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<blockquote data-quote="Uller" data-source="post: 212388" data-attributes="member: 413">As a DM, I've had my share of miscommunications.&nbsp; Two recent examples:1) Three PCs snuck into a small castle through a hole in the outer wall.&nbsp; They spotted tracks going in and out of the hole that they identified as being from some sort of very large arachnid.&nbsp; The hole lead into a ruined stable.&nbsp; In the center of the stable was a large pile of debris covered in heavy cobwebs.&nbsp;&nbsp; I even explain that there appears to be a large funnel like hole in the top of the pile.&nbsp; Two of the PCs move past the pile to the door to get a look at the court yard.&nbsp; I slip the halfling thief a note saying he spots something shiny in the pile and he says he goes over and examines the pile.&nbsp; He mentions no precautions and doesn't ask the other characters to 'cover' him.&nbsp; Once he is in striking distance, the large hunting spider in the pile jumps out and bites him.&nbsp; This being 2e, he fails his save vs poison and loses enough hitpoints to be unconscious.&nbsp; &nbsp; While his friends drive off the spider, he dies.&nbsp; &nbsp; He was so upset, that he nearly quit! He accused me of purposely drawing his attention to the nest for my own pleasure(true....I wanted them to encounter the spider...but I assumed they would prepare for it and easily drive it off before it could kill anyone).After talking to him, he said that he thought the pile of debris was small enough that he could look down upon it.&nbsp; I never gave the dimensions, but I did say 'large' and I had given the rough dimensions of the archnids that made the tracks(about 8' diameter) and I felt I gave enough clues that it seemed obvious(to me) that this was a nest of some sort of arachnid.&nbsp; I guess not...The session ended with that fight, so I offered to allow his character to survive(maybe the poison just temporarily paralyzed him).&nbsp; He decided to keep playing, but with a different character.2) The party was about to enter the Temple of Elemental evil(the original) and after two forays to the courtyard, they still failed to gain entry.&nbsp; On a third try, I finally had to say &quot;Why don't you try one of the doors...&quot;Sometimes &quot;player stupidity&quot; is because the player is just being stubborn or inattentive.&nbsp; Other times it is because the DM hasn't explained the details properly....</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Uller, post: 212388, member: 413"] As a DM, I've had my share of miscommunications. Two recent examples: 1) Three PCs snuck into a small castle through a hole in the outer wall. They spotted tracks going in and out of the hole that they identified as being from some sort of very large arachnid. The hole lead into a ruined stable. In the center of the stable was a large pile of debris covered in heavy cobwebs. I even explain that there appears to be a large funnel like hole in the top of the pile. Two of the PCs move past the pile to the door to get a look at the court yard. I slip the halfling thief a note saying he spots something shiny in the pile and he says he goes over and examines the pile. He mentions no precautions and doesn't ask the other characters to 'cover' him. Once he is in striking distance, the large hunting spider in the pile jumps out and bites him. This being 2e, he fails his save vs poison and loses enough hitpoints to be unconscious. While his friends drive off the spider, he dies. He was so upset, that he nearly quit! He accused me of purposely drawing his attention to the nest for my own pleasure(true....I wanted them to encounter the spider...but I assumed they would prepare for it and easily drive it off before it could kill anyone). After talking to him, he said that he thought the pile of debris was small enough that he could look down upon it. I never gave the dimensions, but I did say 'large' and I had given the rough dimensions of the archnids that made the tracks(about 8' diameter) and I felt I gave enough clues that it seemed obvious(to me) that this was a nest of some sort of arachnid. I guess not...The session ended with that fight, so I offered to allow his character to survive(maybe the poison just temporarily paralyzed him). He decided to keep playing, but with a different character. 2) The party was about to enter the Temple of Elemental evil(the original) and after two forays to the courtyard, they still failed to gain entry. On a third try, I finally had to say "Why don't you try one of the doors..." Sometimes "player stupidity" is because the player is just being stubborn or inattentive. Other times it is because the DM hasn't explained the details properly.... [/QUOTE]

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