Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Orius" data-source="post: 1865036" data-attributes="member: 8863">Well, I've never done tournament play, I'm not part of the RPGA, and I don't do LG.&nbsp;&nbsp; And if this is typical, I'm glad I'm not.&nbsp; In my games, the DMG, MM, and other DM-only stuff is completely off-limits to players during gameplay.&nbsp; That's the way it was supposed to be, by the book, in earlier editions, and it's sure as hell not going away in my game.&nbsp; The player should have some uncertainty as to what they face.&nbsp; That's why I never tell them exactly what the monster is they're facing, only giving vague descriptions.&nbsp; Humanoid stuff like goblins and orcs are just stated as goblins and orcs, but then the players don't know how many class levels they have.&nbsp;&nbsp; The same thing goes for magic items.&nbsp; I never say, &quot;This is a +1 longsword.&quot;&nbsp; No, they have to cast detect magic to know it's magical in the first place, and identify to learn it has a +1 bonus.&nbsp; I do it this way, because as DM, I'm free to tweak items and monsters however I choose — and I'm under no obligation to let the players know that a variant is at work.&nbsp; Discovery of the unknown is part of what the game is about.&nbsp; Yeah, it also helps me cover up when I screw up.&nbsp; <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Orius, post: 1865036, member: 8863"] Well, I've never done tournament play, I'm not part of the RPGA, and I don't do LG. And if this is typical, I'm glad I'm not. In my games, the DMG, MM, and other DM-only stuff is completely off-limits to players during gameplay. That's the way it was supposed to be, by the book, in earlier editions, and it's sure as hell not going away in my game. The player should have some uncertainty as to what they face. That's why I never tell them exactly what the monster is they're facing, only giving vague descriptions. Humanoid stuff like goblins and orcs are just stated as goblins and orcs, but then the players don't know how many class levels they have. The same thing goes for magic items. I never say, "This is a [i]+1 longsword[/i]." No, they have to cast [i]detect magic[/i] to know it's magical in the first place, and [i]identify[/i] to learn it has a +1 bonus. I do it this way, because as DM, I'm free to tweak items and monsters however I choose — and I'm under no obligation to let the players know that a variant is at work. Discovery of the unknown is part of what the game is about. Yeah, it also helps me cover up when I screw up. :] [/QUOTE]

Verification