Obvious player things that modules often don't get

[Victim]

Sometimes modules don't take the fact that PCs will often loot EVERYTHING into account.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

Sometimes modules don't take the fact that PCs will often loot EVERYTHING into account

preach on bother have had pc's that would take the stones for resale . yes they really did that.

Capture the main villain instead of kill him.

have a pc in eberron thats is a dragon marked former bladmark the renoced his house and WILL NOT DO LEATHEL DAMGE.. so he capture everyone he even captured saber in the forrgoten forge for the love of the gods....

Chop up all the wooden items in the dungeon and cart them around on the high STR packrat dwarf so that the expert can use carpentry to shut doors and create battlements with which to combat enemies within hallways.

\
i also stand in aw of this drawf he would havve got on well with many of my player i tell u that

It was mentioned above: interrogating enemies. Its usually assumed that all monsters and bad guys fight to the death, but occasionally they are captured. Then it turns into "what horrible torture can I inflict to get him to talk." Maybe I've just got twisted friends, but every group I've been with has had no reservations about cutting off fingers, or cutting one orc's head off and taunting another one with it

oh yes seen this many times many many times
had a half orc that wasnt above eating parts of them as they watched my what a fun group that was

 

[paradox42]

Never underestimate the power of a party of patient dwarves with very good tools =P Why open the trapped door when you can spend a day excavating around it?

In higher level games this can be even more of a problem if the party gets the right equipment. Adamantine Greatsword in the hands of a 20+ STR Fighter, anyone? I had to do some really quick thinking to get him to stop carving holes in every dungeon wall...

 

[Terwox]

Stone shape > tomb of horrors, as my players found out.

 

[Set]

Summon Thoqqua > Stone Shape. So many freaking things have been circumvented by those damn critters...

Animate Dead. Used in combat? Heck no. Used as porters, with readied actions to hand off potions and wands as needed. Used to carry that million gp dwarvish altar carved from a single enormous emerald or solid gold life-sized statue or adamantine door that the DM describes with a smug grin, since *nobody could ever actually take it!* Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to sell we go!

Invisible (or just hideously stealthy) familiars, sent to scout.

Sending in an illusory 'party' to soak up the 'alpha strike' and prompt the enemy's spellcasters to blow their best protective spells and items and once / day uber-tricks, and then show up 30 minutes later to actually attack.

 

[wedgeski]

Usually with adamantine spoons.

Or earthquake spells, eh PC?

 

[isoChron]

Find the Path and Windwalk are nearly never taken into account.
That said I experienced that many spells can break a module with ease. The DM has to be quick to handle such things.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Burn everything.
Flood the dungeon.
Passwall past the annoying parts. Can also be used vertically to get to lower dungeon levels.
Disintegrate things. As often as possible.
Use hordes of orc slaves to set off all the traps and fill in the pits. (Old school, yo!)

 

[sniffles]

Our initial party for the Whispering Cairn was composed entirely of dwarves. My character, a fighter/wizard going towards Runesmith, had max ranks in craft(stonemasonry) and appraise. The eventual bonuses after all modifiers were fairly high (greater than +10 for both, iirc). My DM had a field day when I asked "So... that 10,000 year old mural on the wall over there? How much does my character think it's worth?" and rolled a natural 20 on the appraise check.

*SPOILER*The handholds and safety nets that we built as we climbed up into the wind tunnel area ended up saving the entire party's life.*SPOILER*

My group nearly had two PC deaths as a result of that area. Afterward they refused even to go near it, bringing my first-ever GMing experience to a standstill as I tried to figure out what to do to progress the adventure.

I'd say the most obvious thing I've seen that modules fail to account for is a complete inability to solve the puzzles.

 

[Piratecat]

Or earthquake spells, eh PC?

*sob*