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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7162865" data-attributes="member: 97077">Probably not.That's not balance. That's inconsistency. The balance you desire happens on the player side of the equation.Further, I really don't know how you read what I'm saying and come away with the idea that I'm spoon feeding players or that there's no real decision-making in my games. Or that I treat the PCs as psychic or even Sherlock Holmes.It rather seems like you're just lobbing various unfounded criticisms at what I'm suggesting is, in part, a solution to the Perception problem raised by the OP. I'm happy to knock those criticisms down all day long if that's what you want. I mean, now you're into saying it might be railroading:Railroading is when you coerce players into a particular action they didn't want or subvert their choices to some other end than they intend. Giving them enough information so they can make informed decisions in the world and otherwise act with agency is not that.That is not so. The DM is advised to be impartial only with regard to the application of the rules (DMG, page 5). Telegraphing is about being partial towards fairness and agency.Gotchas aren't challenges. Something is a challenge when you can make an informed decision to overcome it. That's not what a gotcha is. You get blindsided, and the inherent difficulty is only because you didn't have any clue it was coming. You're right in one respect though - why a player would want that is beyond me. The game is plenty unpredictable. Unless the DM is just not great at his or her role, which sadly isn't uncommon in my experience.I'm sure lots of us know why DMs would want gotchas though. And a DM who wants gotchas couldn't very well be consistent if he or she wasn't also a player who said he or she wanted them...As to Instigating Players, the DMG tells us how to engage them: Allow them to affect their surroundings. (Check.) Include things in your adventures to tempt them. (Check.) Let their actions put the characters in a tight spot. (Check.) Include encounters with NPCs who are as feisty and unpredictable as they are. (Check.) It honestly seems like you'd have absolutely no problem with the way I present my game if you were sitting at the table. But still you keep criticizing the solutions I propose because it seems like you wouldn't want to run your game that way, even if it's obvious this is a potential solution to the Perception problem.</blockquote>

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