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[LMoP] My Players just cakewalked through Part 1 (Spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="MoutonRustique" data-source="post: 6350927" data-attributes="member: 22362"><p>This last bit makes me very suspicious... What do you mean? If you mean to say that the archer was far enough away that you did not require the archer to hide, then you did, in fact given the PCs a sizable advantage over RAW.</p><p></p><p>While your use of their passive 9 is quite in line with the rules, I would be cautious about handing out advantages for <em>player-based actions</em> (as opposed to character-based actions).</p><p></p><p><strong>All that follows is playstyle choice, and there is no "better" way to go about it. I only wish to inform.</strong></p><p>While many will vaunt <em>player</em> (as it, issuing from the players at the table) precautions and "good play" and "creativity", it is a style choice that has consequences. As stated earlier, these consequences may be desired.</p><p></p><p>Rewarding players for their "good ideas" (as opposed to their characters') leads to a greater proximity between player ability and character ability. <em>This makes it harder to play characters different from what we are IRL.</em> On the flip side, it can lead to a more immersive play experience. In the extreme, it can also make situations ridiculous : there have been and still are whole dungeons where players are encouraged (through the consequences of not doing it) to use a 10' (or longer) pole to probe everything before moving an inch...</p><p></p><p>"Creative use of..." often comes from applying "physics" to spells or actions or ... While this can be fun, it requires that those at the table buy-in into the plausibility of that application (for <strong>me</strong> it is often jarring and disagreeable as my knowledge of physics is better than that of most of the people I've played with - I know what they think would happen, but I also know how it would <em>not</em> have that effect...)</p><p></p><p>When you say that the players were in the bush and not coming up straight in the goblins' face, I would argue that that is the consequence of a successful hiding check. Had they come up the center of the road, they would have been spotted (failed their hiding check).</p><p></p><p>All of this is dependent upon where you want to draw the line between player skill and character skill - which is often a fluid moving target.</p><p><strong>All that preceded was meant as exposition, not challenge or denigration of playstyle choice.</strong></p><p></p><p>My personal take would be this: if your players and you are having fun, you're playing the right way. If the challenges are too easy (i.e. if the players feel like an encounter was "a waste of their resources") then I would suggest having "second waves" a few times - unless the players scouted <em>beyond</em> the perceived initial threat, or they have another means of know that those were the only foes in reach.</p><p></p><p>In other words : cheat in the fair way - don't take player success away from them, just have a little surprise once in a while.</p><p></p><p>An example : one of the goblins was carrying an ornate phial. When the goblin is struck (he's the one defeated when there are 2 others left), the phial cracks and releases the minor demon/elemental/sludge beast/other which is hella-mad. That creature is as strong or weak as you need it to be to offer a little scare to the PCs.</p><p></p><p>Don't go overboard with these things - make them different as often as possible (unless you have a theme/thing going on) and use them sparingly (I'd say, never more than once per two sessions.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MoutonRustique, post: 6350927, member: 22362"] This last bit makes me very suspicious... What do you mean? If you mean to say that the archer was far enough away that you did not require the archer to hide, then you did, in fact given the PCs a sizable advantage over RAW. While your use of their passive 9 is quite in line with the rules, I would be cautious about handing out advantages for [I]player-based actions[/I] (as opposed to character-based actions). [B]All that follows is playstyle choice, and there is no "better" way to go about it. I only wish to inform.[/B] While many will vaunt [I]player[/I] (as it, issuing from the players at the table) precautions and "good play" and "creativity", it is a style choice that has consequences. As stated earlier, these consequences may be desired. Rewarding players for their "good ideas" (as opposed to their characters') leads to a greater proximity between player ability and character ability. [I]This makes it harder to play characters different from what we are IRL.[/I] On the flip side, it can lead to a more immersive play experience. In the extreme, it can also make situations ridiculous : there have been and still are whole dungeons where players are encouraged (through the consequences of not doing it) to use a 10' (or longer) pole to probe everything before moving an inch... "Creative use of..." often comes from applying "physics" to spells or actions or ... While this can be fun, it requires that those at the table buy-in into the plausibility of that application (for [B]me[/B] it is often jarring and disagreeable as my knowledge of physics is better than that of most of the people I've played with - I know what they think would happen, but I also know how it would [i]not[/i] have that effect...) When you say that the players were in the bush and not coming up straight in the goblins' face, I would argue that that is the consequence of a successful hiding check. Had they come up the center of the road, they would have been spotted (failed their hiding check). All of this is dependent upon where you want to draw the line between player skill and character skill - which is often a fluid moving target. [B]All that preceded was meant as exposition, not challenge or denigration of playstyle choice.[/B] My personal take would be this: if your players and you are having fun, you're playing the right way. If the challenges are too easy (i.e. if the players feel like an encounter was "a waste of their resources") then I would suggest having "second waves" a few times - unless the players scouted [I]beyond[/I] the perceived initial threat, or they have another means of know that those were the only foes in reach. In other words : cheat in the fair way - don't take player success away from them, just have a little surprise once in a while. An example : one of the goblins was carrying an ornate phial. When the goblin is struck (he's the one defeated when there are 2 others left), the phial cracks and releases the minor demon/elemental/sludge beast/other which is hella-mad. That creature is as strong or weak as you need it to be to offer a little scare to the PCs. Don't go overboard with these things - make them different as often as possible (unless you have a theme/thing going on) and use them sparingly (I'd say, never more than once per two sessions.) [/QUOTE]
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