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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 8057225" data-attributes="member: 6777737">Eh, I think OP definitely made a mistake, but I think the DM is equally to blame. If you're going to use a published character in your game, you can't really rely on that character's backstory being secret. If you've got PCs who are huge FR fans, there's a good chance that they know more about the setting and the NPCs than you do. That's just reality. It's the problem with using published material. Everything from campaign settings to modules to monster manual entries. If you use materials as they are published, you risk the players knowing what they are.You're not going to have success running a Star Wars game where the PCs try to search for the lost jedi Anakin Skywalker. You're not going to run a superhero campaign where the PCs meet a wealthy socialite named Bruce Wayne and the mild-mannered reporter covering him, Clark Kent. You're not going to run a Game of Thrones campaign where the PCs need to meet with Robb Stark at his wedding. You're not going to run Planet of the Apes and surprise your PCs that they're on Earth. You don't get to give the PCs The One Ring and surprise them that it's not some minor ring 75 in-game years later. You're not going to run a campaign where your PCs try to figure out what "rosebud" means.If your story is based on making the players suppress knowledge they have just so that the characters have to act surprised, you've got a great hook for an acting exercise but a terrible hook for an RPG plot. The plot isn't about satisfying the characters, it's about satisfying the players, too. OP made a play error, but their DM made campaign error. The correct move at this point would be to drop that thread from the narrative. Have the lich pick up on the deception, remove herself completely, and move on to something else. It's not interesting or fun to make the players ignore what's going on just to satisfy the narrative. It's just dumb now that they all know because they're forced to just walk into the trap blindly. There's no way for the DM to foreshadow or drop hints, and the entire point of a secret in plain sight is to foreshadow and drop hints so the players might figure it out in advance!</blockquote>

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