D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

[Mort]

A lot of players are influenced by Movies, TV shows and most of all video games : they think there should always be a "Cool Cut Scene " where they the player is given an explanation of everything

Then the player can have their PC "check to see if we are being followed" for no reason while they snicker.

Assuming such play is odd. In my experience many, many players are OVERLY paranoid and will take huge precautions. So should definitely at least have a shot.

But also, some characters are just good at noticing. If a PC has a good passive perception (high wis, certain feats, certain classes), then, absolutely, they might notice something amiss, someone trying to sneak up on them, even if the players haven't taken precautions.

I do agree just fine if the players want to play the game intelligently and take intelligent action. For example, if they randomly want to check if they are being followed or even better do a maneuver to shake a tail.

My problem would come in where the PCs just endless goof around, make noise and let everyone within a mile know where they are at all times...and make no effort to do anything intelligent. But if the DM says OOC "there is an assassin after you guys", the players will Cheat and say "Oh, um, my character makes a check to see if there is anyone following us....um, for no reason, snick snicker".

If the PCs take no precautions and make tons of noise, they might suffer the consequences of doing so.

But if the DM tells the to players there is an assassin after the PCs? Why wouldn't the players get to react to that? Presumably the DM expects them to, having told them.

 

[bloodtide]

Assuming such play is odd. In my experience many, many players are OVERLY paranoid and will take huge precautions. So should definitely at least have a shot.

I agree that as a standard PCs should be paranoid and take repercussions.

But also, some characters are just good at noticing. If a PC has a good passive perception (high wis, certain feats, certain classes), then, absolutely, they might notice something amiss, someone trying to sneak up on them, even if the players haven't taken precautions.

I agree rules wise here.

If the PCs take no precautions and make tons of noise, they might suffer the consequences of doing so.

I very much agree. Plenty of the PCs even leave a trail of dead bodies to follow....

But if the DM tells the to players there is an assassin after the PCs? Why wouldn't the players get to react to that? Presumably the DM expects them to, having told them.

I agree the DM should not tell the players. Some DMs are just Best Buddies with their players. And some DM mistakenly think players can keep player knowledge separate from player character knowledge.