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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 142328" data-attributes="member: 1645">I'm not sure where I stand on that tip.&nbsp; (To be clear, I'm just quoting a tip I didn't write there.)&nbsp; I can certainly understand your feeling that the players should be cautious -- there's a strong tactical element to the game -- but how reasonable is it that the party is paralyzed with paranoia?&nbsp; It's its own kind of meta-gaming.&nbsp; &quot;We know it can't be this easy.&nbsp; He'd never give us free treasure.&quot;You've jumped ahead a bit though, so I'll post the next tip:Twist In The PCs' FavourBe sure to add in twists that work to the characters' advantage. These kinds of twists are guaranteed to surprise your players and give them some joy. Also, watch their reactions when you do this. A good measurement of your players' cynicism and expectations based on their experience with you as GM is how they act when they get something for nothing. Have them stumble over a small treasure pile that has a logical reason for being left unguarded (for example, the thieves and the guardian killed each other). If the players don't believe that they can take the loot unmolested, make snide comments about waiting for the other shoe to drop, or simply leave the treasure behind in the belief they'd be better off without it, then you know you've set them up or tricked them too many times. Perhaps it's time to play it straight for awhile and re-gain their trust. And then go easy on the twists after that so you keep their trust. It's hard to surprise suspicious, over-cautious, and cynical players who have been burned too many times--and that means everyone has less fun. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown&nbsp; &nbsp; :("&nbsp; data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 142328, member: 1645"] I'm not sure where I stand on that tip. (To be clear, I'm just quoting a tip I didn't write there.) I can certainly understand your feeling that the players should be cautious -- there's a strong tactical element to the game -- but how reasonable is it that the party is paralyzed with paranoia? It's its own kind of meta-gaming. "We know it can't be this easy. He'd never give us free treasure." You've jumped ahead a bit though, so I'll post the next tip: Twist In The PCs' Favour Be sure to add in twists that work to the characters' advantage. These kinds of twists are guaranteed to surprise your players and give them some joy. Also, watch their reactions when you do this. A good measurement of your players' cynicism and expectations based on their experience with you as GM is how they act when they get something for nothing. Have them stumble over a small treasure pile that has a logical reason for being left unguarded (for example, the thieves and the guardian killed each other). If the players don't believe that they can take the loot unmolested, make snide comments about waiting for the other shoe to drop, or simply leave the treasure behind in the belief they'd be better off without it, then you know you've set them up or tricked them too many times. Perhaps it's time to play it straight for awhile and re-gain their trust. And then go easy on the twists after that so you keep their trust. It's hard to surprise suspicious, over-cautious, and cynical players who have been burned too many times--and that means everyone has less fun. :( [/QUOTE]

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