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<blockquote data-quote="Anax" data-source="post: 2638728" data-attributes="member: 19868">As somebody else pointed out: NPCs can always be smarter, more well equipped, better supported, etc. than the PCs can be.&nbsp; On the one hand, sure, if the NPC is optimally smart, the PCs should have absolutely no chance to see him coming.But... that’s just not very fun.An important thing to remember as a DM (which is something my current DM has trouble with), is that the players will very frequently not have any idea at all about something the DM thinks is a logical consequence of stuff that’s going on in the world.&nbsp; The DM is in charge of all of this, and is thinking about things pretty hard a lot of the time.&nbsp; But the players only see what their characters are described as seeing.&nbsp; (And good players ignore things that they hear that their characters don’t.)So: I think this kind of situation (the undetectable assassin) is the kind of place you have to fudge to give the players an even break.&nbsp; This is why we get villains who strap the heroes down to an Infernal Machine(tm) and then go on a ten minute monologue.&nbsp; This is why villains gloat, and aren’t perfect professionals.&nbsp; (For example: an invisible assassin who feels compelled to taunt his targets by practically dancing on their heads before blowing one of them away.)&nbsp; This is why the first shot against a good guy who has no idea something’s coming should always always miss.&nbsp; (And, this is why the cleric assassin above doesn’t take logical steps to prevent the resurrection of his target.)Anyway, that’s the last I’ll say on this.&nbsp; If the folks in this campaign are okay with the scenario described above, that’s fine.&nbsp; I just know that I would find it incredibly frustrating.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Anax, post: 2638728, member: 19868"] As somebody else pointed out: NPCs can always be smarter, more well equipped, better supported, etc. than the PCs can be. On the one hand, sure, if the NPC is optimally smart, the PCs should have [i]absolutely no chance[/i] to see him coming. But... that’s just not very fun. An important thing to remember as a DM (which is something my current DM has trouble with), is that the players will very frequently not have any idea at all about something the DM thinks is a logical consequence of stuff that’s going on in the world. The DM is in charge of all of this, and is thinking about things pretty hard a lot of the time. But the players only see what their characters are described as seeing. (And good players ignore things that they hear that their characters don’t.) So: I think this kind of situation (the undetectable assassin) is the kind of place you have to fudge to give the players an even break. This is why we get villains who strap the heroes down to an Infernal Machine(tm) and then go on a ten minute monologue. This is why villains gloat, and aren’t perfect professionals. (For example: an invisible assassin who feels compelled to taunt his targets by practically dancing on their heads before blowing one of them away.) This is why the first shot against a good guy who has no idea something’s coming should always always miss. (And, this is why the cleric assassin above doesn’t take logical steps to prevent the resurrection of his target.) Anyway, that’s the last I’ll say on this. If the folks in this campaign are okay with the scenario described above, that’s fine. I just know that I would find it incredibly frustrating. [/QUOTE]

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