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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7049928" data-attributes="member: 37579">That's tricky...Right now, most of my table is probably smarter than their characters. I have the advantage of smart people (3/4 of my players are actually engineers, and all have multiple levels of post-secondary education) who are experienced gamers. So they're mostly always &quot;playing dumb&quot; compared to their character. Often the players have the advantage of time. The difference between a smart person and a dumb one is often the time it takes to think of a solution. In that instance, give your players a couple minutes to consider what their character is doing when the PC might have seconds. Switch the camera to a different player for a moment to let the person think. I also try to give new players some latitude. I ask some leading questions and describe what they're doing based on what they state their action is, then give them a few possible actions. I don't limit them, but I might offer suggestions. If they enter a room and make a Perception check I describe them glancing quickly over the entire room. I might repeat elements of the Grey Boxed Text, giving some extra details as needed. Say what catches their eye, and then ask them where they want to check first (or if they want to just continue). I might throw them a bone and give them a few extra details. Clues that could be useful or red herrings and let them choose where to focus their attention. So instead of the entire room they're given a multiple choice question of possible locations or interest.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7049928, member: 37579"] That's tricky... Right now, most of my table is probably smarter than their characters. I have the advantage of smart people (3/4 of my players are actually engineers, and all have multiple levels of post-secondary education) who are experienced gamers. So they're mostly always "playing dumb" compared to their character. Often the players have the advantage of time. The difference between a smart person and a dumb one is often the time it takes to think of a solution. In that instance, give your players a couple minutes to consider what their character is doing when the PC might have seconds. Switch the camera to a different player for a moment to let the person think. I also try to give new players some latitude. I ask some leading questions and describe what they're doing based on what they state their action is, then give them a few possible actions. I don't limit them, but I might offer suggestions. If they enter a room and make a Perception check I describe them glancing quickly over the entire room. I might repeat elements of the Grey Boxed Text, giving some extra details as needed. Say what catches their eye, and then ask them where they want to check first (or if they want to just continue). I might throw them a bone and give them a few extra details. Clues that could be useful or red herrings and let them choose where to focus their attention. So instead of the entire room they're given a multiple choice question of possible locations or interest. [/QUOTE]

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