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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7305362" data-attributes="member: 97077">I agree. Giving advantage only in specific circumstances isn't really the same thing in my view as punishing players with disadvantage or automatic failure for not saying an unreasonably specific thing. It's the latter that I would say makes for, in part, a &quot;gotcha&quot; DM.Agreed. Marching order matters when it comes to resolving hidden threats at the front of the party since it's only those characters that have a chance of noticing it.I do the same. Roll20 is quite useful in that way.All very true in my experience. On the &quot;plot-based game&quot; bit, I will sometimes do a travel leg to determine other things and to get at a particular play experience. As an example, in a one-shot that I've run for multiple pick-up groups, the PCs are charged with traveling to the man-cave of a self-proclaimed hill giant lord who is hosting a conference of the regional forces of evil and busting the place up. The travel leg is simple Point A to Point B, but the outcome determines whether or not the PCs show up exhausted and how many villains are at the conference by the time they arrive (slow = more, fast = less). What this does is create something of a small puzzle to figure out as a group at the start of the session. The players often don't know each other, so it's an opportunity to strategize as a team outside of a more tense scene and to get familiar with the characters' strengths, weaknesses, and resources. Once they've organized their party for travel and we've landed on a result, then it's time to raid the dungeon with everyone having a better sense of how to work together going forward when the stakes are a great deal higher.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7305362, member: 97077"] I agree. Giving advantage only in specific circumstances isn't really the same thing in my view as punishing players with disadvantage or automatic failure for not saying an unreasonably specific thing. It's the latter that I would say makes for, in part, a "gotcha" DM. Agreed. Marching order matters when it comes to resolving hidden threats at the front of the party since it's only those characters that have a chance of noticing it. I do the same. Roll20 is quite useful in that way. All very true in my experience. On the "plot-based game" bit, I will sometimes do a travel leg to determine other things and to get at a particular play experience. As an example, in a one-shot that I've run for multiple pick-up groups, the PCs are charged with traveling to the man-cave of a self-proclaimed hill giant lord who is hosting a conference of the regional forces of evil and busting the place up. The travel leg is simple Point A to Point B, but the outcome determines whether or not the PCs show up exhausted and how many villains are at the conference by the time they arrive (slow = more, fast = less). What this does is create something of a small puzzle to figure out as a group at the start of the session. The players often don't know each other, so it's an opportunity to strategize as a team outside of a more tense scene and to get familiar with the characters' strengths, weaknesses, and resources. Once they've organized their party for travel and we've landed on a result, then it's time to raid the dungeon with everyone having a better sense of how to work together going forward when the stakes are a great deal higher. [/QUOTE]

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