Do you keep your Players in the Dark?
- Thread starter Sherlock
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Gothmog
First Post
Nope, never tell the players AC, DCs, hit points, saves, etc. I make them wonder and worry. IME, throwing the numbers around completely destroys the suspension of disbelief for me and my group, and I have actually had to slap one player (who is no longer with us thankfully) with a hefty 50% XP penalty for ONLY speaking in terms of stats. He constantly asked the NPCs/monster's AC, HP, saves, DR, etc, and never said anything in character ("my character tries to intimidate the inkeep- what DC do I need?") ARGH! And he was surprised and outraged when he only got half the experience the rest of the group did. Usually my group never asks those kinds of questions though, and couldn't care less about trying to quantify their enemy's or NPC abilities.
Last edited:
hunter1828
Butte Hole Surfer
The group I DM right now doesn't ask these questions, prefering not to overuse game mechanic labels while playing, though they quickly figure these things out after a round or two of combat, hits and misses and failed saves.
hunter1828
hunter1828
FungiMuncher
First Post
I make it a point to not tell my players that sort of info. That way, if I need to fudge a bit to keep things exciting, I can.
I have one player who seems to keep track of the exact damage inflicted on each creatrue with great ease. He's constantly telling me how much damage a particular foe has, and asking how hurt it looks. He gets frustrated when I only report this only in qualitative terms ("OK, after that blow, it looks a little frazzled.")
I've got many characters to deal with, and don't have (or want to spend) the time to optimize their feats and items, so I feel perfectly OK fudging things on the fly. Fortunately, after three years of playing, things have been working out well.
I have one player who seems to keep track of the exact damage inflicted on each creatrue with great ease. He's constantly telling me how much damage a particular foe has, and asking how hurt it looks. He gets frustrated when I only report this only in qualitative terms ("OK, after that blow, it looks a little frazzled.")
I've got many characters to deal with, and don't have (or want to spend) the time to optimize their feats and items, so I feel perfectly OK fudging things on the fly. Fortunately, after three years of playing, things have been working out well.
Sherlock said:
It is situation dependant. I'm not going to worry about whether the players know the AC of some no-account grunt orc that's likelyto be dead in two rounds no matter how much they know. I am going to worry about how much they know about a major plot-element NPC that I plan to keep ar0ound for a few months of gameplay.
Currently I am playing three games.
1) Wierd Wars: The DM generally doesn't tell us anything unless he wants to frighten us. Thus, it happens rarely, but it does happen. (We were walking when tentacles leapt out of a 'puddle' and trapped the parties chaplain, me, after two failed grapple checks he told me what I needed... needless to say the only way I got out was because my friends killed the blasted thing.)
2) D&D 3.5: The DM generally tells us. It's more of a loose playing style where we are there to goof around and have fun. This annoys the more serious players sometimes but... meh. It's a hack and slash game.
3) D&D 3.5: The DM doesn't tell us. We haven't fought much (more of a storyline RPG than a hack and slash) but we had to narrow stuff down. AC was easy enough... saving throws haven't really come into play yet. But certain things he does tell us... like we had to have EVERYONE help to force open a DC 30 door.
As a player... my preference would have to be dependent on my mood. If I'm in a laid back relaxed kind of mood, then knowing it doesn't really matter. If I'm in a serious... let's kick some ass... type of mood, then I'd rather not know it and play the game as it was meant to be played.
1) Wierd Wars: The DM generally doesn't tell us anything unless he wants to frighten us. Thus, it happens rarely, but it does happen. (We were walking when tentacles leapt out of a 'puddle' and trapped the parties chaplain, me, after two failed grapple checks he told me what I needed... needless to say the only way I got out was because my friends killed the blasted thing.)
2) D&D 3.5: The DM generally tells us. It's more of a loose playing style where we are there to goof around and have fun. This annoys the more serious players sometimes but... meh. It's a hack and slash game.
3) D&D 3.5: The DM doesn't tell us. We haven't fought much (more of a storyline RPG than a hack and slash) but we had to narrow stuff down. AC was easy enough... saving throws haven't really come into play yet. But certain things he does tell us... like we had to have EVERYONE help to force open a DC 30 door.
As a player... my preference would have to be dependent on my mood. If I'm in a laid back relaxed kind of mood, then knowing it doesn't really matter. If I'm in a serious... let's kick some ass... type of mood, then I'd rather not know it and play the game as it was meant to be played.
Epametheus
First Post
It depends on the circumstance. For skill checks and attack rolls, I tell the players to give me their result, and I'll tell them if they suceeded.
I tend to give out save DCs, though. It's also pretty habitual in my group to give some indication if an enemy is being worn down (at half HP or less).
I'll give out stuff like AC if I want a combat over with -- or if it's been going on so long that the players have probably figured it out on their own, anyways.
I tend to give out save DCs, though. It's also pretty habitual in my group to give some indication if an enemy is being worn down (at half HP or less).
I'll give out stuff like AC if I want a combat over with -- or if it's been going on so long that the players have probably figured it out on their own, anyways.
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