Metagaming

[JimAde]

Quas, from this and other threads you've started I'm under the impression that you're suffering from EMPC (exposure to metagaming PCs). Care to give us some more examples of what is bugging you?

Indeed, you can't start a thread like this and not post your own.

I've seen the old "my character's never seen a troll before but let's use fire" bit, but I just ruled that it is, in fact, common knowledge among people who travel in the wilderness.

My group is pretty good, really, but they do tend to offer each other advice when their characters wouldn't be able to communicate. I allow this to some degree to keep uninvolved players interested, but I try not to let it get out of hand.

 

[spider_minion]

This is kinda off-topic . . . but I realized something while reading the "Has anything broken your game?" thread. When a player comes up with some incredibly powerful character (such as a Frenzied Berserker) the DM often starts designing enounters that capitalize on the character's weaknesses. This is a prime example of DM metagaming, though its done to improve the game so its not a problem.

 

[Bastoche]

This is kinda off-topic . . . but I realized something while reading the "Has anything broken your game?" thread. When a player comes up with some incredibly powerful character (such as a Frenzied Berserker) the DM often starts designing enounters that capitalize on the character's weaknesses. This is a prime example of DM metagaming, though its done to improve the game so its not a problem.

It depends. If the DM does that sort of metagaming once in a while, it's ok. But if he systematically create encounters that foils one or many (or all) abilities of one or many (or all) the PCs, than it becomes quite evil. For example, a party of 3 rogue or sneal attack using PC in a campaign against exclusively undead.

 

[Quasqueton]

Quas, from this and other threads you've started I'm under the impression that you're suffering from EMPC (exposure to metagaming PCs). Care to give us some more examples of what is bugging you?

No current such situation. Are you metathreading?

Seriously, I've got no real problems with my current Players. The other thread (singular, not plural) made me think to ask this.

[Speaking of metathreading: This is probably how whenever I post a thread even *mentioning* an edition of D&D, several folks assume I'm starting an edition war.]

Quasqueton

 

[fett527]

Player who gets lycantropy (in avery interesting way. Lycanthropes summoned in by a chaos beast.) and decides he wants to try and contain it instead of taking the option to get it cured. This player had just become a Paladin.

He was going to ignore the EEEVIL creature he would become for the powergaming aspect of being a lycanthrope. DM nipped it in the bud.

 

[Voadam]

Both Al's and Voadam's examples to me are outright CHEATING, with a capital "C" -- And HOW!

Yes but they were cheating in a metagaming way. The dice roll fudging and stat inflation on the character sheets between (or during) a game seem of a different sort that doesn't involve metagaming to me.

 

[spider_minion]

It depends. If the DM does that sort of metagaming once in a while, it's ok. But if he systematically create encounters that foils one or many (or all) abilities of one or many (or all) the PCs, than it becomes quite evil. For example, a party of 3 rogue or sneal attack using PC in a campaign against exclusively undead.

Yeah, I agree. I probably should have wrote that it's ok when its used in moderation. I was playing in a campaign where most of the other players where munchkining the heck out of their characters and the DM had to do some serious plotting to keep the campaign challanging. Specifically, we fought off undead drow which were immune to the enchanter's unsavable domination spells and the rogue's sneak attack. I think that rogue could get his AC up to 47 . . . it was an ugly situation. There was this akward tension in the party because every character had some cheap trick they could use to reliably kill another character in one round, and things only got worse when the aforementioned enchanter fell under the control of an evil arifact and began dominating the party.

Anyhow, there was a lot of metagaming and powergaming go on. To prevent this sorta thing, I think both sides really need to show some restraint. It isn't too hard to break the system and start a vicious player-DM arms race.

 

[painandgreed]

Another big issue with metagaming is when playing gmes with metaplots. The Vampire chronicle i run has been goign on since the 1st edition of the vampire rules and after ten years, I have my own metaplot that I have developed and don't want to change or alter it everytime WW puts out a new book. It's sort of funny to listen to knowledgable players spout off all this history and go on for half an hour just for me to say "None of that happened in my world." It works out because they rarely have the lore skills to compensate for what they know and have been warned so I figure any badly used metagaming knowledge is just their punishment (like when they go to one major NPC expecting one type of personality and end up getting another).

 

[Bastoche]

Another big issue with metagaming is when playing gmes with metaplots. The Vampire chronicle i run has been goign on since the 1st edition of the vampire rules and after ten years, I have my own metaplot that I have developed and don't want to change or alter it everytime WW puts out a new book. It's sort of funny to listen to knowledgable players spout off all this history and go on for half an hour just for me to say "None of that happened in my world." It works out because they rarely have the lore skills to compensate for what they know and have been warned so I figure any badly used metagaming knowledge is just their punishment (like when they go to one major NPC expecting one type of personality and end up getting another).

Yeah. We have a "similar" problem in our campaign and funny thing is I am the troublemaker. We play a forgotten realms campaign mostly based in Waterdeep. I've played in that campaign setting and that very city since I begun playing DnD years ago. I know the place by heart. So much that it's hard not to make some connections or deductions about the DM's plot. Fortunatly for him I haven't read the city of splendor yet (and will not to restrain myself from metagaming) but since I already knew a lot about waterdeep and it's neighborhood, I was require to take knowledge(local) and every now and then I can ask the DM is my character know X or Y etc. Furthermore, since none of the other players ever played in FR, it makes nice RP session. Their characters originates far away from Waterdeep so I can play guide with them. Cool.

 

[EricNoah]

Tuesday night was the final installment of a long-running campaign. We knew it was the final session. Thus we cracked wise all evening long about the cleric and the sorcerer casting spells with big XP costs because we knew it wouldn't matter. It was still fun!