D&D 5E Little rules changes that still trip you up

[Corwin]

I find that hiding NPC initiative rolls doesn't completely negate the initiative metagame. I had an assassin player who would suddenly change his mind about making a surprise attack if he rolled particularly low for initiative, even though he could not see what the NPCs had rolled. I solved this problem by rolling everyone's initiative behind the DM screen when there was a surprise round involved so that the players couldn't see their own rolls. Metagame negated.

Do you make your player(s) wear a blindfold when their character(s) are blinded, in darkness, or otherwise cannot see? Earplugs when deafened? I mean, you wouldn't want them to "metagame" by seeing or hearing something their character couldn't have, right?

 

[Corwin]

I'm starting to hate when my players play the hitpoint metagame. Always knowing exactly how many hitpoints their character has and acting on that info. It ruins their immersion. So I took that away from them, too. Now I track their hitpoints behind the DM screen. Metagame negated.

 

[Arial Black]

I'm starting to hate when my players play the hitpoint metagame. Always knowing exactly how many hitpoints their character has and acting on that info. It ruins their immersion. So I took that away from them, too. Now I track their hitpoints behind the DM screen. Metagame negated.

What you may be saying in jest, some DMs actually do.

The thing is, RPGs are simultaneously 'role-playing' AND 'games'.

Where the balance lies depends on the table.

 

[Chaosmancer]

What you may be saying in jest, some DMs actually do.

The thing is, RPGs are simultaneously 'role-playing' AND 'games'.

Where the balance lies depends on the table.

To each their own and all, but at some point you're putting way too much effort into something that really does not need that much effort. I just can't imagine putting that much more effort when I'm already doing so much as behind the screen.

On topic, another thing that constantly trips me up is preparing new spells after a long rest instead of at the beginning of a session. For some reason, I can't get it through my head to remind players (or even myself) to prepare new spells, and I always want to choose spells when I sit down, even if my selection was locked by the end of last session.

 

[Hriston]

My apologies to fellow Austinite @Mouseferatu for contributing to the derailment of this thread. Because [MENTION=2067]I'm A Banana[/MENTION] had identified stealth, assassinate, initiative, or some such thing as a little rule that trips him up, I had believed it was fair game. As someone who has never played any edition that much resembles 5th (having only played (A)D&D in the early 80's), I apparently have nothing meaningful to contribute to the actual topic of this thread and will await the creation of (or will create myself) yet another thread dedicated to Stealth before I further express my views on the subject.

 

[machineelf]

Assuming the player knows what initiatives the NPCs are going at. If an NPC had highest initiative, but didn't do anything (because of surprise), why should the player know that the NPC had a higher initiative? Do you announce the NPCs/monsters initiatives when you DM?

I draw a division between meta knowledge and character knowledge when I have my players play. In this case though I can see an argument for allowing the assassin to be aware of which guards might be more aware of their surroundings vs. guards who are not paying attention at all (i.e., those that are fully surprised on his turn vs. those that aren't). I don't think that presents any meta knowledge problems for me. But yes, when I DM I do set up cards (folded blank index cards) showing everyone's initiative clipped to the DM's screen, so that my players will be aware of when their turn is coming up. (It helps my players prepare their action ahead of time and prevents extra lag in the game, plus other benefits like making sure no one gets skipped.)

 

[machineelf]

To me, a sucker punch is a matter of winning initiative. Both parties are aware of each other, and one decides to attack the other. Initiative is rolled. If the aggressor wins initiative then she gets in the first punch because her target is slow to react. If not, then her target might give her a quick jab while she's still in mid-swing.

I would rule it as tough the person getting punched was still surprised at the beginning of the round. So if he wins initiative he is no longer surprised after his turn and he can take a reaction if he is able to, but he still could not take an action on his turn that round.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

What you may be saying in jest, some DMs actually do.

The thing is, RPGs are simultaneously 'role-playing' AND 'games'.

Where the balance lies depends on the table.

At some point you should ask yourself if you're using the right system for the style of RPG you want to play, though.

 

[nexalis]

Do you make your player(s) wear a blindfold when their character(s) are blinded, in darkness, or otherwise cannot see? Earplugs when deafened? I mean, you wouldn't want them to "metagame" by seeing or hearing something their character couldn't have, right?

No, because none of those things were causing problems at my table. I do make them wear ball gags in order to curb their pathetic attempts at argumentum ad absurdum though. I find there's nothing worse than a sad, groundless attempt at argumentum ad absurdum.

EDIT: Honestly, nothing I said merited either of your smartass responses. I find myself questioning the class of people who post on this forum.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

The thing we still do the most is forgetting to roll concentration checks when damage is taken. We play on Roll20 so I've started marking my token with a dot to indicate whenever I'm concentrating on things. As the others in the group notice how hard it is to remember I find they have started to do the same.

But other than that our games have been pretty smooth. Roll20 automates a lot for us and it's handy to have full spell descriptions to dump into chat any time we need to remember the details.