FAMOUS LAST WORDS: "It wouldn't be here if we weren't supposed to fight it."

[Fauchard1520]

I wonder if telling them the CR of their foes would work.

It does. I know from experience. The downside is that you're breaking immersion when you do this. That's the tradeoff. If you've got a player that is so far on the "game" side of things that they're unable to hear "this is a really tough monster" when you tell them in plain language, the only recourse is to communicate in game terms.

 

[Satyrn]

It does. I know from experience. The downside is that you're breaking immersion when you do this. That's the tradeoff. If you've got a player that is so far on the "game" side of things that they're unable to hear "this is a really tough monster" when you tell them in plain language, the only recourse is to communicate in game terms.

Nice. That's a downside I'm completely indifferent to. Thank you.

 

[iserith]

Nice. That's a downside I'm completely indifferent to. Thank you.

The back and forth about mechanics, the dice rolling, the incessant questioning of the DM, the side comments about this or that class feature or monster trait, the farts of the guy across from you... that's all good. But mention CR and immersion is shattered forever.

 

[BookBarbarian]

the farts of the guy across from you... that's all good.

That depends on the size of the table.

 

[Eltab]

I haven't walked my PCs into a TPK on purpose. But I've done it by accident (poor scenario construction, did not understand what CR really measures).

Tomb of Annihilation has a Wilderness Random Encounter Table that allows the toughest things around to blunder across the PCs' path (or vice versa).

 

[Les Moore]

The back and forth about mechanics, the dice rolling, the incessant questioning of the DM, the side comments about this or that class feature or monster trait, the farts of the guy across from you... that's all good. But mention CR and immersion is shattered forever.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

I've used the overpowering monster to attempt to illustrate the folly of over-
encumbrance. Of course, if the party can't figure out that the monster is
too strong to fight, they also may not be able to figure out they are attempting to
carry too much, either.

 

[devincutler]

I one time started a campaign with 1st level characters encountered a beholder. It was my way to set the tone so they knew every problem couldn't be solved through fighting. I wouldn't suggest doing it this way, but for this group it was an effective tactic.

I started a 1e campaign with the 1st level PCs encountering a demilich (then the most powerful creature in the game). One player assumed I'd never do that and that the demilich was an illusion. Needless to say, she rolled up a new PC that day.