DMs - Do you thrive on deception?

[Piratecat]

But I'm pretty sure that unhappy reactor shielding is treasonous....

I love duplicity and misdirection when I'm DMing. It's the only way I can stay ahead of my players.

 

[Desdichado]

Assuming everyone is lying can almost turn the game into paranoia.

Still trying to understand how that's bad?

I got back into roleplaying several years ago with a Top Secret S.I. game that was all about conspiracies and whatnot. Now we're getting ready to start a game that's very similar to Dark^oMatter or the X-Files.

And just because I love it so much, my fantasy games usually play more like the F-Files -- fantasy conspiracy theory nutcase campaign settings. PCs who aren't at least a little bit paranoid in my games often have short lifespans. Even worse are the ones who tend to pull out their sword and wade into battle at the slightest hint of anything unusual. Don't get me wrong; I actually really don't like killing PCs, making me a poor candidate for the Rat Bastard DM club (I'm thinking about joining barsoomcore's fluffy puppy DM club, or whatever he called it -- I need a support group) but folks who don't figure out to be paranoid pretty quickly have a hard time.

The point is, it's hardly hurt the game at all -- in fact, it makes it more fun for us.

 

[shilsen]

I love duplicity and misdirection when I'm DMing.

Me too. But what I really enjoy is when the PCs/players assume there's duplicity and misdirection where there isn't any, and tie themselves into knots trying to find or anticipate it

As Freud the dwarven barbarian said, sometimes the jovial, friendly, apparently harmless NPC actually is jovial, friendly and harmless.

 

[Piratecat]

Good point. One of the chief bad guys in my gamr right now, an undead "puppeteer" who can switch from one undead body to another, has never lied to the group. They keep thinking he is, though. It has tripped them up more than once.

 

[barsoomcore]

Same here. The main bad last season, a right charmer known as the Demon Goddess (no, thank YOU, Mr Brust), was actually just about the only person in the entire campaign who WASN'T feeding the party a pack of lies.

She always gave it to them straight, even when she was out to get them.

It made her a more worthy opponent in their eyes, which was cool, but wouldn't have happened had not everyone else been such a bunch of sneaky bastards.

 

[Psion]

Same here. The main bad last season, a right charmer known as the Demon Goddess (no, thank YOU, Mr Brust)

Heh.

So what's your take on the unanswered question of how a demon goddess is possible.

 

[Henry]

Good point. One of the chief bad guys in my gamr right now, an undead "puppeteer" who can switch from one undead body to another, has never lied to the group. They keep thinking he is, though. It has tripped them up more than once.

Absolutely! Why lie, when the truth is so much more damaging?

 

[barsoomcore]

So what's your take on the unanswered question of how a demon goddess is possible.

If you haven't read The Lord of Castle Black, ignore this:

Spoiler

There's three of her.

Now HE would be a Rat Bastard DM, of that I am sure...

 

[Psion]

Ah. Haven't read that yet. I'm a holdout for softbacks.

 

[Nifft]

My PCs are starting to realize that, when they ask a question, they get the answer that the NPC's agenda dictates, not a hint from the DM. (Not all NPCs are intentionally deceptive, but very few know "the straight dope", and everyone has prejudices.)

It's probably annoying to them at first, but it's really the only way I can get verisimilitude... well, that and environmental sounds.

-- N