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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8404169" data-attributes="member: 2629">Metagaming is discouraged.&nbsp; I ask players to separate the fiction the player experiences from the knowledge of the player.&nbsp; This is mostly a problem when their character has setting specific lore that they know that their PC should not, as I have elements in place that reduce the benefit of using out of character game information.&nbsp; There are still game rule related metagaming, or scenario specific (their PC doesn't know a monster is there, but the party does, and yet they decide to be sneaky for no reason....),&nbsp; but when it happens we just pause, provide credible challenge to the metagaming, and then resolve the disagreement on what is known.&nbsp; It is usually not a problem.I make the book based metagaming issues easier by placing a very commonly available book into my game world - Librum Magicum (yes, I did come up with that name when I was under 10).&nbsp; It essentially has all of the PHB spells, DMG items, and MM monsters in it.&nbsp; Anyone proficient in an intelligence skill can open up the PHB, MM or DMG anytime they want...&nbsp; It is essentially the 'Gray's Anatomy' (the book, not the TV series) of my world.&nbsp; If you have a formal education, you've read it.However, I caution the players that the thing they see may not be exactly like the books.&nbsp; I change things up - a lot.&nbsp; I give humanoids shaped monsters different gear, I introduce different subraces of creatures (I have 30 different chimeras), I have thousands of homebrew spells, etc...&nbsp; Over half of the magic items players find are homebrew.&nbsp; When they go to the great magical markets of the world I thumb through my collections of items from the past 40 years and spend half the session smiling as I remember when prior parties found the items I reveal to the players...&nbsp; This allows players an easier line to separate when they should and should not use player knowledge.&nbsp; They get to use much of their player knowledge, in character, but know not to trust all of it - and they still get to explore a lot of new stuff like their characters would.&nbsp; I do not use pre-published materials often, and when I do I a.) Do not announce it, b.) Change it to make it less recognizable, and c.) Always include a poison pill.&nbsp; What is a poison pill?&nbsp; Something that PCs will not encounter unless they read the module and go looking for it because they &quot;know&quot; it is there ... despite me having removed all clues that would point to it.&nbsp; And, when they find it ... it is not the bounty that is described in the book, but something that will make them regret their cheating.&nbsp; Cursed magic items, etc...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 8404169, member: 2629"] Metagaming is discouraged. I ask players to separate the fiction the player experiences from the knowledge of the player. This is mostly a problem when their character has [I]setting specific lore[/I] that they know that their PC should not, as I have elements in place that reduce the benefit of using out of character game information. There are still game rule related metagaming, or scenario specific (their PC doesn't know a monster is there, but the party does, and yet they decide to be sneaky for no reason....), but when it happens we just pause, provide credible challenge to the metagaming, and then resolve the disagreement on what is known. It is usually not a problem. I make the book based metagaming issues easier by placing a very commonly available book into my game world - Librum Magicum (yes, I did come up with that name when I was under 10). It essentially has all of the PHB spells, DMG items, and MM monsters in it. Anyone proficient in an intelligence skill can open up the PHB, MM or DMG anytime they want... It is essentially the 'Gray's Anatomy' (the book, not the TV series) of my world. If you have a formal education, you've read it. However, I caution the players that the thing they see may not be exactly like the books. I change things up - a lot. I give humanoids shaped monsters different gear, I introduce different subraces of creatures (I have 30 different chimeras), I have thousands of homebrew spells, etc... Over half of the magic items players find are homebrew. When they go to the great magical markets of the world I thumb through my collections of items from the past 40 years and spend half the session smiling as I remember when prior parties found the items I reveal to the players... This allows players an easier line to separate when they should and should not use player knowledge. They get to use much of their player knowledge, in character, but know not to trust all of it - and they still get to explore a lot of new stuff like their characters would. I do not use pre-published materials often, and when I do I a.) Do not announce it, b.) Change it to make it less recognizable, and c.) Always include a poison pill. What is a poison pill? Something that PCs will not encounter unless they read the module and go looking for it because they "know" it is there ... despite me having removed all clues that would point to it. And, when they find it ... it is not the bounty that is described in the book, but something that will make them regret their cheating. Cursed magic items, etc... [/QUOTE]

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