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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sfedi" data-source="post: 5040556" data-attributes="member: 15746">I wanted to share this experiment I'm currently running with my players:Easy DC: - You tell the player the monster's role (or describe the role if you don't want to tell it explicitly)Medium DC: - You tell the player the tactics the monster/s will use - You tell the player all the useful powers the creature has that will interact with the terrain or other combatants (i.e. all nasty tricks it will pull)Hard DC: - You tell the player the defenses and resistances/vulnerabilitiesTwist:The player CAN'T tell the other players this information, he can only shout orders or advice of what to do/not to doWhy all this?Since 3.5 I was always bothered/upset that whatever I told the player that made the check was repeated verbatim to the others.That didn't feel right.Worse still, it didn't convey the feeling that the character was wise or intelligent.It felt more like a robot puking information, or a talking monster manual entry.The Twist forces the player to think a bit more: "What orders/advice should I tell my teammates that make use of this information?" and the other players/characters tend to listen to what the other players has to say, or delay or ask him what to do.So far, it worked, but there are some tweaks and considerations for using this.I'll give an example of how we used it yesterday.The party was combating 4 Large elementals: two brutes and two skirmishers.All of them could teleport 5 once per encounter.Brutes: - Typical basic attack with high damage - Could Slide 2 + prone with a recharge 4-5-6. - At-will charge attack that would push 1 and proneSkirmishers - Typical basic attack that does only damage - Standard at-will: hit and shift 1 - Standard at-will: move speed + basic attack at any point + no OAs when leavingThe combat took place at a road with burning bushes at the sides.So, when the player succeeded at the Medium check, I told him the following:Tactics: - these two are brutes, they will wade into melee at the core of the group - these other two are mobile combatants who will jump in, strike at the outer member of the group and then fall back. Into the fire woods if possibleNote: "the outer member of the group", means the one you first become adjacent to.Powers: - all can teleport once per encounter - the brutes can throw you 2 squares and leave you proneNote that I left out a lot of information.Not because of cheating, but because players during a combat can retain and process little amounts of info.So I resumed the information they needed, rather than dumping it in raw form.The tactics section should cover the basic attacks and at wills of the monsters.It doesn't matter how the Skirmishers move, strike and get out, they will do it anyway, and the first time they do it, everyone will see and it will be obvious.The brutes are also straightforward. I didn't tell them about the charge power, because there's not much you can do about it. And if it is the push + prone that worries you, I got it covered by telling the player about the other power.So, what is the tactics piece of information useful for?The PC can suggest the tactic of surrounding the waker members of the party with defenders (I know, something obvious and intuitive, but hey, at least you know that tactic WILL be useful)So, this left me with only two powers the creatures could pull of and surprise the PCs and change the dynamics of the battle.The slide 2 + prone was the more critical, since this could be used to not only damage and get out of the way a PC, but to also throw it into the burning bushes.This is something the PC can use to tell the other teammates to stay away from the bushes.The teleport was a tricky thing.Because teleport can be used offensively, to bypass the defenders and reach the softer side of the party, or to escape a defender or flank or bad position.So there's no one directive or tactic that could be shouted out.What's a good advice for this?In this case, I let the player just tell the others that these guys could teleport once.Well, that's it. Sorry for the length.</blockquote>

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