Do you reequire your players to think?

[Odhanan]

So, should the players be required to think in the game? Do you dumb it down for your players or do you smart it up for them? Would the players refuse your game if you made them think at the table?

It seems even strange from my point of view to ask the question. Let me take a step back. Okay.

Should the players think in the game ? No, they shouldn't. They MAY.

Do I dumb it down for them ? Certainly not. Most of our western education systems do it very well for us. I like my players to think. So I give them opportunities to think and make deductions if they are able to make them. This depends on the style of characters and players. I have no problem with pure bashing and slashing, if as a DM I can anticipate it before hand. I as a DM enjoy b/slashing too. I have no problem with -any- adventure style. I just need to put myself in the right condition before DMing.

 

[KRT]

Paperwork and thinking are very much related.

The government must be filled with the greatest of thinkers then.

 

[StupidSmurf]

Do I require my players to think?

Yes, yes, and again I say, YES.

Now, sometimes it's just the requirement that they exercise some basic common sense. For instance, act mouthy to NPC townsfolk, and gee whiz, they won't like you very much. Amazing how that works, huh?

Sometimes, it's the "Hey, wait a minute" kind of stuff:
PLAYERS: Ma'am, your husband is dead.
WOMAN: Oh dear! Who do you think murdered him?
PLAYERS: Funny, we never said anything about him being murdered...
WOMAN: Ooops...er....

And sometimes, it's more of "Look at the big picture" stuff:
"Hey guys, anyone else wonder why this extremely powerful dude is asking a bunch of underpowered unknowns like us to go and do this thing that he should be perfectly able to do on his own?"

As far as rules and such go, the only expectation in that department is that they are aware of what's on their character sheet, what it does, and how it can best be used.

 

[KRT]

I think that the poll might be looking at it the wrong way around. It come down to this, if you have a group of "thinkers" playing then you as a DM need to do the thinking in order to create a campaign setting that holds their interest. If they are a bunch of non-thinkers then you have to adjust the campaign to suit. Setting a "thinking" bar will only lead to player vs. DM tension as someone's expectation are doomed to not be met. As a DM it is important to identify what the capabilities of your players are, and where their interest level lies in regard to "thinking" their way through vs fighting. Then provide the challenge that fits the preferred play style. Yes, you can nudge them one way or the other, but forcing them to think is no different than forcing them to follow a transparent plot line. It become a DM using his/her players to live out his/her own idea of what would be cool.

 

[just__al]

Thinking in my games isn't required but there is a recommended daily allowance.

Failing to think will eventually make life very difficult for your character as there is usually more going on than is readily apparent.

 

[Navior]

It's even easier than that, actually... INT increases to Skill Points don't go into effect, retroactively! (A lot of people don't seem to realize that!) See the last paragraph of PHB:10.

In my case, I'm well aware of that. I just ignore it. The very first houserule I made when 3E first came out was that Int increases change skill points retroactively.

As for the poll, I voted yes, but not because I expect players to recalculate skill points if their intellingences change. I'll gladly do that for them if they have trouble (although I've never had a player have any trouble with it before). I do expect them to think in-game. I tend to run games with a heavy political slant, so they need to do quite a bit of thinking.

 

[The_Universe]

While I certainly expect my players to calculate their own skills and hit points (and accurately, to boot!) I don't really think that counts as making my players think. Instead, I try to focus their deductive skills on the overall problems of the game or world, and of course to the occaisonal dungeon trap or puzzle. If they don't think, they're penalized by death or injury, as the game at least hints should be the case.

As for the example in the initial post, I don't think you're supposed to be able to recalculate skill points (unlike hit points) when you increase in intelligence. But I could be wrong.