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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9486747" data-attributes="member: 6684958">Well, maybe for some context....If your a new player in one of my games, my harsh house rule is that your character will be a Clueless Berk.  So, I do recommend that you pick that type of character to play.  If a player wants to play a more knowledgeable character, I am happy to provide handouts, notes, articles, books shows and videos Out of Game for the player.  Then they can come to the game with knowledge.  Sadly, many players hate this "homework" and whine they have "no time".  They just want to show up and relax and casually sort of play the game by rolling every couple of minutes for their smart character to remember something or think of something or have a clever idea.   I make it clear I don't run that sort of game.Some good players will even be open to learning in general, beyond just the game and setting lore.  I'll give the good player some lists of books, movies and TV shows they can watch to learn more general topics related to their character type.  Generally for at least the first 5-10 games a new player in my game is Clueless.  Though assuming the player pays attention, is active, is immersed and care, they will slowly learn things about game lore and the setting.  And clever players can always try to learn more.So, no I don't want a player that just goofs around for hours.  Then when the group finds a vault with symbols drawn on the door, the player says "ummmm, I want my super smart character to read the symbols while I spill some Mt.Dew on myself...again".  I don't really want this type of player in my game.I want the player that listens to the description and then can say "The triangle symbol is the arcane symbol for fire, I'll bet the door is trapped in a fire trap spell" or "the symbol of two circles connected by a line is thieves cant for we are being watched".I keep mostly the same general information for most games.  So once a player knows something, they can use it in most of my games.Well, I require players to play the game, not to just roll and play a character.  And this is just as true for all abilities.  The player has to think of "hey I can shoot the rope holding the door open" BEFORE they make the Dex roll to throw a dagger.  Well, I'll tell players up front my game is not the easy roll game.  It's one of my harsh hose rules designed to weed out players.  It works great.  It stops all the problems of a player that looks through all the books to find the perfect creature to shapechange into as needed.  A character in a woodland can find wolf fur easy enough, but not great white shark teeth and very much not tyrannosaurs rex teeth or other more exotic creatures.  But it does leave the opening for players to hunt down creatures if they want too.  Like a lot of my houserules, it gives an adventure incentive.  Smart players will collect creature parts to change into later.</blockquote>

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