How to turn player assumptions on their heads?

[Bingle]

I'm currently running a text-based RPG game with a friend (Warcraft based. You may groan at me if you like, heh). While I'm DMing it, I'm playing a character as well, and we're using a mix of free-form rules along with dice rolling for basic hit/miss checks, or things like hearing a sneaking enemy, etc. It's very heavily role-play oriented. The only problem is...

...She tends to play her character as smarter than she claims she is, and by doing so, ends up foiling quite a few plots. I don't mind it when a player outwits my plans, or a character, even, but it's not fun when I know she's meta-gaming to an extent. While this does bug me, I've tried to resolve the issue through talking to no avail. Well, this is alright, because I had an idea - to stump her, and get her actually thinking on her toes.

She tends to make logical assumptions - and not just from a normal perspective, but a gaming/storytelling one as well. I used to write NPC thoughts in with descriptions (unless there was a huge surprise), though with her metagaming I've stopped. Another friend suggested that I try to trick her, and while I'm not a huge fan of tricking my players to teach them a lesson, I'm to that point hahaha.

Therefore, I want to show her that cold, hard logic, and first impressions aren't always true, without simply being a jerk and using things that are rather unfair, such as things that she has no chance of figuring out through clues and the like. Her character has the tendency to interrogate others, and jump to conclusion after conclusion.

So, what I'm asking is...

...What would be a good way to trick this player, and/or character? She's become wise to almost anything I can throw at her, and perhaps she knows my DMing style all too well by now. I am hoping to grab some fresh ideas on turning player assumptions on their heads. Thanks!

 

[howandwhy99]

...What would be a good way to trick this player, and/or character? She's become wise to almost anything I can throw at her, and perhaps she knows my DMing style all too well by now. I am hoping to grab some fresh ideas on turning player assumptions on their heads. Thanks!

Plenty of people play their character as themselves and it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most online play, as you mentioned Warcraft, is as an avatar. The mental stats end up becoming adjustments to rolls for how well the avatar is in certain social situations, not the player. If this isn't what you are looking for, just say something. It could be different play styles conflicting here.

Foiling plots of the NPCs seems to be the name of the game for her. Making that more difficult shouldn't be too hard for you however. Just up the complexity. Slightly at first, but then more and more convoluted as the game goes on. Duplicity in appearances and behavior has its place in D&D and other RPGs too. Illusions are one way, possessed or enchanted creatures are others. There are plenty more. The key is to follow through the deception with coherent integration only to the level the challenge is to provide. More easily foiled deception challenges are less integrated, less coherent in themselves, and don't extend as far outwards before becoming questionable.

You mention your game is heavily role-play oriented. I take that to mean it is mostly focused on intelligent characters and conversation with them. To provide a good con for instance, set up a social map of the characters involved, then have this base be the "actual" social relations to be discerned. Then build deceptions to cover a certain degree of this map making sure to measure out how difficult they are. And, of course, give commensurate rewards: treasure, coin, housing, knowledge, alliances, and whatnot for seeing through the deceptions. Not that these are hand waved to the PC logs, but having overcome the challenge allows the players to more easily "pick them up" - however figuratively. For keeping NPC play simple for you, devise mind maps of major NPCs knowledge of the overall situation and then track what they learn and forget as the game timeline progresses. Just read off these maps for conversations to present a coherent reality, but also a limited viewpoint by character.

For example, starting small a hamlet of 100 is pretty much a full beginning module. There's an outline of who knows who, what their relationships are to each other, and what each does every day. List their goals and track out their actions in a future timeline of events without PC interference. Then define agents of trickery within this baseline. A spy ring exists to extort goods and monies from the local merchants. A local, rich farmer runs the operation employing outsider farmhand toughs as threat to those who don't pay. His belligerent brother follows a routine of where and when he collects payments, then ending the day getting drunk for free at the local tavern. The farmer's wife sporadically shops for finery some days fully expecting not to pay. Morale checks are made when developing the timeline to see when the extorted characters refuse payment and conflicts occur. These create rumors - events the PCs can hear about. The toughs are brought in to intimidate and muscle those refusing until they pay. Perhaps this escalates with further checks? Now the local tailor has gone missing and his wife his daughters are looking for him. There's one adventure hook. In the timeline he's captive in the farmer's barn without food or water, but this won't last long. Etc.

That's a rather bland example, but it's one way to do it. Check out the Freeport trilogy for something more popular, but also a path oriented module design. Once you decide upon your legend of rules drawing up the maps and maintaining them throughout play becomes much easier. It takes practice, but isn't as hard as it may sound. The coherency of such adventures from the other side of the table will likely be appreciated. At least, if I'm reading the desires of your player right.