Is picking spells to counter the DM's tactics undermining the fun of the game?

[TheEvil]

I think the fundamental question of badness is "am I metagaming?"

In your case, it sounds like what a tactically sound thinker would do in that situation. It's justifiable in mileu.

I had a game once where the party had a text to decipher. One player had to make a new character and explicitly took comprehend languages as part of his spellbook because he (not his character) knew that they were facing that challenge in a game. I ruled that one out in a hurry.

So kept him from taking a useful spell because it had immediate application in a specific situation the player knew of? So it helps him out this one time, so what? Would you rather he took another combat spell? It isn't like he was making a sorcerer and took it as one of his two starting 1st level spells, is it?

 

[Psion]

??? You ruled it out?

Unabashedly.

It's a basic utility spell, useful for any number of reasons and hardly a game breaker even if the player knew before hand that it would be useful.

The beginning of the sentence is true. It is a basic utility spell, albeit one that the player in question never would have taken unless he was metagaming.

Where I feel you are wrong is "hardly a game breaker even if the player knew before hand that it would be useful." In this particular adventure, it was a game breaker, and was so precisely because the player knew it would be the one spell solution to the adventure.

To think of it another way, why would the other PCs recruit someone into the party as a replacement who didn't have comprehend languages as a spell?

"Beggars can't be choosers"? It's not like wizards grow on trees IMC. They might hire someone who has some arcane knowledge to give them clues as to the meaning and move them along the adventure without unveiling the entire content of the text at once.

By the way, when I say "ruled it out", I mean that I made rulings limiting what comprehend languages could do in this situations -- I ruled that it can unveil literal meanings of broadly known languages, but has very limited ability in translating context, double meanings, and ciphers.

Seems to me the player could have been well justified to take the spell so that he would provide a good hook for having his PC be worth selecting by the established party.

You're generous. Let me assure you, knowing the person in question: he was metagaming in a bad way. He didn't, for example, inform me that he was going to sale his wares as a translator of ancient texts as a way to attract potential patrons (which would have been cool.) No, he involved himself in the party and whipped the spell out in an "a ha! I got the DM" moment. He was trying to be sneaky.

One must distinguish between benign and malign metagaming.

 

[Psion]

So kept him from taking a useful spell because it had immediate application in a specific situation the player knew of?

The player knew of the situation; the character did not. If the player had selected the spell not having known the content of the adventure, that would have been different.

What he did would be a bit like peaking inside a published adventure he knew I was running and designing his character specifically to beat the adventure. Not kosher, IMO.

 

[TheEvil]

You're generous. Let me assure you, knowing the person in question: he was metagaming in a bad way. He didn't, for example, inform me that he was going to sale his wares as a translator of ancient texts as a way to attract potential patrons (which would have been cool.) No, he involved himself in the party and whipped the spell out in an "a ha! I got the DM" moment. He was trying to be sneaky.

One must distinguish between benign and malign metagaming.

Definately true. If there is one thing I can't stand, it is players who like to play 'Gotcha!' with the GM, even when I am just one of the players. Carry on!

 

[billd91]

By the way, when I say "ruled it out", I mean that I made rulings limiting what comprehend languages could do in this situations -- I ruled that it can unveil literal meanings of broadly known languages, but has very limited ability in translating context, double meanings, and ciphers.

OK, so you didn't really rule it out at all. That's the way the spell, by the RAW as far as the SRD goes, is supposed to work. I was under the impression you would have prevented him from having the spell entirely.
And I don't like "gotcha" style playing any more than you do. But it's important to clarify that there are metagame instants and motives that are beneficial to a game and not at all detrimental.