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<blockquote data-quote="NewJeffCT" data-source="post: 3252814" data-attributes="member: 10784">A few years back, in DragonA few years back, there was a letter in Dragon magazine from some DM that pulled what I think is monumentally stupid.&nbsp; I'm not sure if my memory is 100% on this, but this is what I recall:&nbsp; The players were in some sort of dungeon and were surprised by a giant spider, or maybe something worse but spidery in appearance (like those demons that look like spiders whose name I can't recall right now)But, to judge their reactions, before he announced what surprised them, the DM took his own real life pet tarantula and tossed it in the middle of the table in front of everybody.&nbsp; Of course, with that kind of surprise, the players were startled and (if I recall) a few ducked for cover, if not all of them.&nbsp; The DM stated that their real-life reactions were how their players reacted.First - people play D&amp;D to escape real life.&nbsp; Even if your PC has shades of your own personality (which is often the case) you're probably not casting spells, invoking the blessings of Pelor, swinging a vorpal weapon or whatnot in real life.&nbsp; Judging an out of game reaction to count in-game is just wrong, especially in a critical situation like that.2nd - what if the DM's toss was just a bit off and it landed in a player's lap or on their shoulder?3rd - what if somebody's reaction was to squash the thing with their Player's Handbook?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="NewJeffCT, post: 3252814, member: 10784"] [b]A few years back, in Dragon[/b] A few years back, there was a letter in Dragon magazine from some DM that pulled what I think is monumentally stupid. I'm not sure if my memory is 100% on this, but this is what I recall: The players were in some sort of dungeon and were surprised by a giant spider, or maybe something worse but spidery in appearance (like those demons that look like spiders whose name I can't recall right now) But, to judge their reactions, before he announced what surprised them, the DM took his own real life pet tarantula and tossed it in the middle of the table in front of everybody. Of course, with that kind of surprise, the players were startled and (if I recall) a few ducked for cover, if not all of them. The DM stated that their real-life reactions were how their players reacted. First - people play D&D to escape real life. Even if your PC has shades of your own personality (which is often the case) you're probably not casting spells, invoking the blessings of Pelor, swinging a vorpal weapon or whatnot in real life. Judging an out of game reaction to count in-game is just wrong, especially in a critical situation like that. 2nd - what if the DM's toss was just a bit off and it landed in a player's lap or on their shoulder? 3rd - what if somebody's reaction was to squash the thing with their Player's Handbook? [/QUOTE]

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