Stop Looking At Your Character Sheet

Player characters are wonderful things. They have an array of abilities, talents, and special powers that can deal with almost any situation. But not every situation needs the application of your favorite ability.

Sheet courtesy of Lubien Giagulliel​

Problem-solving can take many forms, and not everything is about what special abilities you have. With so many abilities, it is easy for players to fail to see the wood for the trees. So the Gamemaster should remind them sometimes that their characters can still walk, talk, and look at stuff without needing to make a dice roll or use a superpower.

The Dungeon Dining Room Dilemma​

What reminded me of this was a moment in my Dragonlance game. The player group were in a mystic dungeon being tested by the gods. They came across a dining room, the only exit for which seemed to be a plate section of floor that needed to drop down to reveal an opening on a lower level. The room itself was well decorated, with a hearth and a dining table full of food.

The way out of the room was actually very simple. Anyone eating the food would become magically heavy, and if enough of the characters ate something they could all stand on the plate and gently drop down to the exit. The effect would fade in about an hour. Did my players try that? Take a guess.

Now, to be fair, just as you learn “never split the party,” it’s a pretty good rule to “never eat or drink anything you find in a dungeon.” But there are plenty of times that isn’t true, and in module X2 Castle Amber the food gives you psychic powers! What became painful for me was that the players didn’t even consider the food to be an option and began staring at their character sheets to see what special power or ability would unlock this mystery.

Sure, the food might have been a trick, but while the player characters were happy to face monsters, dragons, and even an evil goddess, one of them taking a few experimental bites was considered way too dangerous. This was despite me reminding them that no decent dungeon would rely on one character having exactly the right spell or ability to allow them to pass. Yet still, they stared at their character sheets.

So, after what seemed like days, with them trying all manner of spells, abilities, gymnastics, and cheerleader-worthy attempts at piling people up, they finally found an answer. They used a high-level monster summoning spell to call the heaviest monster they could find, in this case a “Celestial Bison.” This poor intelligent beast was glad to be called to the prime material plane. He was ready to lend all his holy strength and power in the service of the good gods and do battle serving the greatest heroes of Ansalon…

Instead they just said, “Can you just stand over there, mate? Cheers.” Bound by the ancient pacts of service in the cause of justice and right, the bison agreed, and together with the combined weight of the PCs (and a GM at pretty much the end of his tether), it was enough to sink the platform. But the bison wasn’t happy about it (although, to be fair, it was funny).

Look Around You!​

So, what I’d like to remind players is that not every problem needs the sometimes rather blunt tool of superpowered abilities and magic. If you take a look around, and maybe experiment, the answer is usually in front of you. No Gamemaster worthy of the name sets up a room that you can’t get out of. In a sense, every dungeon is a series of escape rooms, so the clues are always there

Now, on the flip side, this means the Gamemaster does need to remember that the players are not in the room with their characters. They can’t see anything that the Gamemaster doesn’t describe. But even if you mention the dining table stocked with food, you might not have done it right.

Everything should be described with the same importance it appears to have in the room. You might not want to give things away too much by emphasizing the dining table. But if it is a huge table the length of the room, the characters will automatically notice it as important (or they should…).

As such, it is on the Gamemaster to spend some time emphasizing how large and noteworthy it is. It’s also fine to offer the odd clue for the same reason. While sometimes the players might be thick, they might also have made assumptions due to the description they had from the Gamemaster.

The Importance of Communication​

Remember that it is also incumbent on the players to ask the Gamemaster about their environment, not make assumptions when they have misheard or aren’t sure. So if the Gamemaster says there are windows in the room, ask how big or high up they are before you start talking about jumping out of them.

So, while communication is vital, and any situation needs to be clear for all parties, not everything is solved with a special ability. There is an old adage, “when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” and player characters are carrying a lot of hammers. So if you are having problems, stop looking at your character sheet and wonder what you might do in such a room if you had no abilities whatsoever; that might be the answer.

 

[soviet]

We played a Greek-like if you squint themed campaign called Odyssey of the Dragonlords that had a standing mythological “law” that anyone who attacks someone while breaking bread in their home as broken the law of hospitality and committed an affront to the gods. That actually freed us up as PCs to have a few of those “let’s eat at the feast with our worst enemy trading witty barbs while knowing both of us can’t break the law of the gods.”

I think this is good play, nice.

I did a similar thing a long time back. At the climax of a cyberpunk campaign the PCs had uncovered a terrible secret and the megacorp made them an offer: hand over all the evidence and let us wipe your memories of it and we'll give you back the lives and families you've been fighting to recover. To make this a real dilemma that the PCs might fight each other over I said specifically OOC that it wasn't a trick and the megacorp wouldn't renege.

 

[billd91]

Sure, the food might have been a trick, but while the player characters were happy to face monsters, dragons, and even an evil goddess, one of them taking a few experimental bites was considered way too dangerous.

The wording here was particular interesting because referring to the food as a "trick" evokes references to 1e DMG Appendix H where a number of tricks were described. Basically, a trick is akin to a trap in that it's a hidden property of something, just not necessarily something set up as a formal trap. It might be beneficial, it might be detrimental, and you pretty much had to experiment to find out what it did. Trouble is that experimentation could be lethal. And I always kind of hated this sort of thing. "Tricks" in the dungeon really undermined the idea of "skilled" play - there was little to no skill involved. You didn't touch or otherwise interact with the thing just right and you probably paid a price. And maybe you had a whole lot of augury spells and time to try to narrow down what to do (weal or woe if I touch the puppet head?) - but that was pretty unlikely.

The only "skilled" play was to encounter this sort of thing on a computer game and save game just before you messed with something. Alternatively, you played your DM and hoped that either they'd give away a tell that it was something to avoid or you wheedled away at their compassion so they didn't just eff your character up.

 

[Minyfishy]

Pan's Labyrinthe taught me that under no circumstances do you eat the magically preserved and presented food or the evil EYE HAND MONSTER will absolutely eat your little fairy friends.

Alice in Wonderland "eat me/drink me" that experience is so traumatic for little alice she almost drowns in her own tears.

Crabbe and Goyle find two floating muffins. Night night boys.

Snow white, took a bite of the magic apple and proceeded to spend the next who knows how long in a coma.

Hansel and Gretel find a gingerbread house, it was a trap made by a child eating witch.

Your point, fantastic. Your example, incredibly average. The second you said there was a pressure plate my little gamer brain would have been looking for a movable crate/box/bin heavy enough to trigger it, like 48000 different video games I have played. I absolutely would not eat the magic food expecting it to make me heavy, id be presuming it was a trap.

 

[Neonchameleon]

And the food itself behaved like food with an ironic fae curse on it (eat the food that wasn't yours and you mysteriously grow heavier).

 

[soviet]

And the food itself behaved like food with an ironic fae curse on it (eat the food that wasn't yours and you mysteriously grow heavier).

Dude real food is like this too

 

[MichaelSomething]

To be fair, it might not be the OP's fault as a GM. Over the course of my years, I've run into many players who seem to suffer from post-traumatic GM syndrome. Sometimes this can manifests in quirky behavior, like the player in my Deadlands game who made it a point to get my attention and tell me he was reloading his pistol after every single encounter. After the third of forth time I told him he didn't have to tell me. His character is an experienced gunfighter and I trust he handles the little things without you having to tell me.

I thought that was skilled play??

 

[MGibster]

I thought that was skilled play??

I always thought of skilled play as how well players handle the abilities of their characters to accomplish goals within the game. Like if the PC comes across a small opening in a wall that's just a little too small for them to fit, so he decides to cast Grease on himself to make it easier for him to slide through the entrance. That's skilled play. The player was presented with a challenged and they figured out how to accomplish their goal.

I tend to focus on the adventuring aspect of whatever game I'm playing. In Call of Cthulhu, I'm not going to tell the PC they ran out of gas because they never specifically told me when they filled the vehicle up. Now I might have the PC make a Luck check to see if they run out of gas after driving much longer than expected, but I'm not going to punish the player because they didn't tell me their PC was doing a completely mundane task. That's not skilled play, that's just a GM being a jerk.

 

[billd91]

I tend to focus on the adventuring aspect of whatever game I'm playing. In Call of Cthulhu, I'm not going to tell the PC they ran out of gas because they never specifically told me when they filled the vehicle up. Now I might have the PC make a Luck check to see if they run out of gas after driving much longer than expected, but I'm not going to punish the player because they didn't tell me their PC was doing a completely mundane task. That's not skilled play, that's just a GM being a jerk.

Hey now, the rat-bastard keeper in me is saying that should be a GROUP Luck check - and that means you use the lowest Luck score in the group.

 

[Distracted DM]

Food is often suspicious... so I'll frequently mechanically reward PCs for partaking. Something like a temporary bonus, or inspiration, etc etc. A morale boost, if you will. Your character has been living on hardtack and jerky for days, there's a sumptuous feast available here... digging in is rewarded.. unless it does happen to be poisoned, or dangerous, etc. But I try to make sure that the food offerings in my game more often reward than punish... and usually, if food is to be used in a dangerous fashion, it's not insta-death. Everyone eats the food at the feast, everyone passes out and is dumped into the dangerous dungeon... now we can begin the adventure! (Oh, your character is immune to poison? Well it was also enchanted, so we can get on with it- otherwise everyone's going to sit around for 60mins waiting while your character tries to solo-fight the whole mansion).

I actually ran Castle Amber (touched up with its spiritual successor, Castle Xyntillian) and 3/4 PCs did not sit down to enjoy the food, and just watched... the player that did participate was quite happy with his results. But there's a certain mentality required, a generosity of spirit perhaps, or sportsmanship, to enter the obviously-malevolent doorway. And this spirit is two-way- the player knowingly walks into a tropey situation that their character would, but player would not- they're trusting that the result will be advancing things, or entertaining, or interesting.. and the GM has to make sure to reward such behavior, so that they can employ such campy enjoyable things in the future.

If every sumptuous feast kills those eating it, then no one will eat them. So mix it up- and preferably, make sure that more often than not, they're delicious.

 

[Theory of Games]

To be fair, it might not be the OP's fault as a GM. Over the course of my years, I've run into many players who seem to suffer from post-traumatic GM syndrome. Sometimes this can manifests in quirky behavior, like the player in my Deadlands game who made it a point to get my attention and tell me he was reloading his pistol after every single encounter. After the third of forth time I told him he didn't have to tell me. His character is an experienced gunfighter and I trust he handles the little things without you having to tell me.

Yeah but is there a rule in Deadlands that suggests PCs automatically reload their weapons? Or during Session 0, did the group discuss weapons being automatically reloaded?

See this is where problems surface: someone assumes something happens while someone else doesn't make the same assumption. So my Ranger has 20 arrows, fired 3 and now has 17 - BUT I tell the GM that my Ranger is recovering his arrows from the corpses. So now there's no assumption - everyone knows my Ranger has 20 arrows again.

Communication is key.