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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 7296622" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>Also, frankly, is it such a bad thing if this approach leads players to be careful and intentional when describing their actions? I would consider that a point in favor of the approach. Provided, of course, that there is an understanding between the players and the DM that the intent is not to trick the players into bad situations, but to give the players’ choices meaning, and that the DM will accordingly give the players enough information to make informed decisions.</p><p></p><p>If I just say “there’s a spooky altar”, a player says “I search it for secret compartments” and I spring a curse on them because they didn’t say they weren’t touching it, or probe them with questions about how they search it to try to get them to say they touch it, then yeah, I’m being a “gotcha DM.” But that’s not what I do. I clearly describe all the dead bugs on the altar, the faint aura of negative energy, the smell of rot, to project that maybe this thing isn’t safe to touch. I don’t hide that information behind a perception check, because that information is essential for the players to make an <em>informed</em> decision about how to go about investingating it. If I give them that information and they decide to go up and feel the runes on it, the curse triggering isn’t some unavoidable trick of a malicious DM, it’s the world reacting to the players’ informed choices in an internally consistent way.</p><p></p><p>As for where character skill enters the equation, it’s when the players make a decision that has an uncertain outcome. Maybe they describe prodding at the altar with a 10-Foot pole, or giving it a thorough visual examination without drawing any nearer, or they decide to try to translate the runes on it. These are things that might prompt a roll, because they have reasonable chances of succeeding and failing to find the hidden compartment. Of course, there would need to be some kind of time pressure as well, otherwise there’s no cost or consequence for failure. For me, this often comes in the form of random encounters, but there are lots of ways to create costs and consequences. If there isn’t a cost or consequence, the search succeeds without a roll.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 7296622, member: 6779196"] Also, frankly, is it such a bad thing if this approach leads players to be careful and intentional when describing their actions? I would consider that a point in favor of the approach. Provided, of course, that there is an understanding between the players and the DM that the intent is not to trick the players into bad situations, but to give the players’ choices meaning, and that the DM will accordingly give the players enough information to make informed decisions. If I just say “there’s a spooky altar”, a player says “I search it for secret compartments” and I spring a curse on them because they didn’t say they weren’t touching it, or probe them with questions about how they search it to try to get them to say they touch it, then yeah, I’m being a “gotcha DM.” But that’s not what I do. I clearly describe all the dead bugs on the altar, the faint aura of negative energy, the smell of rot, to project that maybe this thing isn’t safe to touch. I don’t hide that information behind a perception check, because that information is essential for the players to make an [i]informed[/i] decision about how to go about investingating it. If I give them that information and they decide to go up and feel the runes on it, the curse triggering isn’t some unavoidable trick of a malicious DM, it’s the world reacting to the players’ informed choices in an internally consistent way. As for where character skill enters the equation, it’s when the players make a decision that has an uncertain outcome. Maybe they describe prodding at the altar with a 10-Foot pole, or giving it a thorough visual examination without drawing any nearer, or they decide to try to translate the runes on it. These are things that might prompt a roll, because they have reasonable chances of succeeding and failing to find the hidden compartment. Of course, there would need to be some kind of time pressure as well, otherwise there’s no cost or consequence for failure. For me, this often comes in the form of random encounters, but there are lots of ways to create costs and consequences. If there isn’t a cost or consequence, the search succeeds without a roll. [/QUOTE]
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