Players reading the MM

[Ginnel]

So its June you have your new set of 3 books (aren't they shiny?) you have an adventure you have a room full of players, you go off to get a drink, when you come back into the room with your soon to be well deserved ice cold beer, you find a player idly flicking through the monster manual what do you do?

 

[Boarstorm]

See what critter he's looking at, take the book, and ominously tell him that I hope he's a quick study while digging an appropriate mini out of the case.

 

[Sojorn]

Cosmetic change time!

Or templates. Templates are fun. Class or otherwise.

 

[Rechan]

Say "I need that when you're done with that page" and then put my bookmarks for what monsters I'll be needing.

Some players are also DMs. Hell, I've ran into people who are playing in modules that, in another group, they are DMing. I'm not afraid of that, as long as they are willing to not let it corrupt their decisions (Or, influence the group's decisions).

 

[djdaidouji]

I'd take the creature and flip it around. The orc war chief just cast magic missile on your ass.

 

[Brimshack]

IF it was during the game, I would ask him to put it down. Between games, no big deal. I always had plenty of house-ruled creatures for when I really wanted to confuse the players.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

People have a right to read books, even their own.

There is an understood no-no that no one should pull out the MM during a session, and no player in my group would use knowledge their PC wouldn't have.

Just because we know what can easily kill a rakshasa, doesn't mean that my level 1 fighter will.

 

[AZRogue]

I want an option to ask the player to please put the book down. Politely. We're friends, after all. Then ask him, with an evil grin, which monster he was curious about.

If it wasn't during a session then it would have to be the player's own book (not mine). It's tradition and if I just let them look at my books they would begin to question the nature of the reality itself. If it was the player's own book then I would try to get him to run a game (because I want to play!). They're too tricky, usually, to fall for that. They know me too well.

 

[Sojorn]

They're too tricky, usually, to fall for that. They know me too well.

Show them the flame jets and spinning blade traps.

That's how I got out of DMing the first game of 4th

 

[The Little Raven]

what do you do?

Make sure the bus's speed never drops below 55 miles per hour.

Or, in other words, not a damned thing... unless they moved my bookmark or something. Then there's hell to pay.