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<blockquote data-quote="Bill Zebub" data-source="post: 8826929" data-attributes="member: 7031982">Well, if you're defining the difference between a neutral and a negative outcome as a &quot;gotcha&quot; then, yes, that is in fact a tautology.So if you think an enemy is vulnerable to radiant, and it turns out that it isn't, that's not a very negative outcome.&nbsp; But if it turns out they are actually immune to radiant, and you cast Guiding Bolt, it's a wasted spell slot and a wasted turn.&nbsp; Is that a gotcha?How about a monster that usually has a really low intelligence, but yours has a high intelligence, and the player (missing the telegraph that this monster isn't stupid) mistakenly targets it with an Int save, and then does so again because they can't believe the monster actually saved.&nbsp; Is that a gotcha?Trying to pin down the DM on &quot;gotchas&quot; is, to me, not much different than trying to differentiate between &quot;metagaming&quot; motivations and &quot;legitimate&quot; motivations with players.EDIT: Also, if the result is to keep players on their toes so that they are genuinely on edge/worried about what a monster can do, instead of yawning and saying, &quot;Oh, another one of these&quot;, then call it a gotcha if you want but I think it's a good thing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bill Zebub, post: 8826929, member: 7031982"] Well, if you're defining the difference between a neutral and a negative outcome as a "gotcha" then, yes, that is in fact a tautology. So if you think an enemy is vulnerable to radiant, and it turns out that it isn't, that's not a very negative outcome. But if it turns out they are actually [I]immune[/I] to radiant, and you cast Guiding Bolt, it's a wasted spell slot and a wasted turn. Is that a gotcha? How about a monster that usually has a really low intelligence, but yours has a high intelligence, and the player (missing the telegraph that this monster isn't stupid) mistakenly targets it with an Int save, and then does so again because they can't believe the monster actually saved. Is that a gotcha? Trying to pin down the DM on "gotchas" is, to me, not much different than trying to differentiate between "metagaming" motivations and "legitimate" motivations with players. EDIT: Also, if the result is to keep players on their toes so that they are genuinely on edge/worried about what a monster can do, instead of yawning and saying, "Oh, another one of these", then call it a gotcha if you want but I think it's a good thing. [/QUOTE]

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