex is a little out of the realm of what your character could know...or even understand.To me it's partially about tension but mostly about immersion.&nbsp; Seeing the game from your character's eyes whenever possible.I remember one of my very first games of D&amp;D ever when I was still trying to get an idea of how this game worked.&nbsp; We were from the Forgotten Realms and we went through a portal to some other world.&nbsp; I was a Drow and we ran into some elves there who seemed extremely curious as to what kind of creature I was or what had happened to my skin since there was apparently no Drow in this world.&nbsp; The NPCs questioned me as to what happened to me.&nbsp; They talked to me directly and I was expected to answer as my own character.It was one of the very first time that it kind of clicked for me.&nbsp; I was playing a character who actually lived in a world of living, breathing characters with their own personalities, likes and dislikes.&nbsp; They didn't know what Drow were because they lived in a world without them.&nbsp; I really felt at that moment that I WAS my character and this was actually happening to me.&nbsp; It was a weird feeling because although I was a massive gamer before then, I was never a roleplayer.&nbsp; It meant the game went beyond some numbers and rules to actually BE another world.Ever since, I've continued playing to try to relive that feeling.&nbsp; Not all DMs are good enough to invoke it.&nbsp; But things like the exact stats of monsters tends to get in the way of that feeling.See above.&nbsp; It adds the feeling of immersion(at least hopefully it does).&nbsp; Your character is sitting around thinking &quot;He's got a net, what is he going to do with it?&nbsp; How do I defend against it?&nbsp; I guess I'll find out as I fight it.&quot;If the player is thinking &quot;These creatures restrain people with their nets, but they have a 6 square range and attack Reflex.&nbsp; Since they only have +11 to hit, I know they'll miss me 90% of the time.&nbsp; I can pretty much assume they are useless and run directly towards them and kill them.&nbsp; Though, the Wizard should stay back as he'll be hit 70% of the time&quot; then there is a disconnect between player and character which brings people out of the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Majoru Oakheart, post: 6284977, member: 5143"] The problem is, the book says "You know the powers of the creature". It doesn't say how much detail you know the powers in. The names of the powers are technically knowing the powers of the creature. It doesn't say "You know the bonus to hit and exact effect of all powers of the creature". I tried to limit it to a basic idea of how the powers functioned in avoid metagaming. Metagaming being the act of using game mechanics that your character would have no awareness of to make decisions and thinking of the game AS a game. The DMG warns you against it and most of this information just has no parallel in the game world. You might know that a lizardfolk carries around a net and uses it to trap people and they are good at throwing it. That seems perfectly acceptable for in game knowledge. He has a +16 to hit and it targets your reflex is a little out of the realm of what your character could know...or even understand. To me it's partially about tension but mostly about immersion. Seeing the game from your character's eyes whenever possible. I remember one of my very first games of D&D ever when I was still trying to get an idea of how this game worked. We were from the Forgotten Realms and we went through a portal to some other world. I was a Drow and we ran into some elves there who seemed extremely curious as to what kind of creature I was or what had happened to my skin since there was apparently no Drow in this world. The NPCs questioned me as to what happened to me. They talked to me directly and I was expected to answer as my own character. It was one of the very first time that it kind of clicked for me. I was playing a character who actually lived in a world of living, breathing characters with their own personalities, likes and dislikes. They didn't know what Drow were because they lived in a world without them. I really felt at that moment that I WAS my character and this was actually happening to me. It was a weird feeling because although I was a massive gamer before then, I was never a roleplayer. It meant the game went beyond some numbers and rules to actually BE another world. Ever since, I've continued playing to try to relive that feeling. Not all DMs are good enough to invoke it. But things like the exact stats of monsters tends to get in the way of that feeling. See above. It adds the feeling of immersion(at least hopefully it does). Your character is sitting around thinking "He's got a net, what is he going to do with it? How do I defend against it? I guess I'll find out as I fight it." If the player is thinking "These creatures restrain people with their nets, but they have a 6 square range and attack Reflex. Since they only have +11 to hit, I know they'll miss me 90% of the time. I can pretty much assume they are useless and run directly towards them and kill them. Though, the Wizard should stay back as he'll be hit 70% of the time" then there is a disconnect between player and character which brings people out of the game. [/QUOTE]

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