Subtle hints of danger

[fusangite]

I have no idea what aspect of my normal GMing style does this but my players are always more afraid of any given confrontation than they should be, not less so.

 

[sniffles]

My GMs usually warn of extreme danger by asking, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

 

[shilsen]

I smile. Or introduce a gnome.

 

[ThirdWizard]

It's been a long time since I've gone through a session without the PCs deriding how they're going to inevitably die in at least 50% of combats. I regret telling them the term TPK since now they use it way too much. Thus, they use discretion often, and I rarely have to clue them in when something is too much for them. Of course, they often avoid battles that they could win as well.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

My GMs usually warn of extreme danger by asking, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

I use that technique, as well... In one instance, I asked the rogue's player, "You just want to walk right across the room, just like that?" The room was, of course, trapped six ways from Sunday, and the rogue's path took him directly over every single one of the traps.

You'd have thunk that the sublte hint of a square grid forming over a room with no critters in it would've tipped him off that something was amiss... Not to mention that I asked the death question. But no... even after the first trap almost killed him dead, he just kept trucking right along. The second trap, of course, froze him solid and forced the party to go back to town to find a way to unfreeze him.

I don't get it... Sometimes the, "are you sure you want to <insert dumb move>?" works like a charm, and other times, not at all... Players are just too crazy for me to figure out.

Later
silver

 

[Joshua Randall]

In my experience, warning the players is utterly futile. Either they become paranoid and refuse to do anything, or they charge in regardless expecting luck or DM fudging to save them.

I have toyed with the idea of allowing the PCs to make some kind of modified Sense Motive checks prior to a battle, to get a sense for how tough it will be. (There is some support for this in Complete Warrior, IIRC.) But really, who wants yet another die-roll before getting to the good stuff?

So basically I don't know what to do.

 

[Falkus]

In my d20 Modern game, I made it obvious when the PCs were in extreme danger by overwhelming them with the description. They were infiltrating the mansion of hte head of the Fraternal Order of Vigilance, and had just killed him what the ESF swooped in to clean up both the FOV and the PCs. I described, with great detail, the black helicopter flying in and blowing away most of the guards still standing, and then described several assault teams sweeping in on the mansion grounds.

The players took the hint, climbed out the window, and made a break for it, rather than try to fight.

 

[Rothe]

One sentence: "Look at the bones man!"