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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5045499" data-attributes="member: 4937">My player's equip their characters however they want in town.However, there can be in game consequences to walking around looking like you just came off a battlefield and are looking for a new one.For high level PC's who developed a good reputation, this generally isn't a problem.  Nobody is going to question much a famous hero (once you are recognized as such) for walking around with the in game equipment of a M-16 with a M-203 slung under neath it and a bandoleer of grenades.  However, doing so is probably hazardous to your stealth.  You are going to attract alot of attention, even if it is positive.For low level PC's who haven't developed a reputation, walking around decked out for battle all the time means lots of problems.  Most towns are going to refuse strange mercenaries entry if they are wearing a bunch of iron mongery.  If you want to go around openly armed, then you better have proof of noble rank or a permit to travel armed from the appropriate magistrates.  Most establishments are going to refuse you service, average starting reaction may decrease, and people are going to give you a wide berth.  Unless you've got some sort of status to reassure people with, you will be the equivalent of the gang of blackhatted horsemen with the six-shooters slung low riding into town, and will be treated as such.   You can fix this with sufficient charisma and related skills, however, you can't fix the bigger problem.If you walk around like you are looking for a fight, you are likely to find one.  Bravos, rakes, and toughs are going to want to try you to see if you really are as fearsome as you look.  Your presence is going to be commented on, and since commented on, will soon bring itself to the attention of pretty much every potential enemy in the city.  This might sound like fun, but its going to be alot less fun when you are dragging into town low on spells and hitpoints.  Also, the general attitude of the law to violence is going to be to prosecute whoever is left standing on the grounds that they are probably the dangerous ones.And beyond that, there are going to be alot of times where it is just socially inappropriate to be hauling around armor, missile weapons, and a backpack.  Most nobles are going to wear a sword and dagger, and so a personal weapon you can easily get away with, but showing up in full battle gear when invited to dine in the house of a local lord is likely to give you more initial reaction problems.  There are just likely to be sometimes when you are going to fight defensively simply because you don't have your armor on.  Take solace in the fact that you are bad-ass and probably won't need it against most foes.I generally don't give alot of specific metagame guidance to players.  My advice to all players is imagine this is real and act how you would act if your character was real.  If the PC is going to do something that I believe he would know better than to do, I usually make a quick wisdom or knowledge check (as appropriate) on the characters behalf and then try to explain to the character what the consequences of the action might be.  After that, it's out of my hands, and its up to the player to decide what's appropriate for his character. As for what I think, most of the time my experience is that players engage in that sort of behavior because it is heavily rewarded and greatly punished if departed from.  Generally speaking, if you get away from the 'ever foe fights to the death'/'every fight is an ambush'/'every fight is against foes who are awesome threats' paradigm, and avoid seeing the PC's engaging in normal activity as an oppurtunity for ambush, then you'll train it out of them.One particular thing to avoid is, "It's only worth RPing out if its about to lead to combat."  In many campaigns players will recognize, "We are playing out the RP in town." as a marker which means, "The DM plans to ambush us shortly."  Don't fall into the trap of handwaving everything except when its about to lead to combat, or otherwise you are telling your players that the game is really about combat and they should be always prepared for it.  If you do that, don't blame the character for what is, in your game, intelligent behavior.</blockquote>

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